This post concludes the macronutrients series with a commonly demonized macronutrient: fat. Although everybody knows the dangerous effects of eating excess fat, eliminating it from your diet can be also extremely harmful for your health, since fat is essential in many body functions.
Fat roles are manifold. It is an important building block for all cell membranes, it is needed for the absorption and transport of the fat soluble vitamins (A, D, E, and K), it is used for hormone production, and it increases the digestion and use of protein. In addition, fat can be also used as a long-term energy source (fat yields 9 calories per gram).
Fat can be separated in two categories: good fat (monounsaturated fats and polyunsaturated fats) and bad fat (trans fatty acids and saturated fats). Good fats are preferred in your diet because they have benefits for your health (e.g. increase the good (HDL) cholesterol and lower the bad (LDL) cholesterol). They are found in fish, nuts and vegetable oils (flaxseed oil, canola oil, safflower oil, sunflower seed oil and olive oil). Good fats include what is known as Essential Fatty Acids (EFA’s). There are two types of EFA’s: Linoleic Acid (Omega-6) and Linolenic Acid (Omega-3). The body can synthesize many of the fatty acids it needs, but it cannot synthesize EFA’s, hence they must be ingested in the diet.
Your bad fats intake should be limited because they raise bad (LDL) cholesterol and increase chances of coronary diseases. Bad fats are mainly found in processed foods and in animal sources (beef, pork, lamb, egg yolks, milk or cheese). However, these animal sources contain not only saturated fats, but also valuable nutrients for bodybuilders such as protein. For this reason, you should include them in your diet occasionally, but controlling your global fat levels.
You should keep fat intake in the range of 15-25% of your total calories. Don’t go below that to avoid health problems. Don’t go above that because excess fatty acids will be stored as adipose tissue and you are also exposed to health problems. Focus on good fats and distribute your fat intake through all your meals. Don’t combine fat with high GI carbohydrates in the same meal, because fat storage in the adipose tissue is greatly enhanced by the presence of insulin.
As usual, you can find more information on fat macronutrient in the article “The Big Picture: Are Fats Evil?” by Matt Danielsson, in the article “Fatten Up Your Total!” by Anthony Ricciuto, and in the article “Good And Bad Fats: How Do We Balance Their Intake For Optimal Health!” by David Robson.
Fat roles are manifold. It is an important building block for all cell membranes, it is needed for the absorption and transport of the fat soluble vitamins (A, D, E, and K), it is used for hormone production, and it increases the digestion and use of protein. In addition, fat can be also used as a long-term energy source (fat yields 9 calories per gram).
Fat can be separated in two categories: good fat (monounsaturated fats and polyunsaturated fats) and bad fat (trans fatty acids and saturated fats). Good fats are preferred in your diet because they have benefits for your health (e.g. increase the good (HDL) cholesterol and lower the bad (LDL) cholesterol). They are found in fish, nuts and vegetable oils (flaxseed oil, canola oil, safflower oil, sunflower seed oil and olive oil). Good fats include what is known as Essential Fatty Acids (EFA’s). There are two types of EFA’s: Linoleic Acid (Omega-6) and Linolenic Acid (Omega-3). The body can synthesize many of the fatty acids it needs, but it cannot synthesize EFA’s, hence they must be ingested in the diet.
Your bad fats intake should be limited because they raise bad (LDL) cholesterol and increase chances of coronary diseases. Bad fats are mainly found in processed foods and in animal sources (beef, pork, lamb, egg yolks, milk or cheese). However, these animal sources contain not only saturated fats, but also valuable nutrients for bodybuilders such as protein. For this reason, you should include them in your diet occasionally, but controlling your global fat levels.
You should keep fat intake in the range of 15-25% of your total calories. Don’t go below that to avoid health problems. Don’t go above that because excess fatty acids will be stored as adipose tissue and you are also exposed to health problems. Focus on good fats and distribute your fat intake through all your meals. Don’t combine fat with high GI carbohydrates in the same meal, because fat storage in the adipose tissue is greatly enhanced by the presence of insulin.
As usual, you can find more information on fat macronutrient in the article “The Big Picture: Are Fats Evil?” by Matt Danielsson, in the article “Fatten Up Your Total!” by Anthony Ricciuto, and in the article “Good And Bad Fats: How Do We Balance Their Intake For Optimal Health!” by David Robson.
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