12 tips to lower your dietary fat consumption

We now know that not all fat is bad, but even good fats, usually found in fish and plant oils, have their limits. Here are some tips to help you make some smart food choices and reduce the amount of fat in your diet.

1. Use skimmed evaporated milk in place of cream for cream-based soups and other recipes.
2. Cook flavour into breads, batters, cakes, buns and other carb-based foods so you don't need to add butter. For example, add herbs to breads; blueberries to pancakes; nuts and bananas to buns and cakes. Grain-filled foods are often the ones you want to butter, but if you make them more flavourful, you avoid the urge.
3. Put salsa on your baked potato, not butter or sour cream. You not only skip the fat, but add in a healthy, low-cal serving of vegetables.
4. Mist your fat. Use an olive oil spray to coat pans and foods. You'll use much less, and still get the great taste.
5. Sauté foods in broth, wine or even juice. These are just a few of the alternatives to filling the bottom of your cookware with calorie-dense oils.
6. Watch out for trans fats in unexpected places. Start with peanut butter, cookies, energy bars, frozen pizza and cereal. Even foods you might think of as health foods – such as granola – often carry large amounts of trans fats.
7. Put soups and stews in the fridge overnight. Voilà! The next morning you can skim the congealed fat off the top before reheating the dish.
8. Grate your cheese. You'll use less on pasta dishes and sandwiches if it's grated rather than sliced.
9. Stick to mustard, ketchup and other non-creamy condiments in place of mayonnaise and tartar sauce. Mayonnaise is particularly dense with fat. Aim to have it only in small doses.
10. Purée a cooked potato and an onion to thicken soups instead of cream. This also adds extra flavour.
11. Try soy milk on your cereal. Be sure to look for brands with added calcium. You can also substitute soy milk in baking and other recipes.
12. Look for the key words on labels. Note the serving size, grams of fat and how much of it is saturated.