Meat, fish and fat

Should I stop eating red meat?

The fat in red meat is bad for you. Fatty meats like sausages, some mince, stewing chops, many roasting joints, steak with the fat left on, salami and so on should be eaten sparingly.

But red meat is a valuable source of protein, zinc and vitamin B12, and is one of the best sources of dietary iron you can eat. This is particularly important for women. It makes sense to eat moderate amounts of lean red meat.

Isn't fish better?

Fish is definitely better - it's low in saturated fat but high in protein, vitamins and minerals. Fish with edible bones like sardines and salmon, are also good sources of calcium.

Many studies have shown groups of people who regularly eat a lot of fatty fish have lower rates of heart disease and stroke. This is because fatty fish contains omega 3 oils, which prevent blood cells sticking together and onto artery walls.

If you can, eat fish twice weekly especially oily varieties like tuna, kahawai, trevally, kingfish, John Dory, salmon, sardines and eel. Canned fish is a good alternative to fresh.

Choose low-fat products, right?

Not necessarily. "Low-fat" has become the mantra for marketing the healthiness of many foods, but it can be misleading.

Many low-fat foods are high in sugar and therefore provide more energy than you need. The excess may be converted to fat and stored in your body.

A Naturalea Smoothie, for example, is "99 percent fat free", but one serving has over 900 kilojoules and six teaspoons of sugar. That's about the same as a Crunchie bar, even though the chocolate has 17 percent fat.

Fat free does not mean healthy, if the food is high in energy. You need to check the nutrition information panel for energy and sugar content.

Okay, is the jury still out on butter?

No, the verdict has been in for ages - butter is bad for you.

Forget about butter being "natural". It's high in saturated fat and also has some naturally occurring trans fats.

Butter blends retain some of the taste of butter, but because they combine dairy and vegetable fat, they contain less saturated fat. The healthiest table spreads are those with a high proportion of monounsaturated or polyunsaturated fats, and little or no trans fats and saturated fats. Canola and olive oil spreads fit the bill well.

Try them - or the oils themselves - in place of butter wherever you can. Olive oil tastes great in mashed potato, for example.

But remember to have as little as you need, rather than as much as you want - cutting back on table spreads is a fairly easy way to reduce your overall energy intake.