Fat grams or percentages: Which are more important?

When assessing the fat content of foods, which are more important — fat grams or percentages?

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Mayo Clinic dietitian Katherine Zeratsky, R.D., L.D., and colleagues answer select questions from readers.

Answer

Both grams and percentages are helpful in measuring the fat content of foods. However, grams of fat give you a more accurate measure of fat in your diet.

Health experts recommend that 20 percent to 35 percent of your calories come from fat. This refers to percent of total daily calories — not calories from each food item. So, if you consume 1,800 calories a day, you should have no more than 70 grams of fat a day. (35 percent of 1,800 calories = 630 calories, divided by 9 [calories per gram of fat] = 70 grams.)

However, just because a food is high in the percentage of calories from fat doesn't necessarily mean that it has a lot of fat, or that it should be avoided. For example, 55 percent of the calories in part-skim mozzarella cheese come from fat, but 1 ounce has just 4 grams of fat and 72 total calories.

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