UPDATE: With the emphasis on low-fat eating, I have decided to summarize some tips from an article "Get the Fat Out" by Liz Applegate in the July 1991 issue of Runner's World.

Before listing the tips for low-fat eating, Applegate suggested learning the "Nine Rule." Since every gram of fat contains nine calories, you can determine the amount of fat in food by multiplying the number of fat grams by 9 and dividing by the total number of calories in each serving. For instance, if a food has 140 calories per serving and 3 grams of fat, it would be about 19 percent fat (3 x 9 27 divided by 140 .19).On average, Americans consume an artery-clogging 37 percent of their calories in fat. Nutritionists recommend a diet containing only 25 to 30 percent fat calories for better health. Therefore, when buying foods, look at the nutrition label and aim for foods that have 3 grams or less of fat per 100 calories of food product. This will keep fat calories to less than 30 percent. Other tips for low-fat shopping are as follows:

1. Use water-packed tuna rather than that packed in oil to save 14 grams of fat per 61/2-ounce can.

2. Buy no-calorie or reduced-calorie salad dressing.

3. When buying milk, opt for skim or 1 percent to save 8 grams of fat per cup.

4. Purchase leaner cuts of meat for substantial fat savings. For example, 3 ounces of top round steak will save 15 grams of fat over the same amount of T-bone steak. Three ounces of cooked extra-lean ground beef has 13 grams of fat compared with 18 grams for the same amount of regular hamburger.

5. Pick bottled spaghetti sauces without meat and add your own extra-lean ground beef or ground poultry. You'll save 7 grams of fat per half-cup serving.

6. When buying canned soups, select those with a broth base rather than cream soups because most broth-based soups have 3 grams of fat (or less) whereas cream of chicken has, on average, 7 grams of fat per cup.

For low-fat cooking, use a variety of dried and fresh herbs to enhance the flavor of low-fat foods. You also need non-stick pans and plastic-coated spatulas and spoons so you can cook without adding fat. A vegetable steamer, rice cooker and microwave oven can also help in the preparation of low-fat meals. Additional tips are:

1. When preparing foods that call for added oils, butter or margarine, cut back on the amount. For very low-fat muffins or quick breads, substitute applesauce in equal amounts for oil or margarine. This spares the fat calories but still keeps moisture.

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2. For stir-frys and other dishes that require sauteing, use broth instead of oil.

3. Remove skin from chicken and turkey before baking or broiling.

4. Substitute two egg whites (fat-free) for each whole egg called for in recipes or when making omelettes. You'll save 6 grams of fat with every two-for-one switch.

Next week I'll continue with some more fat saving tips.

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