Feedback
En Español
SWHP News

Chewing the Fat!

The SWHP Heartbeat
Heartbeat

Calculating Daily Fat Intake
by Dr.G. Evans

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?

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.

Little Harder Stuff

  • Limit the TOTAL FAT in your daily intake to 30 - 40 grams (for why, see chart that follows)
  • ALL the fats count; not just saturated. Not just bad fats. The saturated should be no more than 10 - 12 grams/day.

Each gram of fat produces 9 calories
Calories per day 20% Calories from Fat Fat grams/day
1800 360 40
1500 300 30
Your Daily Fat Intake will be 30-40 grams
Fish Fat is Free

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 labeled products should provide you with their 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.

Common Kitchen Measurements
Teaspoon Tablespoon Ounce Grams of Fat
1 1/3 1/6 5
3 1 1/2 15
6 2 1 30

Dr. Gerald Evans is an experienced and accomplished cardiologist who practiced for many years in the town of Framingham Massachusetts, the site of the famed Framingham Heart Study. Dr. Evans has spent the last decade after a successful practice teaching heart health especially to promote workplace wellness and founded his organization, Heart Ventures, to promote cost effective, educational programs for consumers to learn more about how to take care of their heart health. He will be a regular contributor to our newsletter in the section titled: Heart Beat.