Twenty to thirty-five percent of your calories should come from fat. The bad news is that most Americans consume over 40 percent of their daily calories from fat. This overload of fat can lead to obesity and heart disease, as well as high blood cholesterol and countless other health problems.
Most of the fat in your diet should come from "good fats". Saturated fats and trans fats are best avoided but, in any case, should make up no more than 10 percent of your total calories. Dietary cholesterol intake should be less than 300 mg a day. If you have high blood cholesterol levels, you should aim for less than 200 mg a day.
Refer to the table below to see how much fat you should be consuming per day.
Daily total calories | Calories from fat (20 to 35% cals) | Daily total fat grams (20 to 35% cals) | Daily saturated fat grams (No more than 10% of cals) |
---|---|---|---|
1200 cals |
240 to 420 cals |
27 to 47g |
13g |
1500 cals |
300 to 525 cals |
33 to 58g |
17g |
1800 cals |
360 to 630 cals |
40 to 70g |
20g |
2000 cals |
400 to 700 cals |
44 to 78g |
22g |
2200 cals |
440 to 770 cals |
49 to 86g |
25g |
2500 cals |
500 to 875 cals |
56 to 97g |
28g |
2800 cals |
560 to 980 cals |
62 to 109g |
31g |
3000 cals |
600 to 1050 cals |
67 to 117g |
33g |