General tips to reduce the fat/cholesterol in your diet.

• Always choose lean cuts of meat and trim off fat before cooking.
• Eat smaller portions of meat. Extend meat and poultry dishes by using pulses, vegetables and cereals.
• Eat chicken, turkey and fish more often as these are lower in fat than meat. Remove all skin from poultry.
• Grill, steam, poach, bake, braise, microwave or casserole instead of frying or roasting with extra fat.
• Substitute polyunsaturated margarine for butter and use in moderation.
• Use polyunsaturated or monounsaturated oil in moderation. E.g. olive oil, canola oil and safflower oil.
• Use skimmed milk instead of full-cream milk. Children under five should not use skimmed milk.
• Replace ordinary hard cheeses with low-fat or reduced fat varieties.
• Roast without adding fat by wrapping food in foil or roasting bags to retain juices and prevent drying out. Meat can be cooked on a rack over a bain-marie.
• Low-fat sauces can be made with mixing flour or corn flour with cold water, skimmed milk or stock before cooking to thicken.
• Skim off fat from stews and soups by removing it with absorbent kitchen paper or, if the dish is allowed to cool first, the fat could be taken off with a spoon.
• Look out for low-fat or reduced-fat products in the shops. Check labels for fat content and type of fat used in processed foods. A good guide is to choose made up dishes containing 5 grams fat or less per serving. Avoid products that have a high amount of “ saturated fats”.

	Allowed Daily	Moderation	Avoid
Fats	Limit all fats.	Oils or margarine labeled 'high in polyunsaturates'. Sunflower oil, corn oil, Soya oil, safflower oil, sesame oil, cottonseed oil, olive oil. Low-fat spreads.	Butter, dripping, lard, suet, palm oil, margarines not high in polyunsaturates, cooking or vegetable oil of unknown origin. Hydrogenated fats and oils.
Meats	Chicken, turkey, veal, rabbit, game.	Lean beef, bacon, ham, pork, lamb; lean mince, liver.	Visible fat on meat (including crackling), breast of lamb, belly pork, streaky bacon, sausages, salami, pâté, luncheon meat, duck, goose, pork pies, meat pasties. Skin on poultry.
Eggs and dairy foods	Skimmed milk. Low-fat cheeses (e.g. cottage cheese), quark (skimmed milk soft cheese), curd cheese. Egg white. Very-low- fat yoghurt.	Semi-skimmed milk. Feta and ricotta cheese; Parmesan in small quantities; half fat cheeses (fat content 20-40% dry weight). Two whole eggs a week. Low-fat yoghurt.	Full-cream milk evaporated or condensed milk, cream, imitation cream. Regular fat cheeses, cream cheeses. Full-fat yoghurt.
Fish	All white fish, e.g. cod, haddock, plaice. Oily fish, e.g. herring, mackerel, sardines, tuna, salmon.	Fish fried in suitable oil. Oysters, mussels, Occasional scampi, prawns, shrimps, lobster.	Fish roe, fish fried in hard fats.
Fruit and vegetables	All fresh and frozen vegetables. Peas, beans, sweet corn. Dried beans of all kinds) e.g. haricot, red kidney, butter beans), lentils, chickpeas, are particularly high in 'soluble fiber'. Jacket or boiled potatoes - eat skins wherever you can. Fresh fruit, unsweetened tinned fruit, dried fruit.	Chips and roast potatoes cooked in suitable oil or polyunsaturated fat. Avocado pears, fruit in syrup; crystallized fruit.	Chips or roast potatoes cooked in solid fat. Oven chips. Potato crisps.
Nuts	Walnuts, chestnuts.	Almonds, brazil nuts, hazelnuts.	Coconut ,cashews
Cereal Products	Whole meal flour, whole meal bread, wholegrain cereals, oatmeal, cornmeal, porridge oats, sweet corn, wholegrain rice and pasta, crisp breads, oatcakes, matzos.	White flour, white bread, sugary breakfast cereals, oat bran, white rice and pasta, plain semi-sweet biscuits, water biscuits.	Fancy breads, e.g. croissants, brioches: savory cheese biscuits.
Desserts	Low-fat puddings, e.g. jelly, sorbet, skimmed milk pudding. Low-fat yoghurt. Low-fat sauces.	Cakes, pastry, puddings, biscuits and sauces made with suitable margarine or oil. Low-fat ice cream. Homemade snacks with polyunsaturated fat.	Commercially made cakes and biscuits made with saturated fats. Suet dumplings and puddings: butter and cream sauces. All proprietary puddings and sauces. Snacks deep-fried in solid fats. Dairy ice cream.
Beverages	Tea, coffee with skimmed milk, mineral water, slim line or sugar-free soft drinks, unsweetened fruit juice. Clear soups, homemade vegetable soup. Low alcohol beer.	Sweet soft drinks, low fat malted drinks or low-fat chocolate (occasionally). Packet soups, meat soups. Alcohol.	Irish coffee. Full-fat malted drinks, drinking chocolate. Cream soups. Non-dairy coffee whitener
Sweets	Clear pickles. Sugar-free sweeteners, e.g. saccharin tablets or liquid; aspartame sweetener.	Sweet pickles and chutney; jam, marmalade, honey, syrup, marzipan, peanut butter, lemon curd. Boiled sweets, pastilles, peppermints. Sugar, sorbitol, glucose, fructose.	Mincemeat containing suet. Chocolate spreads, candy bars, toffees, fudge, butterscotch, chocolate, coconut bars.
Spices and dressings	Herbs, spices, mustard, pepper, vinegar. Low-fat dressings, e.g. lemon or low-fat yoghurt. Low-calorie salad cream or low-calorie mayonnaise.	Meat and fish pastes; bottled sauces. French dressing, ordinary salad cream, mayonnaise or soy sauce.	Cream or cream cheese dressings.