Are you aware that a diet high in saturated fat and cholesterol is not healthy? Most people know this, but few do anything about it. Hi, This is Dr. John Torquato with today’s, “Health Nuggets by Dr. John.” A recent surgeon general’s report pointed out that a diet high in saturated fat and cholesterol is a major cause of diseases including: cancer, heart disease and high blood pressure. For best possible health only 5 to 7 percent of your daily calories should come from saturated fat. (For women that’s about 9 to 12 grams per day and for men it is about 11 to 16 grams per day.) Dietary cholesterol should also be limited to less than 200mg per day. You should try to get as close to 0 grams dietary cholesterol as possible because, your body produces its own cholesterol and doesn’t need any cholesterol from your diet). So here is a tip to reduce the saturated fat and cholesterol in your diet. 1 Read the labels on the foods you eat: check the grams of saturated fat and cholesterol that are listed. Then try keeping track of your saturated fat and cholesterol intake for a few days. See if you can get it down to 10 to 15 grams of saturated fat per day, and see how little dietary cholesterol you can eat. Doing this can be a start to decreasing your risk of disease and improving your life.