Define Nutritional Requirements of Fats and Oils for Adults?
A desirable amount of a linoleic acid to be consumed by a normal adult is 3 en% (ICMR, 1990). The invisible fat present in the usual foods is high in linoleic acid content (rice, wheat, bengal gram, red gram). Hence average, not so rich, Indians have sufficient linoleic acid. Linolenic acid is also present in these foods upto 3% and in spices upto 5%. In an Indian study, even the blood status was satisfactory even if visible fat content of the diets were low. EFA requirement has been computed by ICMR (1990) and depicted in Table 5.3. It seems cereal-based Indian diets can meet more than half the linoleic acid requirement of adults. It has been recommended to select a visible fat which contains at least 20% linoleic acid. Viewing 10 en% from invisible fat in diet, the remaining 5 en% can come from visible fat, which has more than 20% linoleic acid. This 5 en% in 2400 Kcal diet works out to be 12 g/day. This implies even 3 tsp of cooking oil/table fat a day meets adult requirements.