There is a tendency to associate obesity with consumption of a high fat diet. This is partly down to the fact that within the past 30 years, fat has been demonised by observational studies and therefore the media, giving the wrong impression. Fat, however, has been linked with an increase in various fat burning and muscle-building mechanisms which can be both beneficial to health and athletic performance.
The science behind why we’re taught to avoid fat is simple; each gram of fat contains 9 kcals of energy within it, whereas both a gram of protein and carbohydrate contain only 4 kilocalories of energy. Now common sense dictates that if we consumed a diet which, for example, contained 200g of fat, compared to 200g of carbohydrate, then we’d be consuming 1800 kcals in the fat diet, whereas only 800kcals would come from our carbohydrate equivalent. That’s over twice as much energy whilst weighing the same, and it is this fear of calorie dense fat, coupled with the media witch-hunt, which make people avoid fats, with saturated fats in particular becoming something people look to avoid.
Avoidance of saturated fat has led to the birth of ‘low fat’ products such as skimmed milk and margarine. Now whilst it is accepted world-wide that ‘trans’ or ‘hydrogenated’ fats should be avoided (seriously, run for the hills if you see this in your food, it’s be known to cause a whole host of problems), the rest of the fatty acid group including saturated, polyunsaturated and monounsaturated, contain no such problems. Studies have often observed that there is a correlation between heart disease and high saturated fat diets, but this does not in any way mean that the cause of heart disease should be burdened upon saturated fat. Individuals who consume high fat diets may also lead inactive lifestyles and have an excessive caloric intake, so we can see now that there may be more to a sensationalist headline discrediting fat than meets the eye.
There are a variety of studies which have shown the benefits of fat, and in particular saturated fat. Various scientists have found that testosterone levels are actually higher in moderately high saturated fat diets, compared to a high carbohydrate diet with low saturated fat intake. This means a potential increase in ability to build muscle mass. Not only this, but in products like butter, omega-3 and 6 fatty acids have been found, these fatty acids have been known to increase cardiac health. Cholesterol, which also gets a bad name because of its supposed causing of heart disease and cancers is also found within fats, studies show that ‘good’ cholesterol boosts the production of various steroid hormones (lipid based, and therefore fat based). There are a variety of benefits which steroid hormones can bring including increased fatty acid mobilisation and an increase in bone and muscle mass, so it would seem strange to limit a pre-requisite for their production.
Now we’ve all been guilty in the past of limiting fats as part of our diet, and to an extent this is true – processed fatty foods should be limited. But the real problem which many individuals have when trying to lose weight is that their consumption of carbohydrates is too high. If you’re training a lot then this isn’t so much of a problem, but if you’re injured or it’s the off-season, and your training load isn’t as high, then the body will utilise its ‘ingenious’ (some may say unfortunate) mechanisms whereby any excess carbohydrates consumed can be broken down and converted to fat and stored for later use (anyone seeing the link to obesity?). Perhaps a better strategy for weight loss, would be to limit the amount of carbohydrates you consume as opposed to the amount of fat. This means that rather than limiting fat consumption, we should optimally be aiming for around 30% with half of this total coming from saturated fat, a diet such as this quite rightly puts butter, whole milk, eggs and nuts back on the menu. Carbohydrate consumption as stated above, should be treated more carefully, with refined products such as bread and pasta reduced or replaced, healthier alternatives could include rice and sweet potatoes.
To conclude, whether you’re happy with your competing weight, or if you’re looking to drop a few pounds to improve your PBs during the season, there should be an aim to incorporate fat into the diet, with its indirect muscle building properties and links to increased cardiac health, it’d be foolish not too. When looking specifically at weight loss, carbohydrate intake should be analysed in particular, as this is the variable within the diet that is often the most adjustable when it comes to aiming for weight loss.
