Dietary fat plays an important role in a healthy diet. Dietary fat aids the absorption of fat soluble vitamins A, D, E and K in addition to providing essential fatty acids.
Like carbohydrates and protein; dietary fat is an important source of energy for the body. However, fat is the most concentrated source of energy in the diet, therefore eating too much fat can lead to weight gain.
There are four major types of fats - saturated fat, trans fat, polyunsaturated fat and monounsaturated fat. Too much saturated fat and trans fat can increase the risk of certain diseases, including heart disease, therefore it is recommended to eat polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats (which have positive health effects) in their place.
For the general population about 30% of total daily energy from food should come from fat. Therefore the daily intake for total fat, based on a diet of 8700kJ, is 70g.