How Much Fat and Calories Should the Average Person Eat Daily?

Fat is one of the six nutrients vital to optimum health. In addition to fat, you need carbohydrates, protein, vitamins, minerals and water in your daily diet. Protein and carbohydrates each have about four calories per gram, while a gram of fat has about nine calories per gram. Calories are the measure of energy provided by food and the amount of energy your body uses. Calories that are not burned are stored in the body as fat.

Significance

Fat receives a lot of attention in the weight-loss field for a number of reasons, reports the Cleveland Clinic. The only way to successfully lose weight is to consume fewer calories than you burn. Because carbohydrates and proteins contain less than half the calories of fat, you can eat nearly twice as much and maintain the same calorie intake.

Features

Fat is a necessary nutrient because it controls inflammation and supports healthy blood clotting and proper brain development. According to the National Institutes of Health, or NIH, fat helps to keep the body warm and stores excess energy for when you need it. Fat supports the movement of fat-soluble vitamins through the bloodstream and plays a major role in healthy hair, nails and skin.

Averages

The average daily diet for a moderately active adult should stay close to about 2,000 calories. According to the Mayo Clinic, fat calories should make up between 20 and 35 percent of that total. The total amount of fat needed to maintain optimum health should not exceed 44 to 78 grams.

Considerations

Because you can't eliminate fat from your diet, you should make the fat you eat more productive. While healthy fats still contain nine calories per gram, they also provide other benefits. Calories that come from monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats can help to lower blood cholesterol levels, provide healthy antioxidants in the body and keep arteries clear. According to the NIH, monounsaturated fats primarily are found in olive oil and canola oil. Polyunsaturated fats are found in fish, corn, safflower and soybean oils.

Warning

Saturated and trans fats also have nine calories in each gram, but carry serious side effects if eaten in excess. According to the NIH, saturated fats cause high cholesterol and are the most common cause of heart disease, obesity and high blood pressure. Saturated fats should take up no more than 10 percent of your daily calorie intake as part of the total 20 to 35 percent of fats you consume in a day. Saturated fats are found in foods such as ice cream, butter, cheese and meat. Trans fats used in the production of baked goods and solid oils should be eliminated completely.

6 Essential Nutrients and Their Functions

An essential nutrient is a nutrient that the body cannot synthesize on its own -- or not to an adequate amount -- and must be provided by the diet. These nutrients are necessary for the body to function properly. The six essential nutrients include carbohydrates, protein, fat, vitamins, minerals and water.

Carbohydrates

Carbohydrates are the main energy source for the brain. Without carbohydrates, the body could not function properly. Sources include fruits, breads and grains, starchy vegetables and sugars. Make at least half of the grains you consume whole grains. Whole grains and fruit are full of fiber, which reduces the risk of coronary heart disease and helps maintain normal blood glucose levels.

Protein

Protein is the major structural component of cells and is responsible for the building and repair of body tissues. Protein is broken down into amino acids, which are building blocks of protein. Nine of the 20 amino acids, known as essential amino acids, must be provided in the diet as they cannot be synthesized in the body. Ten to 35 percent of your daily calories should come from lean protein sources such as low-fat meat, dairy, beans or eggs.

Fat

Fat is an energy source that when consumed, increases the absorption of fat-soluble vitamins including vitamins A, D, E and K. Twenty to 35 percent of your daily intake should come from fat. Choose healthy options such as omega-3-rich foods like fish, walnuts and vegetable-based oils. Omega-3s help with development and growth. Limit intake of saturated fats such as high-fat meats and full-fat dairy. Other smart choices include nuts, seeds and avocado.

Vitamins

Vitamin C is necessary for the synthesis of collagen, which provides structure to blood vessels, bone and ligaments. Rich sources include citrus fruits, strawberries and peppers. Folate, found in foods, helps to prevent birth defects. Pregnant women or women who plan to become pregnant should speak with their physician about taking a folic acid supplement, the synthetic form of folate, in addition to their diet. Vitamin D helps to maintain calcium homeostasis. It can be found in food sources or synthesized by the sun.

Minerals

Sodium helps to maintain fluid volume outside of the cells and helps cells to function normally. Keep intake under 2,400 milligrams per day. Potassium maintains fluid volume inside and outside of cells and prevents the excess rise of blood pressure with increased sodium intake. Rich sources include bananas, potatoes and tomatoes. Calcium helps to maintain and build strong bones and teeth. Include three servings of calcium-rich foods per day including milk, low-fat cheese and yogurt.

Water

Water helps to maintain homeostasis in the body and transports nutrients to cells. Water also assists in removing waste products from the body. All beverages and high-moisture foods such as soup and watermelon contain water and count towards your daily water requirement. Adults should consume 25 to 35 milliliters of fluids per kilogram body weight or 2 to 3 liters per day.

Do You Know How to Read a Food Label?

Before putting together a new piece of furniture, playing a board game or starting a complicated project, you usually begin with one important step: reading the instructions. Without the instructions, you don't know what the end result will look like, if you'll be a winner and, ultimately, whether the project is worth your time.
Now consider your approach to eating. Do you carefully read the food label on a new food before trying it? Do you evaluate it to determine exactly what it offers you? Most people read one or two lines, possibly to check on carbs or maybe calories. While these two items are important, it's essential to carefully evaluate the entire food label and understand how it fits into the context of your day.

Start with the serving size

Always begin by reading the serving size, which is located at the very top of the nutrition facts panel. Skip this step and you could be fooled into thinking that a food is a good choice for you when it really isn't -- thinking it's just one portion when it actually contains three. While there's talk of altering food labels so that the serving size matches the size of the package (think of that "single portion" of chips or bottle of soda that is actually two or three servings), it will always be very important to read serving size first.

Consider the food -- then check the calories, protein, fat and carbs

Now that you know the serving size, consider the food as a whole. Noting the calories is obviously very important, but more important is to note the calories and the protein and fat. Think of it like this: Calories, protein and fat will fill you up. Calories alone will make you hungrier and ultimately add calories to your day. (Yup, we're looking at you, fat-free, 100-calorie pack with just one or two grams of protein.)

What is that %DV anyway?

%DV refers to Percent Daily Value, which helps us determine whether a food is high or low in a particular nutrient, based on a 2,000 calorie diet. While it's helpful to know if a food offers a lot (20% DV) or a little (5% DV) of a particular nutrient, it's not a perfect guide for anyone who isn't following a 2,000-calorie diet or those of us who don't know how many calories we need (aka most of us). Use the %DV to help you generally determine if a food is a good source of, say, fiber, and low in what you are trying to limit, such as sodium.

Total fat vs. type of fat

The type of fat matters more than total fat. Recall that fat is important for satisfying us to control hunger and that our heart-healthy fats, such as poly- and monounsaturated fats actually benefit us, while saturated fat should be limited and trans fats avoided. With this in mind, the type of fat matters far more than the total fat per serving.

Loads of vitamins

As you work your way down the food label, you'll find a list of the vitamins and minerals and the %DV offered for each. In most cases, a food rich in several vitamins and minerals has been fortified with synthetic nutrients. While fortification aids in our regular consumption of these nutrients, it's important to remember to consume whole foods that naturally provide these nutrients instead of only relying on fortified foods.

Dietary fiber to determine if it's really whole grain

The front of a package may advertise that a product contains whole grains, but the proof is on the nutrition facts panel. If a product doesn't contain 20 percent or more of the %DV for dietary fiber, then it's not considered a significant source of fiber.

Is Television Priming Us to be Fat?

What do the movie “Inception”, NFL Monday Night Football and the book “Blink” have in common?
All explore the emerging insights into the architecture of the mind--more specifically, the impact of priming. Priming refers to the subliminal messages our minds absorb at the unconscious level that trigger feelings, actions or both. When primed, we take in ideas that influence us without our awareness.

Through an intriguing dramatization, “Inception” explores the possibility of entering and engineering dreams without the dreamer's awareness. Monday Night Football demonstrates the commercial application of priming, with sponsors eagerly spending an estimated $1.5 billion for ads during this season's program. And in "Blink," Malcolm Gladwell explains the priming mechanism--how the kind of thinking involved in priming "moves a little faster and operates a little more mysteriously than the kind of deliberate, conscious decision-making that we usually associate with 'thinking.'"
Subliminal messages surround us, and many are innocuous or even helpful. For example, credentials and degrees in a physician's waiting room build confidence in the quality of care we are about to receive. But other subliminal messages can harm our health.

After a filling evening meal, picture yourself sitting in front of the television and feeling a bit hungry. You spontaneously get up and go to the kitchen for a snack. A little later, you repeat the cycle. And again later, you eat another snack. Certainly, being a couch potato can make your waistline expand. But the real culprit may not be so obvious--it may be the unconscious way television primes you for late-night snacking.

In the Midst of An Epidemic of Obesity, Are We Priming Individuals to Eat More?

Imagine, if you will, purposefully exposing adults and children day after day to food priming. If the Nielsen’s Company study is correct, that's exactly what is occurring. Television viewing has never been higher: Americans are watching on average of five hours of television each day; children are watching television over four hours each day.

And consider this: most of our television viewing occurs in the evening, and late-night snacks are unusually high in calories--for example, ice cream, chips, cookies and snack foods. Eating in front of the television also leads to oversized portions since our attention is focused on the program, not on the food. So a handful of potato chips can quickly become an entire bag.Since most of us are not likely to give up nightly entertainment altogether, what's the best strategy to avoid television-induced eating?

Limit television time to two hours for all family members. Also, we can plan ahead. By anticipating our behavior, we can have healthy snacks available if we find ourselves hungry later in the evening. An apple or a small bowl of wholegrain cereal with milk is a good example. Saving calories from earlier in the day is an option as well.

We can also replace junk food ads with self-talk that promotes good health and appropriate eating. In terms of how our minds work, a background message is a background message, whether it comes from a television set or our own thoughts. Both leave indelible impressions. Once we are forewarned that a junk food ad can trigger an impulse to eat, we can counter its effect with self-talk.

Remaining Conscious Is the Challenge

What all of these strategies have in common is a willingness to stay intentional about eating. "Paying attention can make each bite a choice rather than a reflexive response," says Megrette Fletcher, executive director of the Center for Mindful Eating. "You may love Oreos, but that doesn't mean you have to eat one every time it presents itself. If you stop and consider that next Oreo and how you're feeling, you may opt to skip it--or not. But at least it will have been a conscious choice."

Without moving into a cave, we can't limit our exposure to the priming cues that bombard us daily, but we can be proactive in managing our eating. Is the effort worthwhile? You'll have to decide for yourself. The outcome, however, will determine whether you are primed to be fat or enjoying the prime of your life.