Of which saturates

[Yai]

On food labels, it sometimes says 'Fat: 20g, of which saturates: 9g' so what does of which saturates mean ?

[woofgang]

it means you are getting 11g of unsaturates plus 9g of saturates to equal the total 20g

[Yai]

But what does that mean for the body ? Does it mean you really only get 9g of fat ?

[woofgang]

no, the fat is 20g. saturated fat is the kind which mainly comes from animals and allegedly raises cholesterol ("bad cholesterol") unsaturated fat is said to be less a factor in clogging arteries but is still a dense source of calories

[Gef]

Weight for weight fats/oils contain about twice as many calories as carbohydrates. They are an essential part of our diet as they are a good source of certain fat soluble vitamins. However, as woofgang says, it is better not to take too much saturated fat (mainly animal fat) but to try to get your daily allowance (90g for men, 70 g for women) from vegetable (eg olive oil) and marine (eg oily fish) sources since they contain a greater proportion of unsaturated oils.