How to Determine Total Fat in Foods

Keeping track of your daily nutrition can be quite a task, especially if you're unsure how to calculate your total fat intake. Knowing how to calculate your total fat, not just how much it says on the package, can help you in making smarter decisions food-wise. Learning to calculate your total fat intake takes a little math, but the process is quite simple.

Things You'll Need

• Food nutritional information
• Pencil
• Paper
• Calculator

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Instructions

• 1

  Find the amount of fat and the number of calories from fat in the food that you're eating. They should be listed under the Nutrition Information on the package. If you're eating fresh fruits and vegetables or food without packaging, you can look up nutritional information at HowManyCaloriesIn.com. The site also lists fast food. Write the amount of calories and fat on a sheet of paper.

• 2

  Add the number of fat grams and the number of calories from fat together. Each gram of fat contains 9 calories, so a food that contains 3 grams of fat multiplied by 9 (fat calories) would have 27 calories from fat.

• 3

  Divide the amount of fat calories by the amount of total calories. Multiply the answer by 100. For example, if there are 27 calories from fat, you take 27 / total number of calories X 100. The answer is a percentage. This percentage is the number of calories that come from the fat in the food you're eating. Exceeding 30 percent calories from fat isn't recommended; however, you can reduce your fat intake by eating lower-fat foods.

• 4

  Add the amount of fat grams and calories from fat that you consume everyday. Each person has a different amount of fat that they should consume. You can find your recommended fat intake using a fat intake calculator, available online at Healthcalculators.org.