CEdgar2

Last updated 01:00, Thursday, 14 June 2007

MORE emphasis is being placed on a fat-free diet these days, especially among teenagers who consume burgers and chips as their daily diet. So should we get rid of fat completely?

The answer is a defiant no. Unfortunately due to the ever increasing social trends of being skinny and being toned, fat has been forgotten about. So let me answer some common questions.

n 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.

n WHY ARE HYDROGENATED FATS BAD FOR YOU? Because they are man- made they contain no essential qualities. The body can’t cope with this type of fatty substance so they generally clog up arteries and are associated with heart disease. Any athlete shouldn’t consume any hydrogenated fats as this will greatly affect performance.

n WHAT FOODS CONTAIN THESE BAD FATS? Hydrogenated fats are contained within cakes, bread, sweets, chocolate and processed ready meals.

n WHAT ARE CONSIDERED GOOD FATS? Mono-unsaturated and poly-unsaturated fats should be consumed with the daily diet. 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 EFAs (essential fatty acids) as it will improve performance and overall health.

Essential fats contain Omega 3 oils and Omega 6 oils.

n 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.

n 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% or less as the percentage fat derived from food. The standard in this country is to achieve 35% which when I first read it was far too much. For normal people who don’t train then look to 20-25% of energy derived.

n WHAT BODY FAT PERCENTAGE SHOULD I BE? This figure is only dedicated to the trained individuals out there. For males 5-15% would be normal and for females 10-25% is the target. For the person who doesn’t train then males should look to target between 10-20% and females 15-30%. At the end of the day you should look to consume essential fats and replace all bad fats with sensible options.

n 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 k/cal intake from there. However here are a couple of guidelines:

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

If the label doesn’t have any information on fat it sometimes mean that it’s 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 are 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 to 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.