- What is fat?
That is the big question – we have all been told that fat is bad for our overall health but we don’t really know much about it. Let us now put to rest the perception that fat is bad. Fats play a very important role in balancing the functions of the human body. They help maintain healthy hair and skin, act as shock absorbers for the body’s vital organs (fats buffer toxins in the body when unsafe levels are reached in the blood system by storing them in new fat tissue – which is later metabolised/removed via bodily excretions), promote the function of healthy cells and maintain the body’s temperature.
Fat also stores energy for the body (fats are broken down in the body to free fatty acids and glycerol, which is then converted to glucose by the liver and used as an energy source); this then explains why certain sports professionals are simply not all just rippling muscle and sinew (exceptions to this rule – those who are genetically predisposed to having a very low body fat levels). Fatty acids like omega-6 and 3 help regulate your heart rate and blood pressure. Fats also help the human body assimilate and absorb vitamins A,D, E and K.
The logical analysis of the layman on the assessment of any sports professional would be to assume that somebody who has devoted their life to participating at the highest level of sport to have very low body fat levels simply to give them the extra edge in performance. One only has to look at explosive anabolic sports like the strong man events, power-lifting, rugby/American football (respective of position played), heavyweight MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) and boxing to illustrate the fact that many visually display body fat thus disproving the supposition that carrying body fat is always bad. In fact unless you have a predisposition to low body fat, reducing fat levels to below your physical norm can seriously affect your performance and be counterproductive to your physical equilibrium. Just to make this more transparent the average bodybuilder off competition season usually carries 10-20% more body weight; the physical aesthetics are a far cry from the competition form you see on stage. This is because the removal of body fat for the competition look is simply done for the competition; behind the scenes bodybuilders whilst in this forced condition suffer from muscle cramps and blackouts because it is not a natural state for the human body to operate in. A professional body builder would never maintain such a low body fat percentage whilst training normally simply because body fat aids muscle development and endurance for the assimilation of nutrients and to train at equilibrium. In fact it is quite the opposite – bodybuilders trying to gain muscle when bulking-up aim to put on fat (within controlled parameters) rather than loose it, to assist in muscle growth.
- Types of Fat
There are specifically 5 different types of fats found in our diets that are categorised under:-
- Saturated Fat is one half of the nasty pair of fats that receives a lot of bad press. It is the most easily recognised fat because it is solid or waxy at room temperature. It is found in Poultry, red meat, whole milk, cheese and butter.
- Trans Fat is the other nasty half and is easily categorised because it is predominantly produced artificially. It is found in cakes, biscuits and fried foods. This is the worst out of all the fats and like saturated fat can lead to heart disease if over-consumed.
- Polyunsaturated Fat is liquid at room temperature and in the fridge. Vegetable oil i.e. sunflower oil is a good source of fat and can lower your risk of heart disease.
- Omega Fat can be found in oily fish like salmon, herring and mackerel which contain omega-3 fatty acids. These sources of fat have been found to reduce the risk of diabetes, obesity and cancer.
- Monounsaturated Fat is liquid at room temperature but can solidify in the fridge. Good sources are nuts, olive oil and avocados. These fats have also been found to reduce the risk of heart disease.
On analysis of the 5 different types of fat we can logically conclude that it is sensible to avoid excessive consumption of fats 1 & 2 and to integrate instead fats 3 – 5 as part of healthy balanced dietary regime. In view of the overall picture it is apparent that fat is an integral part of our dietary intake and overall health! The question we have ask ourselves is what types of fat we are regularly consuming and what effects are they having on our health? Because simply cutting out fats from your diet is counterproductive to a healthy balanced diet.
- What the experts say
No more than 33% of our total energy intake should be taken from fat. No more than 10% of our diet should be saturated fat. The average person in the UK eats 9.86kg of saturated fat per annum.
I recommend watching the following documentary “Supersize Me”, which is a fantastic diary insight into the extremes of consuming excessive bad fats click here.
