This means the diet of a woman of reproductive age who needs approximately 2 400 kcal/day should contain about 480-720 kcal from fat or oil. This is equivalent to 53-80 g of pure oil (or about 11-16 level teaspoons). Part of the fat in a diet is not added in the kitchen at home but is ‘hidden’ in foods such as meat, milk, groundnuts and oilseeds as well as fried foods.
Fat and health
It is recommended that less than one-third of the fat in the diet is in the form of saturated fatty acids. Red palm oil and coconuts/coconut oil are foods rich in saturated fatty acids but, unlike other such foods, they do not seem to increase the risk of coronary heart disease. Moderate intake of coconut, for instance, seems to be acceptable, providing other foods high in saturated fats are eaten as little as possible. This is particularly true where the overall lifestyle lessens the risk of heart disease. Such a lifestyle could, for example, be one with a high physical activity level, high intake of fish, vegetables and root crops, low intake of salt and little or no use of tobacco or alcohol. Red palm oil is also a good source of other important nutrients, such as vitamin A and vitamin E.