How to Calculate the Percentage of Each Type of Fat in the Total Fat Intake

Knowing the amounts of different types of fat you eat helps you eat more healthily. It isn't enough to limit the amount of fat you eat, but the kind of fat. In fact; unsaturated fats are actually very good for you. Conversely, the American Heart Association recommends that you limit the amount of saturated and trans fats you consume daily. Learning a quick way to calculate the fat composition of the food you eat helps you meet this healthful recommendation.

Instructions

• 1

  Determine the total amount of fat in a food item or meal. If you eat packaged food, the amount of fat should be written on the nutritional label located on the package. Make sure you have the correct serving size. Measure the food if you have to ensure your serving size matches the size the nutrition information. If you eat a meal, add up the total fat for each component of the meal. To determine the total fat intake for the day, simply add up the grams of fat for each food you eat.

• 2

  Look up the food on an online calorie database if you do not have the nutritional information. If you eat out, this information is usually available on the restaurant's website. Again, ensure serving sizes are the same and the method of preparation and serving are similar.

• 3

  Learn how to properly read a nutritional label. There are three sections relating to fat: Total Fat, Saturated Fat, and Trans Fat. Saturated Fat and Trans Fat are subsections of the Total Fat.

• 4

  Find out the amounts of each type of fat. Find this information in the same way you found out the total amount of fat, either by reading the nutritional label or looking up the food item online. Subtracting the amount of trans fat and saturated fat from the total gives you a third kind of fat: unsaturated. There are two types of unsaturated fats: mono- and poly-unsaturated fat. Both are good for you and are not usually listed in the nutritional information. If a snack has 18 g of fat with 4 g of saturated fat and 1 g of trans fat, it has 13 g of unsaturated fat because (18g - 4g) -1g = 13g.

• 5

  Perform a simple calculation to determine the percentage of each type of fat. Divide the amount of a particular type of fat whose percentage you want to determine with the total amount of fat. For example; if you want to find the percentage of saturated fat in a meal that has 30 total grams of fat and 18 grams of unsaturated fat, divide 18 by 30. In mathematical notation, this is written 18/30 or 18÷30. The answer is 0.6. To find the percentage, move the decimal point two spaces to the right or multiply the number by 100. This gives you 60, which is the percentage of saturated fat in the meal.