Saturated And Non Saturated Fats (2)

Saturated Fat

I’ll have the most to say about sat-fat, so get ready to read!  Saturated fat is what I would call a “middle ground” fat.

It’s not really the “best,” but there are positive aspects to it.  Similarly, it’s not the worst fat on the planet, but it gets some bad press because of a few studies. You see, there have been studies linking high intake of saturated fats to heart disease.

To give this a bit more context, the whole idea that saturated fat has been “proven” to be anything other than delicious goes back to a pretty flawed research study from the 1950′s where a scientist named Ancel Keys published a paper that laid the blame on dietary fat intake for the increasing heart disease phenomenon around the world.

However, there were major flaws to his study. For one, in his conclusions he only used data from a small portion of the countries where data was available on fat consumption versus heart disease death rate. When researches went back  and looked at the data from all of the countries where data was available, there actually was no link between fat consumption and heart disease deaths. In retrospect, it seems that Keys jumped the gun here and landed on conclusions that didn’t really have a basis in fact.

Secondly, and this is really where I think we ought to focus his blaming of fat intake for heart disease was only one factor that was considered. There was no consideration of other factors such as smoking rates, stress factors, sugar and refined carbohydrate intake, exercise frequency, and other lifestyle factors.   In fact, to my knowledge none of the subjects were at all fit.  Eating a bunch of fried foods  and not exercising might lead to heart disease, sure.

To drive my point a bit further home, I need to just point out that nearly anytime there is a study which compares subjects who exercise against those who don’t, we are consistently made aware that you really can’t compare to which creatures.  Simply put: lifestyle habits completely change the game.

All of which is to say that we are  yet to see compelling evidence that demonstrates that saturated fat would be truly damaging to people who lead a lifestyle that includes exercise and a generally good diet. Unfortunately, Keys study has been cited for over five decades now as “fact” that saturated fat is bad for you.

Saturated fat also gets a bit of a bad reputation because it has also been shown to elicit and increase in cholesterol in the blood stream.  Again, I have to say that this is not as scary as the media makes it seem—cholesterol concerns are a highly overblown.

The truth is, cholesterol actually acts as an antioxidant against dangerous free radicals within the blood and is also necessary for the production of certain hormones that help to fight against heart disease.

When there are high levels of undesirable substances in the blood (caused by the dietary intake of damaged fats, highly processed “unhealthy” foods, and large quantities of sugars), cholesterol levels rise in order to combat these substances.

Having said that, fact of the matter is that foods containing saturated fats are usually pretty calorically dense, as well.  Overeating anything isn’t going to lead to fat loss, obviously, and eating very calorically heavy foods is a good way to gain weight–both fat and muscle, depending on a number of other factors.

You can find saturated fats in foods such as dairy, eggs, red meat and some seafood.

While saturated fat can’t be put on our ‘good fat’ list, if consumed in reasonable doses it’s completely fine. However, you can limit your intake by selecting the foods you favour most and avoiding others.

On the more positive side, it should be noted that saturated fats have some pretty positive effects on muscle gain and, consequently, fat loss.  Saturated fats have a high melting point and consequently are solid at room temperature. The fat that is visible in beef is due to the high content of saturated fat.

Trans Fat:

Trans fats are the worst fats—and in truth, one of the worst “foods”—that you could possibly consume. It’s found in foods such as French fries, potato chips, and most fried food.

While some trace amounts of trans fats are naturally occurring in meats and other food, by and large most are not naturally occurring.  Instead, they are generally man made.Trans fats are made by a chemical process called partial hydrogenation. Liquid vegetable oil (an otherwise decent monounsaturated fat) is packed with hydrogen atoms and converted into a solid fat. This made what seemed an ideal fat for the food industry to work with because of its high melting point, smooth texture and its reusability in deep-fat frying.

Essentially, trans fats come about as a result of over-processing our foods in order to offer consumers a longer shelf life.

If your food is pre-packaged, it’s a pretty safe bet it has its fair share of Trans fats. You should try to avoid Trans fats at all costs if you are serious about your goals.  Or if you just don’t want to be eating plastic garbage.

Of course, I take a moderate approach. If you’re limiting your intake of junk foods, exercise regularly, get good nutrition otherwise—including a variety of healthy fats—then chances are if you have the occasional Twinkie once every few months, you’ll be okay.

Fat And Exercise

Fat provides the highest concentration of energy of all the nutrients. One gram of fat equals nine calories. This calorie density, along with our seemingly unlimited storage capacity for fat, makes fat our largest reserve of energy. While these calories are less accessible to athletes performing quick, intense efforts like sprinting or weight lifting, fat is essential for longer, slower lower intensity and endurance exercise such as easy cycling and walking.

Fat provides the main fuel source for long duration, low to moderate intensity exercise (endurance sports such as marathons, and ultra marathons). Even during high intensity exercise, where carbohydrate is the main fuel source, fat is needed to help access the stored carbohydrate (glycogen).

Using fat for fuel for exercise, however, is dependent upon these important factors:

Fat is slow to digest and be converted into a usable form of energy (it can take up to 6 hours).

Converting stored body fat into energy takes time. The body needs to breakdown fat and transport it to the working muscles before it can be used as energy.

Converting stored body fat into energy takes a great deal of oxygen, so exercise intensity must decrease for this process to occur.

For these reasons, athletes need to carefully time when they eat fat, how much they eat and the type of fat they eat. In general, it’s not a great idea to eat fat immediately before or during intense exercise.

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