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Real Life Nutrition Questions Answered
printReal Life Fitness Questions Answered
Emma Brown
Nutritionist
Janet Aylott
Nutritionist
Kelly Marshall
Fitness Consultant
Q.
Is less than 25g a day too little fat?
Even though I�m now at my target weight, I rarely eat above 25g fat each day apart from on special occasions. Is it harmful to not eat enough fat? There may be one or two days in the last month that I have taken above 25g of fat intake - some days are as low as 9g. I find that I am feeling a bit unwell - i.e. burning pains in my muscles. I have good health normally. How important for your health is it to have 25g of fat each day?
A.
Our expert says...
The Department of Health recommends that no more than a third of calories come from fat while most weight loss plans rarely recommend less than 15-20% of calories come from this nutrient (and we mustn’t forget, it is a nutrient!). This means that even if you were still eating only 1400 calories (I assume you’re having more now that you’ve reached your goal) you’d still be needing between 23 and 30g of fat, which is why we recommend 25g as an absolute minimum. For people who are maintaining, this should be more – but not more than 70g a day.
We all need some fat, as it’s an essential part of our body cells and needed to make hormones. Several vitamins (vitamins A, D, E and K) are also fat-soluble and are found mostly in foods with a high fat content. Very low fat intakes mean that intakes of these vitamins can be very low. Interestingly a low fat intake is also associated with more injury in female runners a 2008 study showed.
Moreover two fatty acids known as linoleic acid (part of the omega-6 group) and linolenic acid (part of the omega-3 family) – cannot be made by the body and so must be supplied in the diet. These “essential fatty acids”, are needed in small amounts for many functions, but in particular healthy skin that's not too dry or flaky.
In view of all these beneficial effects, I suggest you do definitely increase your fat intake, which you could do in a healthy way by introducing more nuts and seeds, grilled salmon, vegetable and olive oils etc (the occasionally fatty treat is fine too!). Aim for at least 25g and preferably more.
Hope this helps!
Best wishes
Angela
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