Ben takes the fear out of fats!
Ben Pratt, FITNESSTV's Nutrition Expert talks about Fats and how they can actually improve your fitness performance...
Taking the fear out of fats? But surely everything we hear about fats these days seems to be bad news. Saturated fat leads to heart disease. Too much fat in our diet increases the chances of fat storage and obesity. Excess fat upsets our cholesterol balance and damages our arteries. High fat diets may be linked to increased cancer. A high fat diet may lead to increased respiratory problems as a result of weight gain. The list is endless. Perhaps we do need to be afraid of the ever-present scourge of fat within the human diet!
Lets step back from this barrage of anti-fat, media driven science and think logically for a few seconds. I say 'logically' in a sort of loose, random fashion. The human race has been around for many thousands of years. Most of our understanding about nutrition and food science has only been gleaned in the last 80 - 100 years. Yet the problems associated with chronic health, obesity and heart disease have only been a major problem as far as we can tell on a population and global level in the last 40 - 50 years.
So we understand more about nutrition than ever before, but we now have greater levels of chronic ill health than has ever been recorded. Something isn't right. In the United Kingdom obesity rates have trebled since 1980. The government had only just set official nutritional guidelines in the late 70's. The simple facts are that whether government guidelines are being followed or not we have accelerated the size our waistlines considerably in that period. It seems that having greater knowledge on the subject of food and the importance of nutrient groups has negatively affected our body fat levels and our health! So now we have laid the foundations of a minor conspiracy it would seem appropriate to lay down a few science based facts.
Carbohydrates, proteins and fats all provide energy and all contribute to our overall levels of daily energy. It is highly unlikely that energy levels will be optimal when only one of these nutrients is eaten. Excess intake of refined carbohydrates such as sugars and white flour will lead to lack lustre energy and an increased likelihood of developing diabetes.
Fats not only provide a suitable source of reliable energy but also play an essential role in the growth and development of many structures in the body necessary for improved performance. Fats play a vital role in protecting the surface of the lungs and aiding the full functioning of our respiratory system and therefore maximal oxygen uptake.
If you are reading this article it is highly likely that you want to know what you need to do to increase your fitness performance in the long term and how to provide optimal energy before and during training.
Well simply put its got more to it than just filling yourself full of carbohydrates, no matter how 'scientific' the marketing appears.
Most sports drinks, no matter what grade of carbohydrates are used are heavily refined and lead to sharp increases in blood glucose followed by significant rebound crashes in blood sugar levels. Low blood sugar will always decrease performance. Its just a matter of time until this occurs, so what normally happens is when energy levels dip slightly another mouthful of concentrated, 'highly engineered' sports sugar ends up in your mouth again. This is not sustainable! It is a short-term fix and the body struggles to deal with this constant carbohydrate kicking.
Fats contribute significantly to overall energy levels both at rest and during more intense activity. A Danish study published in 1993 discovered that trained individuals were able to utilise considerably larger levels of fats to fuel their exercise performance compared to untrained individuals.
Another study published in 2001 focused on the energy used by 20 Australian national track cyclists across various distances between 200 to 1500 metres. The results challenged the mainstream thoughts. Let me explain. Traditionally sprinting or near maximal efforts have always been considered to be totally anaerobic activities which rely completely on glycogen, or carbohydrates, in order to fuel the system. Lower levels of exercise are considered aerobic activities, which utilise a combination of fats and carbohydrates to fuel. This has been much of the reason behind the focus on carbohydrates as the emphasis on fuelling exercise. Well this study of elite cyclists found that during 200m sprints about 29% of energy burned came through the aerobic system. A complete revelation! 400m sprints used 43% aerobic energy, 800m used 66% aerobic energy and 1500m was as high as 84% aerobic energy.
Remember the aerobic system uses both fats and carbohydrates as the fuels to provide energy. This means without question that fats contribute in a larger way to optimal energy levels during training and performance than originally thought!
So what's the bottom line? What should we eat? First and foremost lets not just go out there and start chucking cheap fats and oils down our necks. Look for high quality foods that will provide high quality fats containing a variety of excellent nutrients such as vitamins A, D, E and K. These will support hormone release and function needed for exercise like adrenaline and cortisol release. Theses vitamins will also assist with the growth and repair of muscle tissue in between sessions. A gradual introduction of some of the following fats will help to supply needed nutrition to fuel your fitness performance:
- High vitamin cod liver oil
- Organic liver (studies show a powerful anti-fatigue factor)
- Free range, grass-fed butter
- Organic whole milk
- Cold processed virgin olive oil
Well that deals with some alterations to your daily eating habits and your pre-training meals. But what about fuelling during the long distance sessions, the miles out on the road?
A study last year by Loughborough University compared water to an isotonic sports drink and milk for its hydration ability during exercise. Intriguingly milk hydrated best of all and improved performance by some considerable margin. A change of what's in the drinks bottle may be in order after all!
