Fat has more calories than any other nutrient, which may explain why so many dieters try to avoid it. Compared to carbohydrates and protein, which have 4 calories per gram, fat has more than twice that amount: 9 calories per gram. Limit your intake of fat to 20 to 35 percent of your daily calories, advises the Mayo Clinic. The number of grams from fat you should get each day depends on the total number of calories you consume.
Calculating Dietary Fat
It's helpful to know how much fat you're allotted per day, because dietary fat is listed in "grams" on Nutrition Facts panels of the food you buy. Mayo Clinic nutritionist Katherine Zeratsky suggests a helpful equation for tallying up fat grams. Suppose you consume 2,000 calories a day. Multiply 2,000 by .20 (20 percent), which is 400; now multiply 2,000 by .35 (35 percent), which is 700. If you eat a 2,000-calorie diet, you should get between 20 percent, or 400, to 35 percent, or 700, calories from fat. Since there are 9 calories in a gram of fat, divide 400 and 700 by nine, which is 44 g and 78 g, respectively. Therefore you should consume between 44 and 78 g of fat daily. The same formula can be used for lower and higher calorie diets. Someone who eats a 1,600-calorie daily diet should get between 36 and 62 grams from dietary fat, for example.
Unhealthy Fats
Unfortunately for dieters and those concerned with the ill effects of dietary fat, calculating the amount of fat you can get per day doesn't end there. The American Heart Association stresses the importance of limiting two unhealthy fats: saturated and trans fats. Saturated fat comes primarily from animal sources and certain plant oils, such as coconut oil, palm oil and palm kernel oil. Trans fat is found in small amounts in food, but it's primarily associated with the end result that occurs after the process of hydrogenation. Shortening and stick margarine are two examples of foods high in trans fat. The Mayo Clinic notes that these unhealthy fats are typically those that retain their form at room temperature. Consuming too much unhealthy fat is associated with high blood cholesterol and an increased risk of heart disease.
Saturated Fat & Trans Fat
The AHA recommends that you get no more than 7 percent of your calories from saturated fat. Therefore, if you eat a 2,000 calorie diet, allow yourself no more than 15 g of saturated fat (2,000 times .07, which is 140, divided by 9 -- the number of calories in a gram of fat -- about 15 g).
Trans fats are tough to avoid entirely, because they occur naturally in animal-based foods. However, the AHA's recommendation is that you get no more than 1 percent of your daily calories from trans fat. For those who eat a 2,000 calorie diet -- and for most people -- this is less than 2 g.
Fat and Diet
With such rigid amounts imposed on saturated fat and trans fat, you may wonder where your dietary fat should come from. According to the AHA, monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fat should make up most of the fat in your diet. These healthy fats, which can actually reduce your cholesterol levels and contribute to heart health, are found in liquid plant-based oils, such as canola oil, olive oil, safflower and sunflower oil, as well as avocados, seeds, nuts and fatty fish. There are no dietary requirements established for healthy fats, reports the Mayo Clinic.
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