How much oil is appropriate for a balanced diet every day

According to the recommendations of the "Dietary Guidelines for Chinese Residents (2022)", it is sufficient for healthy adults to use 25 to 30 grams of cooking oil per day under a balanced diet. When converted into a white porcelain spoon commonly used at home, it is almost 2 to 3 spoons.

This standard is calculated based on the daily basal metabolism of ordinary people, the minimum requirement of essential fatty acids, and the amount of oil contained in daily food. In fact, oil itself is not a scourge, it is the "lubricating oil" of the body. It is indispensable for skin moisturizing and hormone synthesis. This amount is just enough to support the normal operation of the body without adding unnecessary burden to blood vessels and metabolism. Speaking of which, I helped my mother calculate her oil consumption two months ago. She always said that she used less oil for cooking. As a result, she poured out the 5L of oil she bought and weighed it. After eating it for a family of three for less than two months, each person used almost 40g of oil for cooking alone per day. Not counting the invisible oil in the peach cakes and sauced elbows that she usually likes to eat, I later gave her a graduated oil spray bottle and sprayed it five or six times every time she cooked. I went to the community for a blood lipid test more than a week ago and found that the low-density lipoprotein dropped by 0.2mmol/L, which made her very happy.

Of course, this is not to say that this number is an absolute rule. There are also different opinions in the nutrition field. For example, for people who consume a lot of physical energy on a daily basis, such as construction site workers, professional athletes, or people who basically do not eat processed snacks and eat little red meat, some studies believe that the cooking oil can be relaxed to 35~40g, which can maintain a better physical condition. A friend of mine who ran a marathon tried it. Before, he strictly stuck to the 25g limit. His hair fell out for most of the year, and his aunt refused to allow it. Later, he relaxed it to about 35g per day, and his training status improved a lot. There are also children and women during pregnancy and childbirth. Due to their physical development and nutritional needs, their fat intake can be higher than that of ordinary adults, and there is no dead limit.

As for the statement that many people on the Internet can eat more oil on the ketogenic diet, it is actually a special diet model and is an adjustment for specific groups of people. Ordinary people should not follow the trend casually. After all, the metabolic burden caused by a long-term high-oil diet is real.

By the way, when calculating the amount of oil, don’t just focus on the amount of oil poured into the pot. The shortening in the bread, the non-dairy fat in the milk tea, the sesame sauce in the salad, the sesame oil in the hot pot dipping sauce, and even the oil absorbed by the outer shell of the fried chicken must be taken into account. Many people overdo it without realizing it, and they suffer from these "invisible oils". In fact, there is no need to be too anxious. You should try to fry and fry as little as possible. Occasionally, if you are craving for hot pot fried chicken, you will make up for it by skipping half a spoonful of oil in the next two days. After all, a balanced diet is a long-term matter. There is no need to worry about a few grams of oil, right?