Fat intake calculator

Fat helps you feel full and carries some vitamins. UK guidance sets an upper limit for total fat and a lower one for saturated fat. Here are yours, in grams.

Your details

Fat at 2,000 kcal

Up to 78 g

no more than 35% of energy

Saturated fat, at most20 g (the NHS everyday limit)
10% of your energy would be22 g (the SACN 2019 limit)
NHS everyday limit20 g for women
Trans fats, at most4.4 g (2% of energy; most UK food now has very little)
Unsaturated fatsthe rest, and that is good
Check a food labeladd fat or saturates per 100 g to see its traffic light colour

Oily fish, nuts, seeds and olive oil are good sources of fat. The limit that matters most is saturated fat, from butter, fatty meat, cheese, cake and pastry.

The working

Percentages of energy

Fat has about 9 kcal a gram. UK advice is that no more than 35% of energy comes from fat and no more than about 10% from saturated fat (SACN 2019, which replaced the older 11%). At 2,000 kcal: 35% is 700 kcal, or 78 g of fat; 10% is 200 kcal, or 22 g of saturates. The NHS everyday limit is 20 g for women and 30 g for men, so the calculator shows whichever is lower: 20 g for a woman at 2,000 kcal.

If the calories you type are outside 800 to 6,000 kcal, the calculator says so and uses the NHS guide of 2,000 kcal for women or 2,500 for men instead.

Good fats

Unsaturated fats are the healthier ones

Olive, rapeseed and sunflower oils
Nuts, seeds and nut butters
Oily fish like salmon, mackerel and sardines, ideally once a week
Avocado

Swapping saturated fats for these is linked with lower cholesterol and fewer heart attacks, which is why the limit is on saturates rather than all fat.

On the label

Spotting saturates

Front of pack labels show fat and saturates per portion with traffic lights. More than 5 g of saturates per 100 g is red, 1.5 g or less is green. For total fat, more than 17.5 g per 100 g is red and 3 g or less is green. Type the per 100 g figures from a pack and the calculator gives the colour. Butter, cheese, fatty meat, pastry, cakes and coconut oil are the usual sources.

Your day

Share of energy and trans fats

Type what you ate and we turn it into a share of your energy, the way the guidance is written: 25 g of saturates at 2,000 kcal is 25 × 9 = 225 kcal, or 11.3%, a little over the 10% line. Trans fats should be under 2% of energy, about 4.4 g at 2,000 kcal; UK manufacturers removed most of them, so they mostly come in small amounts from meat and dairy.

Read with care

What this cannot tell you

Trans fatsNow rare in UK food, but still worth avoiding.
High cholesterolSome people need tailored advice from their GP or a dietitian.
Babies and toddlersUnder 2s need full fat foods; these limits are for older children and adults.

Questions

Common questions

How much fat should I eat a day?

No more than about 70 to 78 g at 2,000 kcal, or 97 g at 2,500 kcal. The 70 g figure on labels is the reference intake used for comparing foods.

Is a low fat diet healthy?

Not automatically. Some low fat products add sugar to make up for taste. Eating mostly unsaturated fats is more important than eating very little.

Is coconut oil good for you?

It is very high in saturated fat, so UK advice is to use it sparingly, like butter.

Sources

Last checked 21 October 2026. Spotted something wrong? Tell us and we will fix it.

If food feels hard

If eating, weight or food is on your mind a lot, you are not alone. Your GP can help, and Beat has a free helpline on 0808 801 0677 (England, weekdays 3pm to 8pm).