Q: Are all saturated fats, regardless of their source (animal vs. vegetable), created equal? I understand that in general saturated fats are to be avoided, yet nuts, for example, regardless of their fat content, are highly recommended for heart health.

Answer :Alice H. Lichtenstein, DSc, director of Tufts HNRCA Cardiovascular Nutrition Laboratory, answers: Although experimentally all saturated fatty acids do not behave equally, because we consume each fat as a mixture the individual fat differences become moot. All foods have a mixture of saturated, monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids. The defining factor is the relative proportion of each. Most nuts have considerably more monounsaturated or polyunsaturated than saturated fatty acids; hence, they are considered a good source of healthy fat. Only about 10% of the fat in walnuts, for example, is saturated fat; for almonds, its about 8%.