Figuring Out Fat and Cholesterol

Are you a bit puzzled about how much fat and cholesterol to eat for good health?

Don’t worry—you don’t have to do a lot of fancy figuring of percentages, grams and milligrams to eat the right amounts. Use the facts, tools and tips in this guide to help manage the fat and cholesterol in your diet.

How much fat and cholesterol are right for you?

You need to eat some fat for good health. The key is to eat enough—but not too much—and to choose the right types of fat.

Eating too much saturated fat and trans fat contributes to high blood cholesterol more than eating too much cholesterol. However, it’s still important to keep the amount of cholesterol you eat within certain limits.

The Dietary Guidelines for Americans offer the following advice about how much fat and cholesterol to eat each day:

  • Total fat: 20 to 35% of calories
  • Saturated fat: Less than 10% of calories
  • Trans fat: Keep intake as low as possible
  • Cholesterol: Less than 300 mg

Check the chart below to see how much total fat and saturated fat to include in your eating plan based on your estimated daily calorie needs. The above advice about trans fat and cholesterol applies no matter how many calories you eat.

How Much Total Fat and Saturated Fat are Right for You?

Daily Calories Grams of Total Fat to Provide 20% to 35% of Daily Calories Grams of Saturated Fat to Provide Less than 10% of Daily Calories Which is About Right for...
1600 36-62 < 18 Very Young Children, Some Sedentary Women
2000 44-78 < 22 Boys 4-13 yrs, Girls 9-18 yrs, Moderately Active Women
2400 53-93 < 27 Some Active Women, Some Sedentary Men

Tips to Manage Fat and Cholesterol in Your Eating Plan

  • Read the Nutrition Facts panel. The Nutrition Facts panel on packaged foods shows how much total fat, saturated fat, trans fat and cholesterol are in a serving of food to help you monitor how much you eat. Learn more about reading the Nutrition Fact Panel.
  • Look for shorthand. Some food packages include “shorthand” messages such as “fat free” or “low in saturated fat” to help you meet your nutrition goals. See below chart for label terms that tell you what these messages mean.
Learn About Label Terms for Fat and Cholesterol
Fat Free Less than 0.5 grams fat per serving
Low Fat 3 grams or less fat per serving
Reduced/Lower Fat At least 25% less fat per serving when compared to a similar food
Saturated Fat Free Less than 0.5 grams saturated fat and less than 0.5 grams trans fat per serving
Low Saturated Fat 1 gram or less per serving and 15% or less of calories from saturated fat
Reduced/Less Saturated Fat At least 25% less saturated fat per serving compared to a similar food
Cholesterol Free Less than 2 milligrams cholesterol and 2 grams or less saturated fat per serving
Low Cholesterol 20 milligrams or less cholesterol and 2 grams or less saturated fat per serving
Light Modified amounts of calories and/or fat (or sometimes sodium) per serving. Check the label for specific information.

  • Balance total fat and saturated fat over time. Not every food you eat needs to contain 20% to 35% of calories from fat or less than 10% of calories from saturated fat. In a day, you’ll likely eat some foods that are lower in fat or saturated fat, some higher. What’s important is that the combination of foods you eat over several days averages out to meet these recommendations.
    • Example: To enjoy a sandwich with a higher-fat lunch meat like paatrami, use a slice of 2% milk reduced fat cheese and light mayonnaise to "balance" the fat in the sandwich.
  • Try lower-fat foods. Supermarkets today are stocked with reduced fat and fat free foods that help you reduce fat but keep great taste. A few examples are fat free or light salad dressing, fat free or light sour cream, fat free or 1/3 less fat cream cheese or low fat or fat free yogurt.
  • Cook smart. Bake, broil, grill or roast foods instead of frying.
  • Zero in on trans fat. Read the Nutrition Facts panel to find products with 0 grams of trans fat per serving. Learn more about trans fat.

Checking in on Cholesterol

Cholesterol is a waxy, fat-like substance used by the body to make cells, vitamins and hormones. Our bodies make all the cholesterol we need for these purposes. We also get cholesterol from eating animal foods such as meat, poultry, fish and milk products.

The amount of cholesterol in the blood is an indicator of heart disease risk. To reduce risk, the American Heart Association recommends the following blood cholesterol levels:

  • Total cholesterol: 200 mg/dL or lower
  • LDL (“bad”) cholesterol: 100 mg/dL or lower
  • HDL (“good”) cholesterol: 60 mg/dL or more

Some steps to keep blood cholesterol at healthy levels are to eat plenty of fruits, vegetables and whole grains and not too much saturated fat, trans fat and cholesterol; maintain a healthy body weight; be physically active, and avoid smoking.