Hello everyone. How’s everything? today we know how much fat do you need a day? “Fat makes you fat.” That’s what many people said not so long ago in the low-fat diet period, where low-fat foods reigned on the shelves. Finally, the human metabolism was understood well enough to say that the previous generation of scientists was wrong.
Now the slogan is “Eat fat and burn fat.” This latest revelation has spread through the space of health and fitness quickly, giving rise to its artisanal industry of diets, cookbooks, and food-rich supplement products. Grease; but this is not true either.
Know exactly how much fat do you need a day? what types of fat your body needs, and what foods are best for fat intake.
Table of Contents
- How many grams of fat should be eaten per day?
- how much fat do you need a day?
- How many grams of fat per day should we eat to lose weight?
- How much fat do you need to have good health?
- How many grams of fat per day are needed to gain muscle?
- What types of fat should we eat?
- What range of the recommended percentage of fats to use?
- High-fat foods
- Conclusion
How many grams of fat should be eaten per day?
Surely you will think – if you have done some other previous reading on the subject – in an estimated amount “of the 20 to 30% of the daily calories with less than 10% coming from the saturated fat. This rule works very well for a sedentary person, but it is not optimal for active people.
Our bodies have absolute needs for essential fatty acids, which do not need to be related to caloric intake, which can be very high due to body composition and activity level.
For example, for a person of almost 85 kg, average and sedentary stature, your body would burn around 2,000 calories per day. Based on this, the “20 to 30% rule” would provide 45 to 80 grams of fat per day, which is a reasonable range.
If you exercise 6 days a week while having some muscle mass, your body will burn around 3,000 calories per day. Based on this, it would appear that the consumption of fats would go from 65 to 115 grams per day. Do you need a lot more fat to have muscles and exercise regularly? No, it is not necessary.
Eating more fat would not be harmful to your health, but it would limit the amount of carbohydrates you could eat. And in general terms, the lower the consumption of carbohydrates, the more difficult it will be to build muscle and strength.
With all this, we can say that if your body consumes a high protein content, high level of carbohydrates, and low/moderate amount of fats, you will have everything you need to build a great physique.
How much fat do you need a day?
For most of the population, the recommendation on the amount of daily fat they need responds to practically the same range:
Between 20-30% of the total calories consumed
The caloric intake of a gram of fat is 9 calories. Then, you should simply have a simple calculator, and adjust the “account” that you had previously on the calories you need per day, where now, having the ideal calorie data that corresponds to you, simply adjust so that of those, between 20-30% are from fats.
Example: If I need 2800 calories, adjusting the previous percentage, we will have as a result, between 560 – 840 calories, which will proceed from the fat.
How many grams of fat per day should we eat to lose weight?
Surely you will hear some people say that fat in the diet is the key to losing body fat. Eat large amounts of “healthy fat” and few carbohydrates to lose weight, they say.
But no, because the energy balance and protein intake regulate the speed at which fat is lost, and research conducted by the National Institute of Health of the United States, shows that reducing carbohydrates and raising fats offers no loss benefits of weight.
On the other hand, studies show that athletes, after a high protein and carbohydrate content and low in fat, lose less muscle than those who followed with high protein content, low in carbohydrates, and high in fat.
This is not particularly surprising, given the fact that carbohydrates help preserve performance in resistance training and decrease rates of muscle degradation, mainly through glycogen replacement and increased insulin levels.
Therefore, a high protein content and high carbohydrate intake is recommended for a “weight loss diet” because it provides the right fat for general health needs.
How much fat do you need to have good health?
Research shows that we must eat between 0.6-0.7 grams per kg of fat-free mass per day to maintain good health, meaning free mass means everything that is not fat in your body, such as muscle, water, bones, etc.
How many grams of fat per day are needed to gain muscle?
Many people claim that a high-fat diet helps build muscle faster by increasing testosterone levels. This is partially true: a high-fat diet can increase testosterone levels, but it will not help build muscle faster.
One study showed that men who receive 41% of daily calories from fat had 13% more free testosterone than men who received only 18% of daily calories from fat. Another study conducted in the previous decade showed similar results.
This may sound good on paper, but the research clearly shows that it is not enough to activate muscle building. For example, a study by researchers at McMaster University investigated whether the hormonal changes that occur during weight affect muscle and strength gains.
After 12 weeks, scientists discovered that the peaks induced by exercise in anabolic hormones such as testosterone, growth hormone, and IGF-1 did not affect overall growth gains or muscle strength. That is, the size of the hormonal responses observed in the subjects varied widely, but there was no significant difference in terms of muscle and strength.
Another study worth reviewing was conducted by researchers at Charles R. Drew University. This involved manipulating the testosterone levels of 61 healthy young men, using a combination of testosterone and drugs to inhibit the natural production of testosterone.
After 20 weeks, the scientists found that there was a dose-dependent relationship between testosterone, leg strength, and potency, but the effects were not significant until testosterone levels exceeded the upper part of the natural range in approximately 20 to 30% (approximately 1,200 ng/dl). This study has an obvious limitation: The subjects were not doing sports during that period, although it can be deduced that the strength and power gains, in that case, would have been greater.
What types of fat should we eat?
The consumption of saturated fats, artificial trans fats, and monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats should be limited, paying special attention to the intake of omega-3 fatty acids.
This approach to a weight loss diet is ideal for both health and body composition. In particular, it is recommended that most of the fat to be ingested be monounsaturated maintain the intake of saturated fats below 10% of the daily calories, and pay attention to the intake of EPA / DHA.
Regarding the intake of EPA / DHA, the value of 500 mg per day (combined) would be the minimum, but something closer to 2 grams per day is suggested, as it provides a variety of health and performance benefits.
What range of the recommended percentage of fats to use?
You could ask yourself how many grams of fat you should choose, from the recommended 10% margin … This caters to the adjustments you make as you make your diet, and follow it for a while. If necessary, you would reduce to 20%, in case of observing quick weight gains, and otherwise, increase to 30% to compensate for the deficit. However, as a start, an intermediate value of 25% would be optimal.
High-fat foods
Blue Fish
Fish supplements
Nuts
Peanut butter
Flax seeds
Olives
Extra virgin olive oil
Macadamia nut oil
Almonds
Avocados
Eggs
This list is not “definitive”, and does not contain all the foods with recommended fats, but if you do a good approximation, and bring it to the public, certain foods, which if they were not taken, now should be done daily, as a source of fats.
Conclusion
In terms of an effective amount, 0.6-0.7 grams of fat per kg of body weight is the general recommendation. The key is to adapt the diet to the needs of each one. At least enough fat should be eaten to support health, and only raised based on our goals, activity, and preferences.
For example, the most physically active people who want to build muscle or lose fat will have a high protein diet, high in carbohydrates, and low/moderate in fat.
Sedentary people who need to lose weight will probably find a high protein content, low in carbohydrates, and a high-fat diet (carbohydrates generate energy, so if you do not burn a lot, you will not need them in large quantities).
So far today’s article. I hope you like it and it will be helpful when you want to know how much fat you need a day. If you have any questions, comment on this article, and I will answer you happily. A hug!
-Thanks a lot for reading my article_ “How much fat do you need a day?
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