Custom Search

Dietary fats and oils

Dietary fats and oils are the most concentrated form of energy as they yield 9 cal/g, whereas, carbohydrates and proteins yield only 4 cal/gm. Nuts and oil seeds are good sources of fat.  Generally, dietary fats are composed of fatty acids and cholesterol.  

There are two types of dietary fats, visible and non visible fat. Visible fats include oils, butter, animal fat etc. Invisible fat, not visible to naked eyes, is present in food items like wheat, rice and pulses etc,in small amounts.  In general, the fats and oils we use are mainly composed of either saturated OR un-saturated fatty acid chains.

• Saturated fats, contain no double bonds in their chain, are basically exists in solid form at room temperature and are generally derived from animal sources and some vegetable oils.  Examples: butter, palm kernel, coconut oil etc.

• Unsaturated fats, contain one or more double bonds in their chain, are liquid at room temperatures and in general, derived from plant sources. Examples include soybean oil, safflower oil etc.

The significance of dietary fats is that they provide essential fatty acids (EFA), as their name signifies, they are absolute essential nutrients required by the body.  EFAs are linoleic acid and α-linolenic acid.  α-linolenic acid (ALA) is known as omega-3 and linoleic acid is called as omega-6 essential fatty acids. Both linoleic acid (omega-6) and alfa linolenic acid must be present in the diet in the ratio of 5:1 to 10:1, but the ratio of 5:1 is desirable.

The important derivatives of α-linolenic acid are ecosa-pentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosa-hexaenoic acid (DHA). 1-3% of calories should come from EFA.  Deficiency of EFAs results in impaired brain growth, mental retardation and learning difficulties, dermatitis (dryness of skin), hair loss and poor wound healing.

Other than the need for essential fatty acids, there is no specific requirement for dietary fats and oils as long as the diet provides adequate nutrients for energy.  Those who consume omega-6, omega-3 fats in a ratio more than 10:1 should compensate by consuming omega-3 rich foods like fish, greens and legumes.

Although the average American diet contains 35-40% of calories as fat, most current recommendations are to limit dietary fat to 30% or less of total calories. No more than 5-10% of energy should come from saturated fats, 10% should be from mono unsaturated and another 10% from poly unsaturated fatty acids.

Olive oil	Vegetable oil

Below is the table with in-depth analysis of some of commonly used dietary fats and oils:-

<<-Back to Home page.
Visit here for very informative pages on:-

• Fruits,


• Vegetables,


• Healthy herbs,


• Healthy spices,


• Nuts,


• Phyto-nutrients and


• Research articles on nutrition.

Custom Search