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Fat...
Its Role
As well as carbohydrate, fat stored in the body can also be used as a source of energy. In long training sessions, greater than ninety minutes the availability of carbohydrate will decrease as it will have already been converted for energy. At periods of low intensity (UT2 and UT1) fat is the primary provider of energy for the body. So, especially during long winter training periods and head racing, fat is the main provider of energy during exercise for the body.
Saturated Vs Unsaturated Fats
Saturated fats are hard at room temperature and mostly come from animal sources. Foods containing these are often associated with health problems such as heart disease as they can cause elevated cholesterol. For maximum health and performance benefits this type of fat should be kept to a minimum. Examples can be seen in Table 6.
Unsaturated fats are can be split into two further groups 'monounsaturated' and 'polyunsaturated'. Monounsaturated fats are mostly liquid at room temperature and thought to be the most beneficial for health, they can help to lower cholesterol. Poloyunsaturated fats and are always liquid at room temperature. Essential fatty acids are a sub-category of unsaturated fats. These can't be made in your body so need to be included in your diet. They are important for energy production and have beneficial qualities such as being anti-inflamatory. This is particularly important for athletes as these can help aide recovery from strenuous training.
Table 6. Examples of the different types of fat.
Saturated Fats |
Monounsaturated Fats |
Polyunsaturated Fats |
Butter |
Olive Oil |
Vegetable Oils |
Cheese |
Avocados |
Oily Fish (Salmon / Mackerel) |
Meat Fats |
Nuts |
|
Your Intake?
Intake for endurance athletes has been suggested to be between 20 - 25% of total intake. This is lower than the average intake of 30 - 35% (higher intakes offer no performance benefits) but more than the minimum 15% required to maintain general health. This is approximately 1 - 1.5 g/kg Body Mass.
The majority of fat should come from unsaturated sources.
What These Recommendations Might Look Like…
The table below provides some food examples and quantities of good sources of dietary fats.
Table 7. Food providing unsaturated fat.
Food Source |
Portion |
Grams per portion (g) |
Salmon |
100g |
2.5 |
Tuna |
100g |
1.1 |
Rape Seed oil |
1 tablespoon or 14g |
1.3 |
Walnuts |
1 tablespoon or 28g |
2.6 |
Sweet Potato |
1 medium or 130g |
1.3 |
Broccoli |
3 tablespoons or 125g |
1.3 |
Pumpkin Seeds |
2 tablespoons or 25g |
2.1 |
Eggs |
1 Egg |
|
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