Which of the following contains the greatest percentage of calories from fat

Although dietary fat was once avoided and considered a major contributor to heart disease, researchers have found that it can offer some benefits.

However, the American Heart Association recommends that saturated fat should be limited to less than 10% of total calorie intake. Though some saturated fats — like those found in dairy — may not have the same negative effect as saturated fats that are found in red meat (1, 2).

Still full-fat foods may offer benefits over their reduced-fat or fat-free counterparts. They are usually less processed and lower in sugar and carbs.

Here are 9 high-fat foods that are incredibly nutritious.

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Avocados are unique in the world of fruits. Whereas most fruits primarily contain carbs, avocados are loaded with fats.

In fact, avocados are about 80% fat, by calories, making them even higher in fat than most animal foods (3).

Avocados are also among the best sources of potassium in the diet, providing 15% of the Daily Value (DV) per 5-ounce (150-gram) serving. In addition, they’re packed with antioxidant compounds (3, 4).

Additionally, one study involving 45 men and women found that the consumption of one avocado daily for 5 weeks had favorable effects on participants’ cholesterol profiles (5).

They’re also a great source of fiber, which offers numerous digestive, heart health, and weight management benefits (2).

Cheese is surprisingly nutritious, despite its iffy reputation.

It is a great source of calcium, vitamin B12, phosphorus, and selenium, and contains many other nutrients (6).

It is also rich in protein, with a single ounce (28 grams) of cheese containing 6 grams of protein, nearly as much as a glass of milk (6, 7).

Cheese, like other high-fat dairy products, also doesn’t appear to increase heart disease risk compared with reduced-fat dairy — as it was previously thought to (8).

Dark chocolate is a nutritious food disguised as a tasty treat. It is very high in fat, with fat accounting for around 65% of calories (9).

In addition, dark chocolate contains fiber and several notable nutrients, including iron and magnesium, which some people may have difficulty getting enough of (9, 10, 11).

It is also loaded with antioxidants like resveratrol, the same antioxidant that gives red wine its health benefits, and epicatechin, which may possess anti-aging and performance-enhancing properties (12, 13, 14).

It’s important to choose dark chocolate with at least 70% cocoa, as other varieties are higher in added sugar and lower in the nutrients and antioxidants that dark chocolate provides.

Whole eggs used to be considered unhealthy because the yolks are high in cholesterol and fat.

However, new studies have shown that cholesterol in eggs does not negatively affect the cholesterol in the blood, at least not in the majority of people (15, 16).

In addition, eggs are profoundly nutrient dense, containing a variety of vitamins and minerals. One example is choline, a nutrient the brain needs but 90% of people don’t get enough of it. One egg (50 grams) provides 27% of the DV of choline (17, 18).

Eggs are also a weight-loss–friendly food. They are high in protein, which can help you to stay fuller between meals and cut down on excess calories (19).

Yolks and all, eggs can be a healthy addition to any diet.

Fatty fish is widely regarded as one of the most nutritious animal protein sources available. This includes fish like salmon, trout, mackerel, sardines, and herring.

These fish are loaded with heart-healthy omega-3 fatty acids, high quality proteins, and a variety of vitamins and minerals (20, 21).

Research shows that regular fatty fish consumption may enhance cognitive function, help regulate blood sugar levels, and decrease heart disease risk (22, 23, 24).

If you can’t (or don’t) eat fish, taking a fish oil supplement may be useful. Cod fish liver oil is best. It contains all the omega-3s that you need, as well as plenty of vitamin D.

Nuts are incredibly healthy. They are high in healthy fats and fiber, and are a good plant-based source of protein.

Nuts also contain vitamin E and are loaded with magnesium, a mineral that most people don’t get enough of (11, 25).

Studies show that people who eat nuts tend to be healthier and have a lower risk of various diseases. This includes obesity, heart disease, and type 2 diabetes (26).

Healthy nuts include almonds, walnuts, macadamia nuts, and numerous others.

Chia seeds are generally not thought of as a “fatty” food, but an ounce (28 grams) of chia seeds actually contains 11 grams of fat (27).

Additionally, almost all the carbs in chia seeds are fiber — so the vast the majority of calories in them actually comes from fat (27).

These aren’t just any fats either. The majority of the fats in chia seeds consists of the heart-healthy, essential omega-3 fatty acid called alpha-linolenic acid (ALA) (28).

Chia seeds may also have numerous health benefits, such as lowering blood pressure and having anti-inflammatory effects (29).

They are also incredibly nutritious. In addition to being loaded with fiber and omega-3s, chia seeds are also packed with nutrients (27).

Another fatty food that almost everyone agrees is healthy is extra virgin olive oil. It’s high in oleic acid, a fatty acid that offers some powerful anti-inflammatory properties (30).

This fat is an essential component of the Mediterranean diet, which has been shown to have numerous health benefits regarding heart health, blood sugar management, and weight management (31, 32).

It’s extremely versatile in cooking but really shines on roasted vegetables and in homemade salad dressings.

Full-fat yogurt can be nutrient rich. It has all the same important nutrients as other high-fat dairy products.

However, it’s also loaded with healthy probiotics that can have powerful effects on your health.

Studies show that yogurt may improve digestive health and may even help with weight management and reducing heart disease risk (33, 34, 35).

Additionally, research suggests that full-fat dairy has no negative health effects compared with fat-free or reduced-fat dairy (8).

It’s important to choose full-fat or whole milk yogurt, and select a version with minimal added sugar.

Although high-fat foods were once thought to be low in nutrients, research now shows that some fats do not pose the negative concerns for heart health that it once was thought to.

Additionally, naturally high-fat foods may offer similar health benefits to their low-fat counterparts while being less processed.

Although they are higher in calories, the high-fat foods on this list can easily be part of a nutrient-dense, whole- food–based diet.

Of all the macronutrients, fat has the most calories per gram.

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The macronutrients — protein, carbohydrates and fat — are nutrients that your body needs in large quantities, and all of them provide a noteworthy amount of energy your body can use as fuel, measured in calories. But of these macronutrients, one of them — fat — provides markedly more energy than the others.

Carbohydrates and protein both provide 4 calories of energy per gram. But it's fat, gram for gram, that provides the most energy, with a whopping 9 calories per gram.

Which Nutrient Class Provides the Most Calories Per Gram?

When it comes to the macronutrients, the most energy rich of the nutrients is definitely fat. Each gram of fat provides a hefty 9 calories of energy for your body, whereas protein and carbohydrates provide only 4 calories per gram. The difference between 9 calories and 4 calories might not seem that great at first glance, but it adds up very quickly.

Consider this example: If you were to eat a typical 2,000-calorie diet consisting only of protein or carbohydrates, you'd have to consume 500 grams of food to reach that calorie count. If you were to eat a 2,000-calorie diet, very atypically composed only of fat, you'd have to consume a little over 222 grams to reach that calorie count.

Obviously, neither of those diets is actually healthy; you need a certain amount of healthy fats for your body to function. But the example highlights just how quickly calories can add up if you go overboard with your fat intake.

Appropriate Macronutrient Intakes

The recommended calorie intake for a healthy diet varies by age, gender and activity level, as do recommended macronutrient intakes. If your dietary goals are related to a medical condition or elite athletic training, it pays to consult a registered dietician or nutritionist for specific guidance. But for most Americans, the recommended intake ranges in the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2015-2020, are exactly the amounts to steer you toward a healthy diet.

Protein should make up 10 to 35 percent of the typical adult's dietary calories. One exception to this is for teenagers and very young adults; for the 14- to 18-year-old set, the Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommends consuming 10 to 30 percent of calories in protein.

Carbohydrates make up a larger portion of a healthy American diet: The recommendation is 45 to 65 percent for adults, including the 14-to-18 age group.

Fats, meanwhile, should make up 20 to 35 percent of your dietary calories if you're older than 18. For those between 14 and 18 years of age, that 5 percent less calories from protein show up in the fat category; according to the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, teens should be consuming 25 to 35 percent of their daily calories in healthy fats.

Healthy vs. Unhealthy Fats

Healthy fats are necessary for your body to function, but because fat contains 9 calories per gram compared to the 4 calories in protein and carbohydrates, any unhealthy fats you consume can quickly send your calorie intake out of control. So how do you focus on the healthy fats you need?

The answer is as close as the nutrition labels on every packaged food, which break dietary fats down into different categories — saturated, unsaturated and trans fats. Unsaturated fats are generally considered healthful, while saturated and trans fats can be harmful to your body. The Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommends limiting saturated fat intake to less than 10 percent of your daily calories, and ideally you should keep your trans fat intake as close to zero as possible.

What if you aren't eating packaged foods with labels? No problem: Some restaurants make their nutritional information available (although you might need to ask for the nutrition breakdown), and you can use mobile apps or even old-fashioned calorie-count books to look up the nutritional breakdown of most common foods.

If fats are solid at room temperature, that's a clue that they probably fall into the saturated or trans fat categories.

What About Sugar?

Sugar is classified as a carbohydrate so, just like other types of carbs, you'll get 4 calories per gram of sugar consumed. But that doesn't mean your whole calorie allowance from carbohydrates should come from sugar. In fact, the Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommends limiting your intake of added sugars to less than 10 percent of your daily calories.

But sugar is sneaky. Added sugar is present in 74 percent of packaged foods, according to the University of California San Francisco. Some of the sneaky (and often supposedly "healthy") places it commonly hides include breakfast cereals, snack bars, yogurt, soft drinks and fruit juices.

Just like fats, your body needs a certain amount of sugar for optimal function, and you'll find naturally occurring sugars at varying levels in almost any type of food. The key for most people is to avoid added sugars.

For people with diabetes, prediabetes or other conditions that require more attention to blood sugar levels, it's also useful to know the glycemic index of your food, which is a measurement of how quickly it will affect your blood sugar levels.

Practice Calculating Calories From Grams

If you're concerned about how many calories you're taking in, paying attention to nutrition labels or researching the macronutrient breakdown of your favorite foods via mobile apps or calorie-count books is well worth the effort. But while these reference sources usually tell you how many grams of each macronutrient you're getting, they don't always give you the answer in calories as well.

But you can quickly calculate that for yourself, using only the sort of basic math you can do on a smartphone calculator or maybe even in your head.

Because both protein and carbohydrates pack the same amount of energy (4 calories per gram), the calculation to get from grams to calories is the same for both of them. Just multiply the number of grams times 4.

So if you're eating a protein bar that has 10 grams of protein in it, you're getting 10 × 4, or 40, calories from protein. If the same bar has 2 grams of carbohydrates, you're getting 2 × 4, or 8, calories from the carbohydrates in the bar.

For fats, you multiply the number of grams times 9. So if you're eating ice cream that has 22 grams of fat per serving, you're getting 22 × 9, or 198, calories from fat. You can perform the same calculation to see how many calories you're getting from saturated fat or other subcategories. For example, if the ice cream has 14 grams of saturated fat, that would be 14 × 9, or 126, calories.

What About Percentages of Calorie Intake?

So how much of your daily calorie allowance do those amounts represent? To find out, divide the calories in a given food (or meal) by the total calories you take in, then multiply by 100 to convert the answer to a percentage.

For example, if you're a woman between 31 and 50 years old, you might have a recommended dietary intake of 1,800 calories per day. If you eat the aforementioned ice cream with 126 calories of saturated fat in it, what percentage of your daily calorie allowance does that represent?

First, divide: 126 ÷ 1,800 = 0.07.

Next, multiply that answer by 100 to turn it into a percentage:

So that ice cream bar represents 7 percent of your daily calorie intake, which doesn't leave you much more room in this category if you're going to stay below the recommended 10 percent calorie intake from saturated fat — and it illustrates just how quickly calories can add up from the energy-rich nutrient fat.