Diabetes And Fat Facts

Learn about fat and how it plays a role in your diabetes meal plans...

Do you know how to figure out how much fat is in that piece of steak you're eating?   Do you see "Lite" on a package and think it means the product is low in fat?   It's important for all of us to lower our fat intake.  The average American's fat intake is approximately 37% of the total calories eaten.  A person with diabetes should be careful of the fat content in their foods.  Fat is known to work against the body using it's insulin efficiently.  There's a formula you can use to find out how many calories in a food comes from fat.   Here's the formula:

Each gram of fat = 9 calories
Grams x 9 = Calories From Fat
 

Look at this example of a food label

Per Serving:
Calories       100
Fat             10 grams
Protein          1 grams
 

If you read a label and it says a food has 10 grams of fat the calculation would be:

10 grams x 9 = 90 calories (from fat)

If the total number of calories in the food is 100 and 90 of the calories come from fat that food is 90% fat.  You should try to eat foods that have 30% or less of it's calories from fat.
 
 

Don't be fooled by labels that say "97% fat free!" or "low fat!".

Calculate the fat calories yourself!  Once you start calculating the number of fat calories in food you'll be able to eat healthier and you might notice a positive effect on your blood glucose levels.