Growing up I recall the Food Guide Pyramid being everywhere in school. Little did I know at the time that it was sparkling new innovation by the USDA banked on expert work by scientists (yeah, we'll call it expert work). I remember being told that fat was something to avoid, something to minimize and that luckily (luckily?) many food manufacturers were happy to provide us with low-fat or fat free foods. How good God must have felt?
Fast forward 20-some years and the field of nutrition has advanced and matured. I became part of it! We realize the fallacy of that initial research and have reexamined what was once thought obscure notions that maybe it's not about avoiding dietary fat-- it's a lesson in quality, quantity, and knowing why it's important for you! Dietary fat is so important that I wanted to write a lengthy, long-winded blog about it! lucky you :)
Lets Define 'Fat'
Fats, or lipids, are long chains of hydrocarbons that are composed of a hydrophobic 'tail'. Biochemically, they are volatile in the body and require extra care by the body in digestion, transport across your intestinal wall, and in their many body uses often requiring transport protein or adjunct stability ion groups.
Lipids are found in damn near every cell in your body. Cell walls are composed of phospholipids, transport proteins utilize their abilities, the brain is constructed with them, and the body loves using and/or storing them for later use! Almost all natural unprocessed foods contain some fraction of lipids. They are very much essential for life.
Lets Embrace Fat
If you were take a look back at the last 120 years you might think Humans were a bit crazy. We went to the moon, which was awesome, but we also did something odd to our food: we made it less like food and more resembling industrial chemicals.
Professional groups have called certain areas of the world with the highest number of old people "Blue Zones." What these groups share in common are that they behave much like people did 120 years ago. They stress less, move more, and eat a very unadulterated diet that can be high in natural fats.
In a significant amount of micronutrient metabolism fat plays a major role. When we examine the naturally-occurring sources of these said micronutrients we find them in foods naturally high in dietary fat. This is especially true of what I call the "structural vitamins": A,D,K,E.
A lot of bad publicity was given to dietary fat bc it was high in calories...Duh, fat is 9kcal/gm vs Carbs and Protein contributing 4kcal/gm. To me this is a weak way of justifying personal projection on public policy.
The fact remains that dietary fat and cholesterol intake holds only a 10% effect on your serum triglycerides and lipoproteins. Sure, there are some genetic abnormality folks out there (dead by 40 with total heart blockage, etc.) but it truly is the exception the rule. Physical inactivity, stress (life or trauma), excessive refined carbohydrates, and alcohol still hold more clout on harming your heart than fat ever will.
But what's fat have to do with athletic performance?
In the act of endurance exercise the rate of fat burning is dependent on intensity, training adaptations, and ergonomics (I.e. running/cycling with good form). When it comes to fueling activity fat can play a role as a substrate-- yet these products are still quite in their infancy and utilize medium chain triglycerides (more on that later).
Rather, we utilize carbohydrates and (to an extent) amino acids for fuel substrates when not burning fatty acids. Add to this equation the timing and dose-dependence in fueling and this post could get out of hand.
Where fat makes a difference
Fats, and more specifically lipids, could be considered the universal medium by all which all life, in any explicit complexity, function. That considered, dietary fat intake should be judicious in it's quality and quantity. I'm going to come out and say this: It is my expressive agenda to increase the amount of healthy fats in everyone's diet (barring known fat digestion issues) and lower the total carbohydrate content. Your personal biochemistry would thank you.
Like stated above, dietary fat has minimal adverse effect on your cardiac risk. While some cancers have been linked to things like saturated fats it calls into question the source by which those saturates were consumed. A profound example includes The China Study which questioned the cancer risk brought on by animal protein and saturated fat-- but a closer look shows that the sourcing of said protein was less-than-ideal commercial agriculture sources (not also ignoring some other innate flaws in the research). We now know that more optimal choices for meats and dairy (see below) don't exert these same effects.
I have outlined my formal thoughts on how to make fat work best for athletes and non-athletes alike:
1.include fat into every meal of the day-
Focusing on including enough fat in your meals helps with palatable food, nutrient absorption, and satiety. There is also significant evidence to suggest consuming fat favorably affects your mood and hormones! Pregnant ladies take note!
2. focus on getting your saturated fats from organic, grass-fed animal sources or tropical plant fats-
Don't let saturated fats and full-fat foods scare you! There is plenty of benefits and more and more research is coming out about these benefits (lower risk of diabetes, higher insulin sensitivity...).
ideally, you would be consuming organic, grass-fed meats and dairies-- you can literally see the difference in these foods vs. commercial-production product. As an added bonus, the more natural pasturing methods (read: as food should be made) makes these foods higher higher in the omega fats and many of the fat-soluble vitamins (yellow fat on your cuts d/t the beta-carotene content vs nasty white fats on commercial cuts).
In addition, tropical plant fats are a great way to include more saturated fats in the diet. These are composed of more the medium-chain triglycerides (MCT), having the hydrocarbon tail of only 10-16 vs the longer-chained unsaturates. MCT have indicated benefits to your immune health and skin.
I will divulge that you can buy MCT oil on shelves that keeps it liquid by removal of the lauric fatty acid-- a nice convenience! Except the lauric acids are indicated to have some of the most healthful benefits of consuming tropical plant fats plus, the melting point is 76-78 degrees Fahrenheit...you literally look at it and it melts which makes it great for avoiding high-heat browning of foods (which you're doing already, right?).
3. eat your cold water fish a few times/wk or take a quality supplement-
If you live under a rock you probably haven't heard of Omega-3 fatty acid. I mean, even Douche Doctor Oz talks about them. The hype is real though, and while not a panacea for all human ills, it would be wise to include enough to improve your health. Omega-3s are great for attenuating inflammation in the body and are vital in proper cell signaling.
One thing I stress is not skimping on your supplement if that's the route you take and "buy-up" on your fish. You will thank yourself (and me?). Focus on getting a supplement with both EPA and DHA included and take it religiously--almost like the Pill every day.
4. don't forget the plants!
Plants are rich in the polyunsaturated fats including monounsaturated fats. Omega-6 fatty acids are very favorable for health when in balance with our omega-3 intake. Over consumption leads to an increase in pro-inflammatory intracellular cascades.An important consideration in athletes who want to look to improve recovery!
Now before you go all crazy on me you should know that some of the healthiest dietary patterns had high intakes of Omega-6 (all that Blue Zone stuff from before). What matters is consuming them in nuts, seeds, and fruits/vegetables. Corn/Soy oil, and commercially-raised meats and dairy don't count on the list of approved sources. Flax, Chia, Walnuts, and the Algal forms of omega-3 are rich in the ALA form of these fatty acids. While more work has shown that EPA/DHA (animal sources) are more effective in limiting inflammation, the ALA (plant sources) can be intraconverted to the EPA/DHA by attrition of serum levels of the latter and there are many proven secondary benefits of the ALA form (skin, nails, retinal cells).
5. consume your fats in the-most-raw-possible form, with minimal exposure to environmental stress-
Like I said before, lipids are volatile in the body. If that wasn't stressful enough (stress kills too, ya know) the environment by which we store, process, and consume them greatly affects their amazing benefits. Plant oils you find on the supermarket shelf have likely been refined to almost-nothing in terms of health benefits. You're only pouring out liquid calories on that salad or saucepan.
Instead, source from a local shop and get first-press oils. It's spendier, but you seriously use less because the flavor is so much more profound (oh, that phenol content). Stored in a dark or opaque container pressed oils stay away from the damage of UV light (remember those supermarket oil in clear jars under lights? yeah, double negative!).
Add fats to food after it's done cooking instead of subjecting it the oxidative effects of heat. Learn to love Avocado and eat them almost every damn day on anything that doesn't gross you out.
---
"But I'm all low-carb'n it, so this doesn't matter anyway because I eat protein all day long..."
That's where you're wrong! and most likely we could call your dietary pattern "high-fat, low-carb" vs high-protein assuming you are in fact following an applicable low-carb diet. Surprise! Your lipid mechanics are actually a bit different because of the absence of substantial carb (glucose) in that body of yours.
(I smell another digressive post brewing...)
I hope this post was concise and not too nerdy. Notice I didn't give you specific numbers or percentages of how much to consume , quite simply, it would all be conjecture because everyone is different! Often, numbers are really only interpretive medium. By focusing on getting all your fats from natural methods, storing them properly, and eating fats in their most-raw-possible form you're already making substantial in roads to your health and athletic performance.
