How to Calculate Your Fat Intake

By:
Lynn Grieger

We all know that lowering your dietary fat intake is highly desirable for good health and body weight. Your total fat consumption should be no more than 30% of your total calories. But how do you apply the numbers in real life?

Take a box of crackers with 8 grams of fat and 150 calories per serving.

Step One:
Fat contains 9 calories per gram.
8 fat grams x 9 = 72 calories from fat.

Step Two:
To find the percentage of total calories from fat,
divide fat calories by total calories.
72 / 150 = .46 x 100 = 46% calories from fat.

Although this exceeds the recommended 30%, you can still reduce your total fat intake with lower-fat foods:

Now do the math: 70 / 290 = .24 x 100 = 24% calories from fat. By balancing higher-fat choices with low-fat foods, you can meet your fat calorie goals.