Fat grams during pregnancy?

[topaz4321]

Does anyone know how many fat grams (minimum) one should eat when pregnant? I can easily find recommendations in terms of percentages but they all assume I'm willing to count calories in order to calculate percentages, and I'm not. I just want to know the minimum number of fat grams recommended for a healthy pregnancy - I surfed the Internet for an hour and couldn't find this information anywhere. Thanks!

[Grace]

My understanding is that a pregnant woman needs approximately 300 extra calories a day. And a normal, healthy diet should consist of no more than approximately 20% - 30% of calories from fat. So to do the math:

300 X 25% (I'm just using this number because it's between 20% and 30%) = 75 calories from fat. To convert to grams, it's 75 divided by 9 (there are nine calories in one gram of fat) = 8. So I think the answer is another approximate 8 grams of fat beyond a non-pregnant person's diet.

[topaz4321]

So maybe 45-50 grams per day would be a good target...if I'm eating approx. 2200 calories per day (which is a wild guess since I've never been a big calorie counter), then 20% fat intake would be approx. 48 grams per day.

[Grace]

Yep, you've got it. That sounds VERY reasonable to me. I think the national standards use 30% calories from fat, and a 2000 calorie a day diet for an average, non-pregnant woman. Which means they recommend up to 67 grams of fat per day. So you'd definitely be well within the national guidelines, which to me are a bit high if one is aiming for optimal healthy anyway, but that's just my opinion.

I also wouldn't go any lower than 20%. Everyone needs some fat in their diets. There are many cells in the body (most of them in the brain) that require fat to function properly, and I'm quite sure that a developing baby needs fats too. . Just make sure it's "good" fat - olive oil, fish oil, flaxseed, nuts and nut oils, etc, and you'll be doing both you and your baby good!!

[topaz4321]

Thanks - I don't want to eat too *little* fat, but I don't want to overhaul my favorite recipes by adding a bunch of fat I don't need or want, either.