Last updated 11:25, Saturday, 05 April 2008

FATS – THE TRUTH

More emphasis is being placed on a fat-free diet these days, especially among teenagers these days who consume burgers and chips as there daily diet.

So should we get rid of fat completely?

The answer is definitely not.

Unfortunately, due to the ever increasing social circle of being skinny and being toned, fat has been forgotten about.

So now let me answer some the common questions that you may ask.

What are considered bad fats?

Saturated and hydrogenated fats (man-made fats) are extremely bad for you and should be reduced in the daily diet.

Saturated fats do have a place but only if consumed in small amounts, man-made fats should be removed totally from the daily diet.

Why are hydrogenated fats bad for you?

Because they are man-made, fats there is no essential qualities contained within it.

The body can’t cope with this type of fatty substance therefore they generally clog up arteries and are associated to heart disease.

For any athlete, you shouldn’t consume any hydrogenated fats as this will greatly affect performance.

What food contain these bad fats?

Hydrogenated fats are contained within cakes, bread, sweets, chocolate and processed ready meals.

What are considered food fats?

Mono-unsaturated and Polyunsaturated fats should be consumed with the daily diet. However, we now have a popular phrase essential fats.

Essential fats are very important in our daily diet and if you regularly exercise then you must ensure you consume these essential fatty acids as it will improve performance and over-all health.

Essential fats contain Omega 3 oils and Omega 6 oils.

What foods are these essential fatty acids found in?

Omega 6 oils are found in a number of foods including walnuts, sunflower oil and sunflower seeds. Omega 3 oils are found in most oily fish like mackerel and sardines.

They can also be found in linseed oil and rapeseed oil.

How much fat should I have in my diet?

It depends totally on what you want to achieve.

If you are looking to tone up and reduce your body fat then you should look to 15 per cent and under as the percentage of fat derived from food.

The standard in this country is to achieve 35 per cent which when I first read it was far too much. For normal people who don’t train then look to 20-25 per cent of energy derived.

What body fat percentage should I be?

This figure is only dedicated to the trained individuals out there.

For males, five to 15 per cent would be normal and for females, 10-25 per cent is the target.

For the person who doesn’t train then males should look to target between 10-20 per cent and females 15-30 per cent. At the end of the day you should look to consume essential fats and replace all bad fats with sensible options.

What rules would you give me to lower my fat intake?

It’s a difficult question as normally I would ensure that a weekly food diary is supplied then analyse your kcal intake from there.

However, here are a couple of guidelines:

Avoid foods that have 20 per cent or more of the calories derived from fat.

If the label doesn’t have any information on fat it sometimes mean that its very high in fat.

Look at your diet now and write down your 24 hour intake.

It will be obvious to see what foods are high in fat. Replace these foods with healthier alternatives.

Always start the morning with a low fat food. Fresh fruit and porridge and great alternatives as these are low in fat, in fact fruit has no fat at all.

Don’t be misled by products that say low in fat - generally these products are high in something else, normally sugar.

Red meats are high in fat and if you are training for a particular event then these must be avoided.

The latest research is looking at fat as a energy store, however my view is that high fat consumption is bad no matter what you do. The best rule of thumb is to try and reduce all the bad things out of your diet and replace them with good things.

Never get rid of bad foods and replace them with nothing, always look for alternatives.