Step 1 & Step 2 Fat & Cholesterol Restricted Diets

(The Step 2 diet is lower in saturated fat and cholesterol than the Step 1 diet)

This diet provides guidelines for selecting foods low in total fat, saturated fat and cholesterol.

• Proper diet helps decrease your child’s blood cholesterol level.
• High cholesterol (total greater than 200 with a HDL cholesterol less than 35 and a LDL greater than 100) is a risk factor for your child to develop heart disease as an adult. Diet changes can help lower your child’s cholesterol (if elevated) or prevent elevated cholesterol levels in the future.
• The recommendations made below can be used for the whole family to help lessen the development of heart disease.
• Because the tendency to have an elevated cholesterol level may run in families, we recommend that parents of children who are found to have elevated cholesterol levels, also have their cholesterol level checked.
• Cholesterol lowering medicines are not used in children before 10 years of age.

These guidelines are based on the recommendations of the National Cholesterol Education Program. This diet was designed to provide less than 30% of calories from fat.

• Reduce total fat by eating less margarine, salad dressing and oil.
• Avoid fried foods, fatty meats and whole milk products, including cheese and ice cream.
• Choose foods low in saturated fat. Saturated fats are usually found in animal fats.
• Three plant oils, coconut, palm and palm kernel, are also high in saturated fat.
• Select foods low in cholesterol.
• Cholesterol is found only in foods from animals.
• Foods from plants contain no cholesterol.
• Eat more vegetables, fruits, breads, cereals, pasta, rice and dry beans and peas. These foods contain little or no fat and no cholesterol.
• Eat more fiber. The type of fiber in oats, barley, dry beans and peas and many fruits and vegetables helps lower blood cholesterol levels

Suggestions For The Whole Family

• If you are overweight, losing weight will also help lower your blood cholesterol level.
• Increase your child’s physical activity. Regular exercise helps lower your child’s risk of heart disease. Your child can safely exercise to the point of becoming winded. If you have a flight of stairs in your home, start your child on a routine of climbing the stairs multiple times on a daily basis. Over time, your child should be able to increase the number of times going up and down the stairs without stopping from shortness of breath.
• Read food labels. Check the "Nutrition Facts" panel for the amount of total fat, saturated fat and cholesterol in a product. Look for products labeled fat free or low fat and cholesterol free or low cholesterol.
• Avoid products containing coconut oil, palm oil, palm kernel oil or shortening.
• Decrease use of hydrogenated and partially-hydrogenated fats by selecting tub or liquid margarine rather than stick margarine.
• Bake, broil, roast or grill meat, poultry and fish. Place on a rack so the fat drains off.
• Since total fat is restricted in your diet, use herbs, spices, flavored vinegars, lemon juice and fat-free condiments to add flavor to foods.'
• When preparing food use:

egg whites or cholesterol-free egg substitutes to replace eggs

unsaturated oils and liquid margarine to replace butter

skim milk to replace whole or 2% milk

in baking, try replacing half the fat in the recipe with applesauce or nonfat plain yogurt.

• When eating out, select a restaurant that offers low fat foods or will prepare foods to meet your diet needs.
• Ask for butter, sauces, and dressings to be served on the side.
• If your meat, poultry or fish serving is larger than 3 oz. (about the size of a deck of playing cards), take the rest home to enjoy at another meal.

Suggestions For Foods To Choose And Those To Avoid

Breads, Cereals, Rice and Pasta

Serving Suggestion: 6-11 servings per day. One serving is 1 slice bread; 1 oz. Ready-to-eat cereal or 1/2 cup of cooked cereal, rice or pasta.

Choose:

• All enriched and whole grain breads or yeast rollsBread sticks, melba toast, graham crackers, saltines, pretzels, low fat crackers, rice cakes
• Enriched and whole grain cereals
• Pita bread, bagels, English muffins, tortillas
• Homemade bread products prepared with allowed ingredients in recommended amounts
• Commercial low fat or nonfat bread products
• Pasta and rice, except those listed to avoid

Avoid:

• Regular biscuits, muffins, french toast, waffles, pancakes and snack crackers
• Doughnuts, croissants, sweet rolls
• Most granolas, egg breads, fried rice
• Chow, mein, noodles, pasta or rice prepared with butter, cheese, whole milk, cream, cream sauce, cheese sauce or more than allowed amount of oil.

Vegetables:

Serving Suggestion: 3-5 servings per day. One serving is 1 cup of raw leafy vegetables, 1/2 cup of other vegetables (cooked or chopped raw) or 3/4 cup vegetable juice.

Choose:

• All fresh, frozen or canned without added fat or sauceVegetable juices.

Avoid:

• Vegetables fried or prepared with butter, cheese, whole milk, cream, cream sauce, cheese sauce.

Fruits

Serving Suggestion: 2-4 servings per day. One serving is 1 medium piece of fresh fruitI/2 cup of chopped, cooked or canned fruit or 3/4 cup fruit juice.

Choose:

• All fresh, frozen, canned or dried fruits and fruit juices (limit of 10 ounces/day).
• To increase fiber, choose fruits with edible skins and seeds.

Avoid:

• Coconut, avocadoFried fruit or fruit served with butter or cream sauce.

Milk, Yogurt and Cheese

Serving Suggestion: 2-3 servings per day. One serving is 1 cup milk, 1 cup yogurt, 11/2 oz. natural cheese or 2 oz. processed cheese.

Choose:

• Skim or 1 % milk
• Nonfat buttermilk, nonfat chocolate milk, nonfat dry milk, evaporated skim milk.
• Low fat cheese (3 grams fat/oz. or less)
• Low fat or nonfat cottage cheese (0 to 2% fat), farmers cheese
• Nonfat or low fat yogurt and yogurt beverages.

Avoid:

• Whole and 2% milk
• Condensed, evaporated, imitation and malted milk, milk shakesRegular cheeses (American, Blue, Brie, Cheddar, Colby, Edam, Monterey Jack, whole-milk Mozzarella, Parmesan, Swiss), Neufchatel cheese
• Cheese with more than 3 grams fat/oz
• Cottage cheese with 4% fat
• Yogurt made from whole milk.

Meat, Fish, Poultry, Dry Beans and Peas

Limit meat, fish and poultry to 6 ounces cooked per day for Step 1 and 5 ounces cooked for Step 2

Limit shrimp to one 3 oz. serving per week for Steps 1 and 2

Choose:

• Lean cuts of beef including sirloin tip, round steak, rump roast and arm roast
• Lean cuts of pork, including center-cut ham, loin chops and tenderloin
• Lean cuts of lamb
• Trim all visible fat from meats before cooking
• Extra-lean ground beef, drained well after cooking
• Poultry without skin
• Lean ground turkey that does not contain turkey skin and fat
• Fish (ones that swim rather than crawl on the sea bottom)
• Water packed canned tuna and salmon
• Dry beans and peas
• Tofu
• Luncheon meat with less than 3 grams of fat per ounce

Avoid:

• High fat cuts of meat, including regular ground beef and spare ribs
• Organ meats, such as liver, sweetbreads and kidney
• Poultry skin, fried chicken
• Bacon, regular luncheon meats, such as bologna and salamiSausage, hot dogs
• Fried fish, fried shellfish, Caviar, Squid.

Eggs

Limit to 4 yolks per week for Step 1 and 2 yolks per week for Step 2, including eggs used in cooking.

Choose:

• Egg whites, cholesterol-free egg substitutes.

Avoid:

• More than allowed egg yolks per week.

Soups

Choose:

• Fat-free broth or bouillon
• Soups made with skim milk and allowed amount of vegetable oil or margarine
• Fat-free broth based soups.

Avoid:

• Soups made with meat fat, butter, cream or whole milk
• Fatty broths

Fats

Limit to 6-8 servings per day, including fats used in cooking and baking

One serving is equal to:

1 tsp: of oil, soft margarine or mayonnaise

2 tsp. of peanut butter

1 tablespoon of oil-based salad dressing, diet margarine, reduced calorie mayonnaise,

low fat sour cream or light tub cream cheese.

2 tablespoons of low fat salad dressing.

1 tablespoon of seeds or nuts.

Choose:

• Unsaturated oils: safflower, canola, corn, sunflower, soybean, sesame seed, olive and peanut.
• Soft or liquid margarine made from these unsaturated oils.
• Light or diet margarineSalad dressings made with unsaturated oils listed above.
• Low fat salad dressings, low fat coffee creamer, low fat sour cream, low fat mayonnaise.
• Light tub cream cheese.
• Peanut butter- low fat.
• Nonfat mayonnaise, nonfat sour cream, nonfat cream cheese and nonfat salad dressings may be used as desired.

Avoid:

• Coconut, palm and palm kernel oils.
• Butter, lard, shortening, bacon fat, hard margarine.
• Cream, half and half, whipping cream, nondairy creamer, whipped topping, regular sour cream and cream cheese.
• Salad dressings made with egg yolk, cheese, sour cream, whole milk or cream.

Desserts and Sweets

Provide calories, with little vitamins or minerals. Use very, very sparingly.

Choose:

• Low fat and nonfat frozen yogurt, ice milk, sherbet, sorbet, fruit ice, ice pops, Gelatin
• Homemade cookies, cake, pie or pudding prepared with allowed ingredients only
• Gingersnaps, vanilla wafers, fig and other fruit bar cookies
• Commercial fat-free cakes and cookies, Angel food cake
• Honey, jam, jelly, marmalade

Avoid:

• Ice cream and frozen treats made with ice cream
• Desserts made with whole milk, cream, egg yolks, butter and lard
• High fat commercial cakes, cookies, pies and prepared mixes containing ingredients not allowed
• Candies made with whole milk, cream, butter, coconut oil, palm oil or palm kernel oil

Miscellaneous

Choose:

• Herbs, spices, condiments
• Air popped popcorn without added fat
• Plain pretzels-low ft
• Chips-low fat or nonfat
• Cocoa powderCoffee, tea, grain beverages, fruit drinks.

Avoid:

• Buttered popcorn or popcorn prepared in oil.
• Regular snack chips.
• Olives.

Carbonated beverages (may decrease calcium storage in bones)

Counting Fat Grams

(*Add extra grams for any oil or butter used in cooking)

Meat Grams

Chicken drumstick, skinless, roasted 2.5

Chicken breast (3.5 oz skinless, roasted) 3.5

Turkey breast (3.5 oz skinless) 3.5

Chicken drumstick, with skin, roasted 5.8

Sirloin steak (3 oz lean) 7.0

Turkey dog 8.0

Chicken breast (3.5 oz with skin, fried) 8.7

Lamb chop (3 oz lean) 12.4

Hot dog 12.8

Hamburger patty (4 oz lean, cooked medium) 20.9

Whole rib (4 oz lean and fat, broiled) 31.0

Fish

Flounder (3 oz cooked) 1.3

Salmon (3 oz baked) 5.0

Fried fillet sandwich (3 oz w/tartar sauce) 27.0

Salad dressing (1 tablespoon)

Thousand Island, low-calorie 1.6

Thousand Island 5.6

French, regular 6.4

Oil and vinegar 8.0

Main courses

Spaghetti with meatless sauce (1 cup) 1.5

Bean/cheese burrito (Ig.) 9.7

Chicken chow mein (1 cup) 10.0

Pizza, cheese (1 slice) 10.1

Spaghetti with meat sauce (1 cup) 16.7

Lasagna with beef and cheese 19.8

Sweet/sour pork (1 cup) 21.7

Fats and oils

Butter (1 tsp. or 1 pat) 4.0

Crisco (1 tablespoon) 12.0

Olive oil (I tablespoon) 13.5

Peanut oil (1 tablespoon) 13.5

Corn oil (1 tablespoon) - 13.6

Sandwiches

Turkey breast w/mustard 5.2

Tuna salad 14.2

Peanut butter and jelly 15.1

BLT with mayonnaise 15.6

Bread

Breadstick . 0.2

Whole wheat, 1 slice 1.0

Plain bagel 2.0

Breadstick with sesame seeds 3.7

Bran muffin, homemade 5.1

Croissant, small 6.1

Bran muffin, commercial 10.3

Cheese (1 oz)

Cheddar, reduced fat 5.0

American, reduced calorie 2.2

Cottage, 2% fat (1/2 cup) 2.2

Monterey Jack 8.6

American, processed 8.9

Cheddar 9.4

Cream cheese 9.9

Milk (1 cup)

Skim 0.4

1% low-fat 2.6

2% low-fat 4.6

Whole . 8.2

Dessert

Chocolate-flavored syrup (2 tablespoons) 0.4

Sherbet (1/2 cup) 1.9

Ice milk (1/2 cup) 2.8

Chocolate cupcake 4.0

Peach cobbler (1/2 cup) 6.0

Crumb coffee cake (med. slice) 7.0

Ice cream (1/2 cup) 7.0-12.0

Vanilla soft-serve (1/2 cup) 11.3

Carrot cake with cream cheese frosting 21.0

High Sugar

Lollipop 0

Jelly beans 0

Gumdrop . 2.0

Twizzlers (1 oz) 1.0