Popular Science Book "Eat Less Oil, Eat Better Oil" (Wang Xingguo) Article Selection 11

Part 2

1. The appropriate amount of oil to eat every day

"Health requires oil, diet requires less oil", but eating less oil does not mean the less oil the better, but eating oil in a reasonable and appropriate amount to basically meet physiological needs. The amount of oil eaten includes the fat contained in the food itself and the edible oil. In a reasonable dietary pattern, the energy provided by fat accounts for 20% to 30% of the total energy intake, which is more appropriate. This ratio is also called the energy supply ratio of fat. This ratio is for adults. Teenagers and infants under 18 years old need a slightly higher amount of fat than adults. The younger the age, the more appropriate the energy supply ratio of fat should be. Calculated based on the 2100 to 3200 kcal (1 kcal = 4.184 kJ) energy that Chinese adults need from food every day, according to the upper limit of no more than 30%, the amount of fat converted into fat is 70 to 107 grams per day.

Most of the fat in food comes from meat, eggs, milk, beans, nuts, and edible oil (mainly cooking oil). According to the actual situation that Chinese residents mainly consume fat from animal foods, beans, nuts and cooking oil, the "Dietary Guidelines for Chinese Residents (2022)" recommends daily intake for adults: 50-75 grams of livestock and poultry meat, 75-100 grams of fish and shrimp meat, 30-50 grams of beans, 25-50 grams of eggs, and 300 milliliters of milk. If you eat according to the guidelines, the fat brought by these foods is about 40 grams.

There is a small amount of fat in other foods, and the rest is reserved for edible oil. The amount of edible oil (cooking oil) is 25 to 30 grams (reduced for infants and children as appropriate).

This will meet the basic requirement of 20% to 30% dietary fat energy supply. If the animal fat intake in the diet is low, the amount of edible oil can be appropriately increased.

Eating too much oil can easily lead to health problems. However, some people exaggerate the negative effects of oil intake and advocate eating less oil, which is wrong. In the long run, if you eat too little oil, you will not get enough nutrition, including macronutrients and micronutrients, which is very bad for your health.