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Low-fat diets are followed for many reasons, such as weight loss and/or weight maintenance and for the prevention of some diseases like cancer, diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and heart disease.

The general guideline to follow for a low-fat diet is to keep your fat intake at 20 to 30% of your daily calories, and saturated fat to 10% or less of your daily calories.

Fats that should be avoided include: saturated fats (found in red meat and dairy products), polyunsaturated fats (found in vegetable oils like corn oil, sunflower oil and safflower oil), trans fatty acids (found in processed foods containing partially hydrogenated oils, including some snack foods), and highly processed foods.

Drink and food items good for a low-fat lifestyle include:

• Air-popped popcorn
• Bagels
• Dried beans
• Egg whites
• Fat-free mayonnaise
• Fruit rolls
• Lean chicken and turkey
• Nonfat milk
• Nonfat yogurt
• Oatmeal
• Pasta
• Pita bread
• Sorbet
• Tuna
• Wheat germ

Quick Tip: Try replacing microwave popcorn with air-popped popcorn. Popcorn is a healthy snack because it is high in fiber. However, microwave popcorn is almost always higher in fat then air-popped popcorn due to the oil that is added in microwave popcorn.