How much fat should we get daily?  To begin with, fat is an essential nutrient.  That means the human body requires it in order to function.  Fat serves us by being a large energy source.  It insulates and protects our body’s organs and is the transport system of certain vitamins.  However, it is not as easy to say we should eat X amount of fat grams per day.  Most orginizations recommend we get 30 percent or less of our calories from fat.

That means for someone on a 2,000 calorie diet, no more than 600 calories should come from fat (600 calories is approximately 67 grams of fat).  As you can see, not every person is on a 2,000 calorie diet, thus you would need to adjust your intake based on your daily caloric intake.

So for those who want to lose weight, fat is often one of the things that people try to eat less of.  Eating less than 30 percent is a good idea, but can you go too low on your fat intake?  If one would cut their intake to only 10 percent of their daily caloric intake, you could wind up making your cholesterol levels worse along with having possible deficiencies of protein, calcium, iron, and zinc in the body.  Decreasing fat intake below 15 percent can lead to decrease production of the hormone testosterone which would decrease one’s metabolism.

So a lower fat diet is encouraged to help lose weight and be healthier, but a no fat diet can be down right dangerous.  On the other hand, high consumption of fat has a direct link to heart disease and high cholesterol.   As you can see, either an excess or deficiency in fat intake can cause problems.  It is best to consult a health care professional to decide how much fat you should be getting daily.