Percentage of Energy from Fats
While health authorities recommend a maximum of 30% of your total energy intake (calories/kilojoules) should come from fat, it isn’t implied nor recommended that you eat only foods with less than 30% energy from fat.
Your normal diet is made up of foods which are either well above or below 30%. You should only aim for each meal or your total day’s eating to be made up of less than 30% energy from fat.
Some higher fat foods such as avocados, nuts and seeds, are highly nutritious and favour lower blood cholesterol levels. Moderation is the aim – not elimination.
Regardless, knowing the percentage of energy from fat in foods can be useful in spotting high-fat foods and drinks.
Formula for Calculating Percentage Energy from Fat:
| Grams of Fat/Serve x 9
Total Calories/Serve |
X | 100
1 |
| OR | ||
| Grams of Fat/Serve x 37
Total Kilojoules/Serve |
X | 100
1 |
Example:
Mars Bar (11g fat, 265 cals)
Percentage calories from fat
| = 11 x 9
265 |
X | 100
1 |
= 37% |
Percent Fat Contents In Food
Don’t be fooled by marketing claims of foods showing a low percentage of fat. It’s serving size and total grams of fat that count.
For example, whole milk containing 3.8% fat sounds low (3.8g fat/100ml), but a 250ml cup contains 9.5g fat (and 2 cups contain 19g fat). Given the amount you’re likely to consume in one sitting, this could be a higher fat choice than it originally seemed.
Ice cream containing 10% fat seems high, yet a large scoop (50g) has only 5g fat. (Low-fat ice cream has less than 2g fat/serve.)
Note: The percentage of fat in a food is not the same as the percentage of calories or kilojoules derived from fat. Foods with a low percentage of fat can still have a high percentage of energy derived from fat – as shown below.
For example, around 50% of total energy in whole milk comes from fat – yet whole milk has less than 4% fat. Low-fat milk with less than 1% fat contains only 20% of total energy from fat – a far better choice.
Calculating the Amount of Fat Corresponding to a Set Percentage of Calories from Fat
Example:
An active person who consumes 3,000 calories per day (12,540 kilojoules) wishes to calculate the amount of fat corresponding to 30% fat calories.
- Calculate 30% of 3,000 calories
- = 900 fat calories.
- Divide by 9 since each gram fat supplies 9 calories.
- = 100 grams fat.
Fat Content & Percentages in Milk
| Whole
Milk |
Reduced
Fat |
Low-Fat
(Light) |
Non-Fat
(Skim) |
|
| Percentage Fat | 3.8% | 2% | 1% | 0% |
| Fat (Grams) in 250ml Cup | 9.5g | 5g | 2.5g | 0g |
| Calories (Kilojoules) | 167 (700) | 125 (525) | 115 (480) | 88 (365) |
| Percent Energy
(Cals/kJ) From Fat |
51% | 36% | 20% | 0% |
