The simple answer is No; in our diet, oil is as necessary as proteins and carbohydrates.

For a healthy diet, the recommended daily allowance (RDA) for total fat intake is between 20% and 35% of total calories.

We require oil/fat for the following main body functions:

• Helps to absorb fat-soluble vitamins in our body
• Acts as an energy source as 1 gram of fat gives 9 Kcal
• Involved in hormone regulation in our body
• Provides essential fatty acids like linoleic acid (omega-6 fatty acid) and alpha-linoleic acid (omega-3 fatty acid)
• Fats, especially omega-3 fatty acids, are important for our brain function, memory, and overall cognitive function.

Why Fats are necessary in our diet?

• If you have a Vitamin-rich diet but a low-fat diet, your vitamin intake will be wasted.

We know that there are two kinds of vitamins:

• Water Soluble Vitamins – Vitamin B and Vitamin C
• Fat Soluble Vitamins – Vitamin A, Vitamin D, Vitamin E, and Vitamin K
• Fat-soluble vitamins need a fatty medium to dissolve into your body
• These fat-soluble vitamins are absorbed in your body when we include healthy fats in our diet like Mono-unsaturated fatty acids (MUFA) and Poly-unsaturated fatty acids (PUFA)
• The human body can synthesize most fatty acids, including saturated and mono-unsaturated fatty acids like palmitic, stearic, and oleic acids. However, essential fatty acids like linoleic acid (omega-6 fatty acid) and alpha-linoleic acid (omega-3 fatty acid) must be obtained from the diet.

There are 3 types of fats:

• Unsaturated Fats – Increase intake
• Unsaturated fats are healthy and should be included in our diet. They are further divided into poly-unsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) and mono-unsaturated fatty acids (MUFA).
• Unsaturated fats help to increase HDL or High-Density Lipoprotein (good cholesterol), which is beneficial because it helps to remove excess cholesterol from the arteries and transports it to the liver for removal from the body, potentially reducing the risk of heart disease and stroke.

• Saturated Fats – Limit intake
• Saturated fats are considered to be less healthy. They increase bad cholesterol.
• Saturated fats can cause cholesterol to build up in arteries (blood vessels). Saturated fats raise your LDL (bad cholesterol). High LDL (Low-Density Lipoprotein cholesterol) increases your risk for heart disease and stroke.

• Trans Fats – Reduce intake
• Trans fats increase your bad cholesterol and decrease your good cholesterol level.