What is the average fat intake

How much fat should we really be eating? Low-fat, fat-free, a lot of fat — it can be confusing. Some practical tips: Use olive oil instead of butter or margarine. Eat less red meat, poultry skin and fried food.

So, for example, if you're trying to cut down on sugar, you should eat fewer foods that have more than If you want to eat less saturated fats, it's best to choose fewer foods that have more than 5g of saturates per g. The "traffic-light" style colour coding on the front of food packs helps you see at a glance whether a food is high red , medium amber or low green in fat, saturated fat, sugars or salt.

Read more about red, amber and green colour coding. Page last reviewed: 8 June Next review due: 8 June Reference intakes explained - Eat well Secondary navigation Food and diet Nutrition and food groups Eating a balanced diet 8 tips for healthy eating The Eatwell Guide Food labels Food labelling terms Reference intakes on food labels Starchy foods and carbohydrates Dairy and alternatives Meat in your diet Fish and shellfish The healthy way to eat eggs Beans and pulses Water, drinks and your health Eating processed foods.

Why 5 A Day? However, the good news is that, according to the dietary report card from CSPI, Americans have increased their consumption of unsaturated fats from salad and cooking oils, such as olive oil, and are eating less trans and saturated fat-rich shortening than in ; however, the numbers show that the SAD is still going over the recommended amount of all types of fat.

Take a close look at your diet to determine if you could stand to cut back on fat, whether overall or just certain types. On a 2,calorie diet, 20 to 35 percent of calories from fat means eating approximately 44 to 77 grams of fat a day. Of that, keep saturated fat consumption to fewer than 22 grams a day. To keep within these limits, replace foods that are high in saturated fat with unsaturated fat options, such as replacing butter with a plant-based oil like olive oil.

This content does not have an Arabic version. See more conditions. Request Appointment. Healthy Lifestyle Nutrition and healthy eating. Products and services. I'm concerned about saturated fat. What's an easy way to track how much I'm getting? Answer From Katherine Zeratsky, R. With Katherine Zeratsky, R. Thank you for Subscribing Our Housecall e-newsletter will keep you up-to-date on the latest health information.

Please try again. Something went wrong on our side, please try again. Show references Duyff RL. Fat facts. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt; Changes to the Nutrition Facts label. Food and Drug Administration. Accessed Feb. Department of Health and Human Services and U.