Fat Grams & Your Diet

Too much saturated fat in your diet causes cholesterol buildup in the arteries and can lead to heart disease, explains MedlinePlus. A diet that provides an excess amount of fat can also lead to obesity and increase your risk for certain types of cancer. Even the healthier polyunsaturated fats can be harmful in excessive amounts.

Identification

The calories in your diet come from fats, carbohydrates and proteins. Fats are lipids and come in liquid or solid form. Fats consist of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen, according to MedlinePlus. Your body needs fat to support blood clotting, healthy brain development and inflammation management. MedlinePlus adds that you also need fat in your diet for healthy skin and hair and for the absorption of vitamins A, D, E and K.

Types

Dietary fats include saturated fats, trans fats and unsaturated fats. Beef, veal, lard, butter, pork, poultry fat and dairy products contain saturated fat, as do a few plant-based foods such as coconut, coconut oil, palm oil and cocoa butter, according to the American Heart Association. Trans fats are formed when hydrogen is added to vegetable oils to make them solid. Trans fats occur naturally in trace amounts in some foods, including beef, pork, lamb and milk. Polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats come from nuts, seeds, cold-water fish and liquid vegetable oils such as olive, canola and soybean.

Recommendations

Adults should get 20 to 35 percent of their calories from fat, explains the Institute of Medicine. Not all fats are healthy fats. Some types of fat increase your blood cholesterol level, while others can help lower cholesterol. The majority of your fats should be unsaturated fats. The American Heart Association advises that you limit saturated fat to 7 percent of total calories and trans fat to 1 percent or less of total calories.

Identification

The Mayo Clinic advises that you translate the recommended percentages into fat grams to help you monitor your intake. Since 1 g of fat provides nine calories, you can identify how many grams you need based on your caloric intake. Multiply your daily calorie target by 20 percent and by 35 percent to determine the minimum and maximum number of calories that should come from fat in your diet. Then divide those numbers by nine to calculate how many grams of dietary fat you should aim for daily. For example, on a 2,000-calorie diet, your target would be 44 to 78 g of fat daily. That allows no more than 15.5 g from saturated fat and 2 g from trans fat daily.

Considerations

Omega-3 fatty acids are a form of polyunsaturated fat that can lower your triglycerides and improve cardiovascular health. Sources include salmon, mackerel, lake trout, herring and albacore tuna. The American Heart Association recommends that you eat fish at least twice a week.