The faces of fat: have you been avoiding fat like the plague? Well, here's some information that may change your mind about fat's place in your diet.

Fats can be good for your body. But that doesn't mean you should discard all your low-fat snacks in favor of those with "everything" in them. The disclaimer here is that certain "good" fat and total fats eaten in moderation may help maintain your health by playing the role fats have always played in your body:

1. Fats provide stores of energy you can use during a calorie deficit;

2. Fats provide essential fatty acids and carry fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E, and K through your body; and

3. Fats insulate and protect your body organs.

Thus your goal should never be zero fats in your diet.

"A lot of people, especially those with eating disorders, think any trace of fats is bad," says Jennifer E. Anderson, Ph.D., R.D., professor and cooperative extension specialist in the Department of Food Sciences and Human Nutrition at Colorado State University. "We need some fat."

But too much total fat, whether or not the fats are made up of "good" fat, can be too much of a good thing, Anderson adds. "There is too much of a good thing when it comes to fat."

Good Fats, Bad Fats

So which fats are the "good guys in white hats" and which are the enemies? "The good fats are those we know do not increase your blood cholesterol level. We call other fats bad fats because we know they can increase your cholesterol level, which increases your risk for blocked arteries, atherosclerosis, heart attacks, or a stroke," Anderson says.

More specifically, bad fats are called "saturated," meaning they're saturated with hydrogen atoms. Usually bad fats are solid when they're sitting at room temperature. Good fats are unsaturated, meaning they're missing one or more pair of hydrogen atoms. Good fats are usually liquid at room temperature.

Saturated fats are found in coconut, palm, and palm kernel oils, plus whole milk, butter, cheese, lard, fatty meat cuts, and more. Monounsaturated fats are found in olive and canola oils, nuts, avocados, and some seeds. Polyunsaturated fats are found in corn and safflower oils and sunflower seeds.

Another term you've been hearing more of is trans fats. These are fats that have been through a process called hydrogenation. This means that hydrogen atoms are added to unsaturated fats, making them solid at room temperature in the process. In the future food labels will need to list the amount of trans fat in each serving. Trans fats have strong negative effects on your blood cholesterol levels.

"You'll find trans fat in a lot of processed foods, ready prepared foods, and those types of foods that have a lot of hydrogenated shortening. So when you use shortenings or when you use anything that's been hydrogenated, like margarine, that means the manufacturers have turned the fatty acids into what is termed a trans fat," Anderson says.

How Much Fat Is Too Much?

"You want no more than 30 percent of your overall calories from total fat, and of that amount, less than 10 percent should come from saturated fat," Anderson says.

Read the nutrition labels on your foods, and you'll start to notice two things. First, you'll see the various fat terms defined above. Second, you'll notice that nutrition labels list the percent daily value of these fats based on a certain calorie diet specified (usually 2,000 calories per day). Use this information to calculate your own nutrition needs. If you need to eat fewer than 2,000 calories to maintain your weight, you'll need to eat proportionally fewer grams of fat. Ultimately, you should be aware of what you're eating by paying attention to your fat choices, total calorie consumption, and portion sizes.

Karen Fritscher-Porter writes on health issues from her home in Bloomingdale, Georgia.