How much saturated fat a day?
Under 10% of your calories, the US line. Slide your calories and watch it move away from the 20 g on food labels, which never moves.
Not sure? tdee.guide works out yours from your steps. Food labels use 2,000.
22.2 ga day, 10% of 2,000 calories
The label's 20 g is fixed for everyone. For you it's 9% of your calories, under the 10% line.
What fills your 22.2 g
- A tablespoon of coconut oil11.2 g50%
A tablespoon of butter7.2 g32%
3 oz of 73% lean ground beef6.9 g31%
A butter croissant6.6 g30%
An ounce of cheddar6 g27%
A cup of whole milk5.1 g23%
A tablespoon of olive oil1.8 g8%
These are the US guideline's lines. The Gyroscope app personalizes yours.
What your result means
- Under your line: you're inside the US guideline. Keep your cooking oil, and check that fish shows up twice a week.
- Over by a few grams: one swap usually closes it. Olive or canola oil in place of a daily tablespoon of butter takes off 5.4 to 6.2 g.
- Over by 10 g or more: there's usually one big source, like cheese, fatty meat, pastry or the cooking fat. Put a usual day into the fat scorer to find it, and change that one first.
- Your line is under 20 g: the label's 20 g is more than your whole day, so a food at 25% of the Daily Value uses more of your line than the label suggests.
If your LDL is high, swapping saturated fat for vegetable oils is the food change that moves it, and cholesterol.guide works out by how much for your number. Why solid fats are the ones to swap.
The line at common calorie levels
Grams of saturated fat at 10% of calories: calories × 0.10 ÷ 9, since fat has 9 calories a gram.
| Calories a day | Saturated fat line | The label's 20 g is |
|---|---|---|
| 1,200 | 13 g | 15% of calories |
| 1,500 | 17 g | 12% of calories |
| 1,800 | 20 g | 10% of calories |
| 2,000 | 22 g | 9% of calories |
| 2,200 | 24 g | 8% of calories |
| 2,500 | 28 g | 7% of calories |
| 3,000 | 33 g | 6% of calories |
Why the label says 20 g
The Daily Value on a Nutrition Facts label is fixed for everyone: 20 g of saturated fat and 78 g of total fat, worked out on a 2,000 calorie day. Your 10% line moves with your calories. On 1,500 calories the label's 20 g is 12% of your day, over the line. On 2,500 it's 7%, under it.
Where it comes from
The 2020 to 2025 US guidelines found more than 70% of adults over the line, with sandwiches and burgers, desserts and grain-based mixed dishes carrying the most. Butter, cheese, fatty meat and coconut oil have the most per bite.
These are typical lines for a day, not a prescription. The Gyroscope app personalizes yours.
4 sources
- US Department of Agriculture and US Department of Health and Human Services. Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2025 to 2030, p. 3. January 2026cdn.realfood.gov
- US Food and Drug Administration. Daily Value on the Nutrition and Supplement Facts Labelsfda.gov
- Gebhardt SE, Thomas RG. Nutritive Value of Foods, Home and Garden Bulletin 72, Table 9. USDA ARS, 2002ars.usda.gov
- US Department of Agriculture. FoodData Central, SR Legacy: Oil, coconut (FDC 171412)fdc.nal.usda.gov
