Types of fat in food: saturated, unsaturated and trans
Every fat in food mixes saturated and unsaturated fatty acids. WHO and ICMR-NIN advise limiting saturated fat, and Indian food law caps trans fat.
What fat in food does
Fat helps your body absorb some vitamins, and it gives more calories per gram than protein or carbohydrate.
- India's National Institute of Nutrition (ICMR-NIN) says fat helps the body absorb vitamins A, D, E and K.[1]
- Fat also adds flavour and texture. It gives a feeling of fullness that delays hunger.[1]
- Each gram of fat gives 9 kcal. Each gram of protein or carbohydrate gives 4 kcal.[2]
- Every fat in food is a mix of 3 types of fatty acid, the building blocks of fat. They are saturated, monounsaturated (MUFA) and polyunsaturated (PUFA).[1]
Saturated fat
ICMR-NIN names ghee, butter, coconut oil, palm oil and vanaspati as sources of saturated fat, and both WHO and ICMR-NIN advise limiting it.
ICMR-NIN names ghee and butter as saturated fats. It says coconut oil, palm oil and vanaspati also contain saturated fat.[1] It names red meat, such as mutton, beef and pork, as a hidden source. Full-fat dairy, such as full-cream milk and cheese, is another.[1] It advises choosing lean cuts of meat.[1]
ICMR-NIN says saturated fat raises LDL cholesterol, and raises the risk of heart attack and stroke.[1]
The figures come from India's food composition tables, published by ICMR-NIN in 2017. Each is the share of the oil's total fatty acids, rounded, from samples taken in up to 6 regions of India.[4] For palm oil, the table's printed total is about 1 point higher than its parts add up to. The bar shows the printed total. Oils and vanaspati sold today may differ from these samples.
WHO's figures come from its 2023 guideline for adults and children.
- WHO recommends keeping saturated fat to 10% of daily calories or less. This is a strong recommendation.[3]
- WHO also suggests going below 10%. This is a weaker, conditional recommendation, based on very low certainty evidence.[3]
WHO's strong limit is about 22 g of saturated fat on a 2,000 kcal day, by our arithmetic.
In WHO's review, eating less saturated fat lowered LDL cholesterol (high certainty evidence) and the risk of heart and blood vessel disease (moderate certainty).[3] The evidence comes from healthy adults in low-, middle- and high-income countries.[3] WHO does not report results for Indian adults separately. It says its advice does not rule out any food, and foods high in saturated fat should be eaten sparingly.[3]
ICMR-NIN's figures come from its 2024 guidelines for Indians.
- ICMR-NIN calls saturated fat intake high above 10 g a day of visible saturated fat on a 2,000 kcal diet. It means ghee, butter, or palm or coconut oil used in snacks or sweets.[1]
- It calls intake excessive when saturated fat gives more than 5% of daily calories.[1]
Unsaturated fats
Groundnut, mustard, sesame, soybean and sunflower oils are mostly unsaturated. WHO advises PUFA in place of saturated fat, and ICMR-NIN advises moderating oils high in omega-6 PUFA.
ICMR-NIN says plant foods are fairly good sources of MUFA and PUFA. Some plant foods also have saturated fat.[1] In most cereals, millets and oilseeds, the main PUFA is omega-6.[1]
Your body cannot make 2 PUFAs, one omega-6 and one omega-3, so they must come from food.[1] Our article on omega-3, 6 and 9 explains them.
Both charts use the same 2017 tables and basis as the saturated chart above.[4] In mustard oil, about 51% of the fatty acids are erucic acid, one kind of MUFA. So most of its MUFA is erucic acid.[4]
- WHO recommends replacing saturated fat with PUFA. This is a strong recommendation.[3] WHO's advice is about nutrients. It does not name any oil.
- ICMR-NIN advises moderating oils high in omega-6 PUFA.[1]
- WHO also suggests MUFA from plants, or carbohydrate from foods with natural fibre, such as whole grains, vegetables, fruit and pulses. These 2 are conditional recommendations.[3]
When saturated fat was replaced, LDL cholesterol fell most with PUFA, then MUFA, then carbohydrate, WHO reports.[3] If you want to eat less overall, WHO says you can cut saturated fat without adding anything in its place.[3]
Trans fat
Trans fat forms when liquid oil is partly hydrogenated into a solid fat such as vanaspati, and ICMR-NIN says it is more harmful than saturated fat.
Trans fats are unsaturated fats with a changed chemical shape, called trans.[3] ICMR-NIN explains that partial hydrogenation turns liquid vegetable oil solid. In the process, MUFA and PUFA are turned into saturated fat and trans fat.[1] Vanaspati is made this way. It is used in place of ghee or butter in cooking, sweets, snacks and bakery foods.[1]
WHO says factory-made trans fat is the main source in many populations. It is found in ready-made baked and fried foods, and in packaged snacks.[3] A little trans fat occurs naturally in milk and meat from cattle, sheep and goats.[3]
- ICMR-NIN says trans fat can raise the risk of heart disease and stroke, and is more harmful than saturated fat.[1]
- It advises against cooking with vanaspati.[1]
- It advises keeping ready-to-eat fast food, bakery food and processed food to a minimum, as they may contain trans fat.[1]
WHO's figures for trans fat come from the same 2023 guideline.
- WHO recommends keeping trans fat to 1% of daily calories or less. This is a strong recommendation.[3]
- WHO also suggests going below 1%. This is a conditional recommendation.[3] It says foods high in factory-made trans fat should largely be avoided.[3]
- In WHO's reviews, replacing trans fat with saturated fat did not improve health outcomes or blood fats. So saturated fat is not a preferred replacement.[3]
WHO's strong limit is about 2 g of trans fat on a 2,000 kcal day, by our arithmetic.
India's food regulator, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), has 2 separate trans fat rules.
- For oils and fats: since 1 January 2022, trans fat may be at most 2% by weight of the oil or fat itself. This covers refined vegetable oils, fat spreads and other listed fats. FSSAI notified the rule on 29 December 2020.[5]
- For foods made with oils or fats: since 1 January 2022, factory-made trans fat may be at most 2% of the total oil and fat in the food. Trans fat from dairy, meat and fish is not counted.[6]
How much fat and oil a day
ICMR-NIN sets a daily amount of cooking oil and other added fat by how many calories you need, and it advises limiting ghee and butter.
ICMR-NIN says 20% to 30% of daily calories should come from fat.[1] It calls the oil, ghee and butter used in cooking or added to food "visible" fat. Fat inside foods such as nuts, seeds, pulses and grains is "invisible" fat.[1]
- It advises limiting visible fat to 20 g to 50 g a person a day, depending on calorie needs.[1]
- For inactive adults, it suggests 20 g a day for women and 30 g for men.[1]
- It advises limiting ghee or butter to 1 to 2 teaspoons a day, or avoiding them if possible.[1]
On a 2,000 kcal diet, ICMR-NIN puts that at no more than 27 to 30 g.[1]
It prefers steaming, boiling, grilling, baking or sautéing to frying.[1] Packaged-food labels in India must show saturated fat and trans fat in grams.[1]
The daily calorie and macro calculator gives a daily fat and cooking oil figure for your calorie needs.
- Read the saturated fat and trans fat lines on the label of packaged foods.
- Ask your doctor or a dietitian which cooking fats, and how much, suit you.
- Anyone who takes medicine for diabetes should check with their doctor before changing how much they eat. The same applies to blood pressure medicine.
Medical disclaimer: This article is general information. It does not replace advice from your doctor about your own health.
Common questions
Mostly. In India's 2017 food composition tables, about 71% of the fatty acids in ghee were saturated. ICMR-NIN, India's National Institute of Nutrition, advises limiting ghee or butter to 1 to 2 teaspoons a day, or avoiding them if possible.
WHO's 2023 guideline recommends keeping saturated fat to 10% of daily calories or less, a strong recommendation, and suggests going lower, a weaker one. ICMR-NIN gives its own figures. It calls more than 10 g a day of visible saturated fat from ghee, butter, palm oil or coconut oil high, on a 2,000 kcal diet. It calls more than 5% of daily calories from saturated fat excessive.
ICMR-NIN says trans fat forms when vegetable oil is partly hydrogenated, as in making vanaspati. It says trans fat is more harmful than saturated fat, and it advises against cooking with vanaspati.
Sources
- ICMR-NIN Expert Committee. Dietary Guidelines for Indians - 2024. Hyderabad: ICMR-National Institute of Nutrition; 2024. Available from: nin.res.inCited atp. 52, Guideline 7p. 52, Guideline 7pp. 51 to 52, Guideline 7p. 93p. 93p. 54p. 52, Guideline 7p. 93p. 93p. 53p. 53p. 51p. 56p. 55pp. 52, 55p. 55p. 56p. 56p. 5p. 54p. 54p. 54p. 54p. 54p. 51p. 106
- ICMR-National Institute of Nutrition. Nutrient requirements for Indians: recommended dietary allowances and estimated average requirements, 2020. A report of the expert group. Hyderabad: ICMR-NIN; 2020. Updated 2024. Available from: nin.res.inCited atp. 60
- World Health Organization. Saturated fatty acid and trans-fatty acid intake for adults and children: WHO guideline. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2023. Available from: iris.who.intCited atp. ix, recommendation 1p. ix, recommendation 2p. viip. 59p. xiip. ix, recommendation 3p. ix, recommendation 3p. xp. xip. 1p. 1p. 1p. xii, recommendation 1p. xii, recommendation 2p. xivp. xiii
- Longvah T, Ananthan R, Bhaskarachary K, Venkaiah K. Indian Food Composition Tables 2017. Hyderabad: National Institute of Nutrition, Indian Council of Medical Research; 2017. Available from: nin.res.inCited atTable 12, pp. 425 to 426Table 12, pp. 425 to 426Table 12, p. 426
- Food Safety and Standards Authority of India. Food Safety and Standards (Food Products Standards and Food Additives) Tenth Amendment Regulations, 2020. New Delhi: Food Safety and Standards Authority of India; 2020 Dec 29. F. No. 1-116/Scientific Committee/Notif./2010-FSSAI. Gazette of India, Extraordinary, Part III, Section 4. Copy hosted by the WHO NCD country capacity survey. Available from: extranet.who.intCited atGazette pp. 26 to 29
- Food Safety and Standards Authority of India. Food Safety and Standards (Prohibition and Restrictions on Sales) Regulations, 2011. New Delhi: Food Safety and Standards Authority of India; 2021 Aug 3. Compendium Version-V. Available from: fssai.gov.inCited atRegulations 1.2(2) and 2.3.14(21)