Re: Do teens need a total of '100%' of Sat. Fat per day (based on 2000 cal diet

This is a great question!

The amount of fat that a person needs per day is based on a percentage of their total calorie intake.

It is recommended that fat should represent between 20% and 35% of total calories (that would be between 400 and 700 calories if you eat 2,000 calories per day).

Since we are talking about percentages, this means that if you needed more or less than 2,000 calories per day, you would also need to consume more or fewer fat calories.

Keep in mind that this 20-35% represents total fat (saturated + monounsaturated + polyunsaturated).

Saturated fat should account for no more than 10% of total calories (200 calories if you eat 2,000).

The key here is that "no more than" this percentage of calories should come from saturated fat.

This means that it is OK to consume less than 10% of your calories as saturated fat.

On the other hand, a small amount of saturated fat (10% or less of total calories) is OK, so having an ice cream cone every once in a while is alright.

So, to answer your original question, no, you do not need to drink enough milk to equal 100%.

In this way, saturated fat is very different from other nutrients like vitamin C, for example.

With vitamin C, you need to consume "at least" a certain amount.

With saturated fat, you should consume "no more than" a certain amount.

The "27%" listed on your milk carton probably means that you are getting 27%, or about 54 calories out of the 200 total saturated fat calories recommended for a 2,000 calorie diet, since most labels calculate percentages based on a 2,000 calorie diet).

I hope that this helps.

If you would like more information, please check the reference below and follow the link.

Reference

Dietary Reference Intakes for Energy, Carbohydrate, Fiber, Fat, Fatty Acids, Cholesterol, Protein, and Amino Acids (Macronutrients) (2005) National Academy of Sciences. Institute of Medicine. Food and Nutrition Board.
http://fnic.nal.usda.gov/nal_display/index.php? info_center=4&tax_level=4&tax_subject=256&topic_id=1342&level3_id=5141&level4_i d=10588