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How much fat do you need?
Answer: Not much. We only need the essential fatty acids, because our
bodies can make all the other fats from those. Here is a reference from Merk which says essentially that a fat deficiency is RARE and that it is even more rare in vegetarians, because the fat in plants...even though it is lower than meat, has more essential fatty acids. http://www.merck.com/mmpe/sec01/ch002/ch002d.html The minimum percent of fat that should be in the diet is very low at 3.5% That is70 calories (based on a diet of 2025 cal/day) from fat or about 8 grams a day. It is almost impossible to get that little fat. Oats, for example have 3 grams per serving which is 18% fat, although all other grains are lower in fat, with most at 1 gram per serving (10% fat). A very-low fat diet would have 10% fat. What this means is that you don't really have to worry about not getting enough fat in your diet. It is important to select foods that are high in essential fatty acids though cause otherwise you could even eat high-fat, but be low in essential fatty acids. Since omega-3 has some health claims attached to it, it might be useful to include omega 3 tablets which are usually from fish. Fish though, has traces of mercury in it, so some people opt for other sources of omega 3. Flaxseed is very high in omega 3, for example, and would never contain mercury. The bottom line, I think, is that you really don't have to worry about not getting enough fat in your diet. Getting too much is the problem. If you want more omega 3 to try and fight heart disease and some other things attributed to it, you'll probably have to eat a lot of fish or flax, or take the fish oil or flax seed supplements. The only exception to this it appears is infants who need either breast milk, formula (with fat added), or animal milk, but not soy or nonfat milk because their developing bodies and brain especially need the higher fat. dkw |
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