Overheard in Dublin - The Truth About Fat

Recently I was walking around a supermarket in Dublin I passed two girls who have just came back from a personal training session in the city centre. The conversation went something like

Girl 1 “Look at these, they have 0% fat”

Girl 2 “Great. Idon’t have any fat in my diet at all.”

Girl 1 “Yeah. Me too. Whats the point going to the gym if I am going to eat fatty foods”

Now. This is fine as certain types of fat are good, and certain types are bad. Early studies in the 20th century link dietary fat to be a main risk of cardiovascular disease. Those clever marketing people decide to start pushing low fat products to the consumer.

Therefore the world thought if I eat low fat food. I don’t need to train.

Correct? NO.

Fat is NOT bad.

Why? It is the most dense macronutrient which weighs in at about 9 calories per gram. This is much larger than its friendlier family members called proteins and carbohydrates. The energy density of fat is very important to be understood.

However, again don’t over do it. But it is worthwhile to point out that fat should make up to 25-40% of your diet.

What are the good fats? What are the bad fats?

Monounsaturated or polyunsaturated and omega fats, these are the ones found in fish and nuts. They help metabolism and cholesterol.

The bad fats are the food high in saturated fats such as red meat and cheese.

Avoid the bad fats and increase the good fats and you can improve your inflammatory response. This will aid the healing process of tissue damage and fighting infections.

Fat Advice When Training

In your post meal workout recovery avoid high fatty foods. Of any kind. They fats can affect your ability to store glycogen which means that you may not store those lovely carbs you eat for energy. This could damper you energy levels and performance for your next training session.

Don’t eat fat before, after (especially during) your workout. Use and abuse those carbohydrates. Must go back to that supermarket and tell those girls the truth about fat.