Fat Intake Calculator: Daily Fat in Grams
Find how many grams of fat to eat a day from your calorie target, with the 20 to 35 % AMDR range in grams and the saturated fat limit of 10 % of calories from the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. Nothing is sent anywhere.
Enter a calorie target, or your details, to see your macros.
About the Fat Intake Calculator
The Fat Intake Calculator shows how many grams of fat fit your daily calorie target. It gives the grams for the diet split you choose, the Acceptable Macronutrient Distribution Range (AMDR) for fat of 20 to 35 percent of calories in grams, and the upper limit for saturated fat, less than 10 percent of calories, from the Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2020–2025. Type a calorie target, or estimate one from your age, sex, height, weight, activity level and goal, and choose a balanced, low-fat, low-carb, high-protein or custom split.
Nothing is uploaded; the calculation happens in your browser and never leaves your device.
This is an estimate, not medical advice. If you have raised cholesterol, heart disease or a condition that affects fat digestion, follow the advice of your doctor or dietitian.
How the grams are worked out
Fat provides about 9 kcal per gram, more than twice as much as protein or carbohydrate, so:
At 2,000 kcal a day, the AMDR of 20 to 35 percent is 400 to 700 kcal, or about 44 to 78 g of fat. The saturated fat limit of 10 percent is 200 kcal, or about 22 g.
Fat guidelines
AMDR
The Institute of Medicine set the AMDR for adults at 20 to 35 percent of energy from fat. Below 20 percent it becomes harder to get enough essential fatty acids and the fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E and K; above 35 percent, diets tend to be high in saturated fat and calories.
Saturated fat
The Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2020–2025 recommend keeping saturated fat below 10 percent of calories from the age of 2, replacing it with unsaturated fats from foods such as vegetable oils, nuts, seeds and oily fish.
Trans fat
Industrial trans fats have no safe level of intake and should be kept as low as possible. Most have now been removed from the food supply in the United States and many other countries.
Choosing a split
The low-fat preset uses 20 percent of calories from fat, the bottom of the AMDR, and the low-carb preset uses 45 percent, above it. The balanced preset, 30 percent, sits in the middle. Whatever the split, the type of fat matters as much as the amount, so check the saturated fat figure as well as the total.
Related tools
The full Macro Calculator shows protein and carbohydrate alongside fat, the Calorie Calculator estimates your daily target, and the BMI Calculator shows where your weight sits.
Sources
- Institute of Medicine. Dietary Reference Intakes for Energy, Carbohydrate, Fiber, Fat, Fatty Acids, Cholesterol, Protein, and Amino Acids. National Academies Press, 2005 (AMDR for fat).
- U.S. Department of Agriculture and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2020–2025 (saturated fat below 10 percent of calories).
Open-source credits
The calculations are implemented in-house in TypeScript, with no third-party libraries. They follow the AMDR of the Institute of Medicine Dietary Reference Intakes, the saturated fat limit of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2020–2025 and the Atwater factor of 9 kcal per gram of fat.