Links

Taking the fat out of your diet is going to require label reading and some math. Presently, most authorities recommend a diet that contains 30 per cent or fewer calories from fat. For athletes and the truly health-conscious, 10-20 per cent fat calories is the target range most sought today.

In order to find the percentage of fat calories in any given food, you need to do some math. Each fat gram gives you nine calories. To determine the percentage of fat calories, multiply the fat grams by nine, and then divide by the total number of calories. For example, if one serving contains 100 calories, and five grams of fat, your per cent of fat calories is 45 (5 grams X Calories = 45 fat calories, divided by 100 = 45). If this is too complicated, several companies now offer slide-rule or wheel devices that give you this figure without computation. Although less accurate, you can try counting grams. A rough average is 22-30 grams of dietary fat per day. Over 30 grams and you are probably eating too much.

Due to the epidemic of heart disease in India, you should definitely have a blood serum test. If one or more of the following risk factors apply to you:

Too much of anything makes you fat
Fat is the worse culprit in our diets, but don't think that counting fat calories clears the road for you to eat all the carbohydrates or protein calories you want. Carbohydrates, simple or complex, and protein can all store themselves as fat when eaten in quantities over and above what you require to fuel your daily activity.

Alcohol is another deceptive fat maker. If you read nutrition books, you'll see that most alcohol contains no fat. But the simple sugars convert in your body and the calorie count skyrockets!
Good nutrition requires you to limit fat, avoid saturated and trans fats, and keep your total calories consumed in line with your caloric expenditure.

Role of Dietary Fat and Fibre in Weight Management
Several epidemiological studies have shown that overweight individuals eat less or as much as normal individuals. We are consuming less calories compared to our intake at the turn of this century. Even then the incidence of obesity is increasing. Hence we cannot view obesity solely as being due to consuming too many calories.

In the last five decades a changing trend is emerging in industrialized nations and affluent societies in developing countries. The total fat consumption is increasing and that of carbohydrates is creasing. There are well documented studies to show that as the per cent of fat increases in the diet, there is an increase in the tendency for obesity even if the total calorie intake remains the same, i.e., if the same number of calories are taken as carbohydrates and fats then an individual with the carbohydrate intake is less likely to develop obesity.

Related Items:

• Anorexia Nervosa Treatment
• Defining fat and obesity
• Fat Facts
• The fat you cannot see - chole

---