Which of these shortening-laden measures represents a gram of fat? Read on to find out…
Dietary fat got a bad reputation in the 90s, when the dieting trends were about eating foods low in fat. Unfortunately, most products (and people) started replacing fat in their diet with increased levels of sugar. Several recent studies show that fat need not be treated as the enemy we were led to believe it was. However, you should be aware of the amount and type of fat you are choosing to eat.
There are several sources of healthy fats (monounsaturated, polyunsaturated and omega-3 fatty acids), including:
- olive oil
- canola oil
- avocados
- walnuts
- almonds
- fatty fish
- flaxseeds
There are also harmful fats (saturated fat, transfats, dietary cholesterol), found in
- meat
- poultry
- eggs
- dairy products
- butter
- partially hydrogenated oils
How Much Fat Should You Have Each Day?
After researching our earlier article about sodium, I began to realize I didn’t have an image in my head for how much a gram of fat actually was. A quick look at the back of a shortening container cleared up this problem. One gram of fat is equivalent to 1/4 teaspoon, or 9 calories. The recommended fat intake per day is between 20% and 35% of your daily caloric intake. Let’s take a look at how much fat you should have per day, measured in calories, grams, teaspoons and tablespoons.
| Age | Daily Calories | Fat (Calories) | Fat (g) | Fat (tsp) | Fat (T) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2-3 | 1,000 | 200 – 350 | 22 – 39 | 5.5 – 9.75 | 2 – 3.25 |
| 4-8 | 1,300 | 260 – 455 | 29 – 51 | 7.25 – 12.75 | 2.5 – 4.25 |
| 9-13 | 1,700 | 340 – 595 | 37 – 66 | 9.25 – 16.5 | 3 – 5.5 |
| 14-18 | 2,100 | 420 – 735 | 47 – 82 | 11.75 – 20.5 | 4 – 7 |
| 19-30 | 2,200 | 440 – 770 | 49 – 86 | 12.25 – 21.5 | 4 – 7 |
| 31-50 | 2,000 | 400 – 700 | 44 – 78 | 11 – 19.5 | 3.5 – 6.5 |
| 51+ | 1,900 | 380 – 665 | 42 – 74 | 5.5 – 9.75 | 3.5 – 6 |
*This chart shows the middle range of daily calories for an age group. To learn how many calories you should have based on your age and activity level, view our Food Pyramid blog entry. Tablespoons are rounded to the nearest 1/4 tablespoon.
If you are an 18 year-old student, this means you should have between 420 and 735 calories from fat daily. For reference, here’s a list of some common foods and their fat content.
| Food | Grams of Fat | #Teaspoons | Fat Calories |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oreos | 7 | 1 3/4 | 63 |
| Almonds | 14 | 3 1/2 | 126 |
| Goldfish Crackers | 5 | 1 1/4 | 45 |
| Fig Newmans | 2 | 1/2 | 18 |
| Lays Classic Potato Chips | 10 | 2 1/2 | 90 |
| Avocado | 6 | 1 1/2 | 54 |
| Roasted Cashews | 15 | 3 3/4 | 135 |
| String Cheese | 6 | 1 1/2 | 54 |
When you are eating meals or snacking, choose unprocessed over processed if you can. Sauté with olive oil instead of butter, and enjoy lowfat and skim dairy products to keep your saturated fat intake low. When you enjoy meat, stick with the recommended portion size of 3 ounces (a deck of cards) instead of the 9-16 ounce portions we’ve become accustomed to by the restaurant industry.
More about Amy and Scott Dawson, creators of Lunchtaker.com: One of our core focuses is on nutrition and fitness. Our children both attended a parent cooperative pre-school where the morning snack was as healthy as possible, and our family liked the opportunities for new foods that arose in pre-school. As our children go through grade school, we are focusing on continuing the trend of ensuring we feed ourselves a variety of foods, all good for our bodies... read more...
Posted Tuesday, March 30th, 2010 at 5:32 pm and filed under Nutrition. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
