Calculating Daily Fat Intake

 Assumptions:

1.  Most everyone knows what they should be eating if they want to be healthy.
2.   I would think everyone would want to be healthy – wouldn’t they?
3.    Therefore, must be they don’t know how to go about eating healthy  – right?
4.    Why not just give you an easy way to do it right?

A – Easy Stuff:  Don’t take in calories that are easily avoided like sugary beverages.  Have water, diet soda, flavored calorie free waters etc.  Eat fruits – not their fiber-free juice.

B – Little Harder Stuff:   Limit the TOTAL FAT in your daily intake to 30 – 40 grams ( for why, see chart)

This is ALL the fats; not just saturated.  The saturated should be no more than 10 – 12 grams/day

C – Takes Practice:  How do you count FAT grams?  You first need to know which foods have fat in them.  They are basically dairy products (milk, eggs, cheese, butter, margarine plus meats; primarily red meats.  Only limited vegetables have fat – nuts, olives, avocados, & palms.

Virtually all products should provide fat content per serving.  If not available and you don’t know, DON’T EAT IT!

Liquid fats count.  If you feel virtuous at the restaurant dipping your bread in olive oil rather than putting butter on it, think how much olive oil you are using.  If you dip each bite of that roll, it will absorb at least a teaspoon each time.  Six dips = 30 grams of fat since each teaspoon ~ 5 grams of fat (see chart).  That means that piece of bread before that lip-smacking meal you are about to devour has blown your total daily fat allowance – not to mention breakfast and lunch as well.

 Gerald L. Evans, M.D.