Hi,

Thanks for your question.

It is important for us to watch our overall fat intake, as too much fat in the diet can put us at an increased risk of high cholesterol, cardiovascular disease and stroke. We’re also at an increased risk of gaining weight if we eat a high fat diet as fat is very energy dense. However the type of fat you are eating makes a big difference.

The type of fats you should be limiting are saturated fats found in things like butter, full fat cheese, processed and fatty meats such as bacon, sausages, cured meats and ham, pastries, fried foods and trans fats also found in fatty meats and dairy products, and some hydrogenated vegetable oils. These are the types of fats that can be harmful to our health if consumed in excess

Unsaturated fats, which are what we term ‘good fats’ are the types of fats we can eat more of, as they actually help to lower bad cholesterol levels and can reduce our risk of cardiovascular disease and stroke. These fats can be found in things like oily fish, olive oil, nuts and seeds.

If your diet consists mostly of good fats, then you’re unlikely to be doing yourself any harm. The maximum recommended intake for total fat is 33% of calories, this has been calculated as 52.8g per day for you based on a target of 1,400 calories. You should try and stick as close to this as you can, even if you are having mainly good fats.

Although there isn’t much evidence to suggest any adverse effects of eating too many good fats, there haven’t been enough studies to determine that there aren’t any long term issues.

What is important to remember is that all fat contains 9 calories per gram – so whether you choose saturated or unsaturated fats, you’ll still be getting the same number of calories.

I can see you have been filling in your diary a little over the past few weeks, and in general you are sticking at or just below your fat allowance. So it seems like your intake is fine at the moment.

I would recommend keeping an accurate diary over the next few weeks and just ensuring you’re not regularly going over the total fat allowance that has been set for you.

I hope this helps.

Kind regards

Emma

Nutracheck Nutritionist