5 Things: About Fat

08/06/2007
Much maligned, fat is here to stay. Here are 5 things about this macronutrient that you should know. Listed in no particular order, here goes:
1. A gram of fat contains 9 calories. In contrast, carbs and protein only have 4 calories per gram. In other words, you can eat twice as many carbs or protein for the same amount of calories.
2. The RDI for fat in adults is 20%-35% of total daily calories. That's about 44 to 77 grams of fat a day if you eat 2,000 calories a day.
3. It is recommended that saturated fats (animal fat, butter, coconut and palm oils) should make up less than 10% of your total calories per day. For a person eating 2000 calories a day, this would be 20 grams of saturated fat or less per day.
4. A pound of body fat burns 2 calories per day where as a pound of muscle burns about 50 calories per day.
5. Fats are vital to your health. They transport oxygen to every cell in your body, and they are the basis for every hormone, brain, and nervous system function.