How much fat do you need?

Answer: Not much. We only need the essential fatty acids, because our
bodies can make all the other fats from those. Here is a reference
from Merk which says essentially that a fat deficiency is RARE and
that it is even more rare in vegetarians, because the fat in
plants...even though it is lower than meat, has more essential fatty
acids.

http://www.merck.com/mmpe/sec01/ch002/ch002d.html


The minimum percent of fat that should be in the diet is very low at
3.5% That is70 calories (based on a diet of 2025 cal/day) from fat or
about 8 grams a day. It is almost impossible to get that little fat.
Oats, for example have 3 grams per serving which is 18% fat, although
all other grains are lower in fat, with most at 1 gram per serving
(10% fat). A very-low fat diet would have 10% fat. What this means is
that you don't really have to worry about not getting enough fat in
your diet. It is important to select foods that are high in essential
fatty acids though cause otherwise you could even eat high-fat, but be
low in essential fatty acids. Since omega-3 has some health claims
attached to it, it might be useful to include omega 3 tablets which
are usually from fish. Fish though, has traces of mercury in it, so
some people opt for other sources of omega 3. Flaxseed is very high in
omega 3, for example, and would never contain mercury.

The bottom line, I think, is that you really don't have to worry about
not getting enough fat in your diet. Getting too much is the problem.
If you want more omega 3 to try and fight heart disease and some other
things attributed to it, you'll probably have to eat a lot of fish or
flax, or take the fish oil or flax seed supplements. The only
exception to this it appears is infants who need either breast milk,
formula (with fat added), or animal milk, but not soy or nonfat milk
because their developing bodies and brain especially need the higher
fat. dkw