Eating Does a Runner Good

Just read an article about how exercising before breakfast burns more fat. Article makes it sound like it's new news. Heard this for a long time. Problem is that people will just read the headlines and then start running on an empty stomach. It's true that when you run on an empty stomach, your body will use up any remaining glycogen (carb) stores and then begin to burning fat. Nothing wrong with that. However, what a runner has to ask himself/herself is...."What is my goal?"

If your main goal is weight loss, then great idea to get up early and go for that 3-5 mile run before breakfast and possibly burn more fat than if you had eaten first. But, if your goal is training for a half or full marathon, then your main focus should be on achieving a quality run. Running 10-20 miles on an empty stomach is not going to provide a quality run. When a runner comes to me to talk with me about a recent lackluster run, 90% of the time it boils down to improper fueling.

Yes, you can burn fat as a fuel source. When all the fat is gone, you can even burn protein (muscle), which is not good. But the thing to keep in mind is that the body's main fuel source and most efficient fuel source is glycogen (what carbs are turned into and stored as in the muscle). Fat can be an energy source, but it's not as efficient as glycogen.

Sometimes weight loss will happen when half marathon or full marathon training, but I don't encourage runners in the thinking that running long is going to cause weight loss. If you are training properly, your appetite will increase and as long as you're appropriately fueling based on your activity level, then you'll be fine. Most of the time, however, runners will over estimate their calorie burn and they'll eat a lot more than they need. My other concern with this article is there will be people who think.... "I'm going to run on an empty stomach and then I'm not going to refuel afterward either. That way I'll really get a good burn." Problem with that thinking is that when you drastically decrease your caloric intake and drastically increase your activity level, the brain will go into protective mode and actually latch on to and protect your body fat and burn muscle instead. Decreased muscle means less caloric burn, which can mean weight gain or a weight plateau. Not good.

So, long story not so short...if your goal is weight loss, then try running shorter distances before breakfast as a part of your weight loss goal, but if you're goal is a marathon....eat.

Article Link: https://www.cnn.com/2019/10/18/health/exercise-breakfast-fat-burn-wellness/index.html

The Lowdown on the Ketogenic Diet for Athletes

Ketogenics....isn't that what Michael Jackson wanted to do with his body after he died? Oh yeah, that's Cryogenics. My bad.   Well, I'm sure you've probably heard the term Ketogenics, even if you're not sure what it is.

The diet world is always a flutter with the newest this and the newest that. Actually, there really isn't anything new, it's just a new name for low-fat, high-fat, low-carb, or only eat Twinkies diet.

Many years ago we had the Atkins diet which was low carbs, then we had the Paleo diet which had many eating no carbs and getting in tune with their caveman ancestry, and now we have Ketogenics. All are really pretty similar in theory....Carbs are bad.

Ketogenics is all the buzz because it's often pitched as a beneficial diet for athletes. Being a coach and fitness trainer, I'm often asked about current nutrition trends. While I'm not a nutritionist and in the state of North Carolina I legally can't provide individual nutritional advice, I do try to keep up with the reading to be current on the latest research.

I've had 200 hrs of anatomy and physiology education and 100 hrs of nutritional education. So, while in no way am I an expert, I do have a good basis of understanding of how the body works and functions physically and nutritionally and my ears always perk up when a diet excludes a specific food group.

So when Sanna Delmonico, MS, RDN, CHES wrote an article ""Do Ketogenic Diets Work for Athletes" for the recent issue of IDEA Food and Nutrition Tips (Volume 6, Issue 5), I was very eager to read it.

Basically Delmonico addressed the question, "What do you think about a ketogenic diet for athletes? Does it really improve performance?"

Her response was pretty much what I thought. But first what is a ketogenic diet?  Delmonico describes a ketogenic diet as a high-fat, low-carbohydrate diet, usually including less than 50 g of carbohydrate per day (Paoli 2013). Carbohydrate, which is stored in the body as glycogen, is the preferred fuel for muscle and the brain. When this fuel isn’t available, the body turns to fat for energy and produces ketosis. The theory is that since we store much more energy as fat than as glycogen, athletes have a reliable, steady source of energy if they burn more fat, and this should improve performance.

Medically speaking, the ketogenic diet has been successful in treating epilepsy in children and in some adults and has shown some promise in weight loss  and type 2 diabetes. But, and this is a big but, long term, the ketogenic diet has risks. Continued use of this diet increased the chance of kidney stones, increased blood lipids and bone fractures. This diet also leads to constipation in many because it's so low in fiber. The low fiber component can also lead to increased chances of colorectal cancer.

Delmonico says that research has shown that over time, an athlete on a ketogenic diet becomes more efficient at burning fat. This adaption takes about 3-4 weeks and during that transition time, the athlete will feel very fatigued. So, this transition should be done well before a race training cycle. The thinking is that an endurance athlete like a marathon runner or triathlete would benefit from this because they'd have a longer sustained source of fuel. However, research has shown that while these athletes have become more efficient at burning fat, it hasn't added any benefit to athletic performance. However, higher carbohydrate diets did result in improved performance.

Delmonico concludes that more research is needed on Ketogenic diets for athletes. The positions of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, Dietitians of Canada, and the American College of Sports Medicine are that current evidence doesn't support the use of ketogenic diets to improve athletic performance.

Delmonico cautions athletes using the ketogenic diet to keep in mind that decreasing carbohydrate intake also decreases intake of fiber, vitamins, minerals, and phytochemicals from beans, whole grains, starchy vegetables and fruits.

Also keep in mind that the American Heart Association recommends reducing saturated fat to no more than 5 to 6 percent of total daily calories. This would be very hard to do on a Ketogenic diet.

Moderation. Is It That Simple?

The other day while having my morning cup a Joe, I ran across the best article I've read in a long time on the issue of diet. The headline read "Low-Fat or Low-Carb? Which Diet is Better?" (by Laura Casey of Contra Costa Times as featured in The News & Record, April 11, 2011). The article supported what I've basically believed for many years and had reinforced with my 100hrs of nutrition classes as a part of my schooling at NPIT and ACSM certification. Fats and Carbs....you need them both.

Americans are so funny when it comes to diet. Common sense is usually the last factor to come into play. We're always looking for the quick fix. The first "fix" came in the late 70s when Nathan Pritikin wrote The Pritikin Program for Diet and Fitness." All of the sudden fat was bad and carbs were the "in thing." Then the 90s brought the Atkins Diet craze which basically had everyone doing the exact opposite of the Pritikin diet. Now suddenly carbs were the enemy. (Makes you wonder if you should avoid any diet created by someone with a name ending in "kin." Don't worry there's no RunnerDudekin Diet in the works.)

The problem is that both diets do help you lose weight, but the question I always had was, "why go to such extremes?" Why do we always go to the extreme to find a solution to losing weight? I guess maybe it sells better? The article I was reading really hit the nail on the head by conveying that "...many diet experts, including local doctors, reel over the low-fat verses low-carb dieting discussion. It misses the point, they say. Americans, 60% of whom are overweight or obese, need to eat less and lower the amount of sugar in their diets, through reducing carbs and sweets. They need to eat real food, not overly processed, sugar-added treats. And they need to think about what they're eating instead of mindlessly consuming whatever tastes good."

Now, I think there's a lot that impacts that "mindlessly consuming whatever tastes good." Our hectic busy lives often dictate what we eat. Quick-n-easy often overrides cooking "real" foods at home. When families more-than-not have both parents working, preparing healthy meals can be a real challenge. I'm not making excuses, but being the parent of 3 kids and having a wife that works as well, I can attest to that challenge, not to mention the added expense of eating healthy. When it comes down to having just a few bucks left in your pocket to feed a family of five for dinner, 3 boxes of $.49 mac-n-cheese will be the choice more than not. Believe me, I've been there. Just pull-up to any fast food drive-thru menu. Check the price of that healthy grilled chicken sandwich and side salad and compare it to the cost of the regular cheese burger. And you wonder why so many low-income individuals eat unhealthy. Again, not making excuses, but just pointing out the obvious. But, I digress...back to going to extremes to lose weight.

The fact is that your body needs fat, carbs, and protein. Each plays an important role in keeping you healthy. The daily recommended allowance (DRA) of each is as follows
Carbohydrates = 45%-65% of your total caloric intake
Protein = 10%-35% of your total caloric intake
Fats = 20%-35% of your total caloric intake

Carbohydrates are your basic fuel system. They also play a part in helping regulate protein and fat metabolism. Continuous intake of carbs as well as the stored carbs (glycogen) is vital to proper functioning of your nervous system. Protein is key to tissue building and repair, a strong immune system, and it plays a role in your body's metabolism, and water-balance system. Fat can be used by the body as fuel for energy production. Fats aid in the digestion process and help transport fat-soluble vitamins important to the body, just to name a few of it's important roles.

Too much of a good thing can actually be bad. During the Atkins Diet craze researchers began to realize the effects of consuming too much protein. Your body only needs a certain amount of protein. Ingesting more will not make you have bigger muscles or make you stronger or leaner. Actually, when you consume more than you need, your body will deaminate the excess protein. That means is removes the nitrogen from the excess protein. That excess nitrogen puts a huge burden on your kidneys as they work overtime trying to get rid of it. Also, just like carbs, that excess protein has to go somewhere. Yep, similar to carbs, the protein that's not used is either stored as fat or used as energy. So if you're a sedentary person, the extra protein and/or carbs can cause you to pack on additional body fat.

Society seems to need an extreme method to latch on to to help modify their weight instead of looking at a more sensible approach (i.e., follow the guidelines and eat in moderation). For most Americans, if they make a concerted effort to reduce portion size as well as cut back on the amount of sugar and refined foods they're eating, they'd probably be very surprised to find the scales with a little lighter reading the next time they hop on them.

When I was a youngster, a meal at McDonald's consisted of a hamburger, fries and a soda. Actually that's all they had to offer. A little later they added the fish sandwich, but basically that was it. Oh yeah and the size of those burgers back then were the size that's in the kid's meal today. So 35 years ago an adult was basically eating one regular hamburger, a small fry, and a small soda. Still not all that healthy, but a lot better for you than the 1/2-pound Angus burger, large fries, and 32oz soda that many adults pickup today. Just the soda alone will eat up many of your daily calories. Did you know that the American Dietetic Association recommends that calories from sugar not exceed more than 10% of your total calories? One 12oz can of regular Coke exceeds that. Count up the number of regular soft drinks you consume each day? Then factor in your activity level? Guess where those calories are going if they're not quickly used after consumption

Almost all diets that impose strict limitations have an initially high success rate but then over time, individuals on those diets tend to gain back the weight. Why? It's hard to live a life of "I can't have that." Why not have a diet where you eat carbs, fats, and proteins, but in moderation?

So, now you know I'm big on "moderation." I'm also big on "education." Just like anything, there is a good side and a bad side. Same thing occurs with carbs, fats, and protein. This article would be 100 pages long if I shared the good and bad of each macronutrient, so make a point of reading up on each. Basically stay away from refined grains and sugary processed foods and look for whole grains and high-fiber foods. Steer clear of trans fats, try not have more than 10% of your fat calories come from saturated fats and comprise the bulk of your fat intake with healthier fats (mono- and poly-unsaturated as well as omega 3s). Explore a variety of both plant (legumes, soy, quinoa, nuts, etc.) and lean meats for protein sources. Food preparation also plays a huge role. Try baking, boiling, broiling, or grilling more than frying. Be careful with the types and amounts of condiments you use on your foods. You don't have to do without, but be a little choosier about what you put on that turkey sub or salad.

Enjoy eating. Just eat in moderation. I know that's easier said than done. I was an overweight child through middle school and lost a little over 40 lbs before going to high school. Once a "fat kid" always a "fat kid", in your head at least. Like I said, it's a life chage, not a quick fix. Make common sense choices. Get active. Start slow. Maybe just start by switching to whole grain bread, then leaving off the fries, then swapping the Coke for a Diet Coke and then maybe eventually to water. Add a 15-20 minute brisk walk to your regimen each day. Then make it 20-30. Then maybe try running. Make whatever you do a habit. Aim for losing weight over time. Quick weight loss almost never remains lost. Decreasing your total weekly caloric intake by 3500 calories (or 500 calories per day) will help you to lose 1lb a week. Just think in 5 weeks with little effort, you may be 5lbs lighter.  Whatever you do, start today. There's no better time!

Fuel Your Engine With Quality Foods and Keep Fatigue at Bay

Yesterday, I posted somewhat of a check list to help you determine the possible source(s) of your running or training fatigue—overtraining, improper hydration, lack of sleep, low iron levels, lack of post-run refueling. Good nutrition for everyday running as well as during your training can also play an important part in keeping fatigue at bay.

USDA National guidelines specify that your daily caloric intake should consist of 45-65% carbs, 20-35% fat and 10-35% protein. The trick is making sure that those percentages consist of the right types of carbs, fats, and protein.

The fad diets of the late 90's and early 2000's had us all believing that carbs were our worst enemy. Fact is your body runs on carbs. Without carbs your brain couldn't function properly. As with most things, however, there's a good side and bad side to carbs. Unfortunately most Americans consume far too many of the bad or simple carbs (refined and processed grains and sugar). Cakes, doughnuts, pastries, white bread, candy, yada, yada, yada. More than likely if it's packaged and the first ingredient is sugar, it's not going to be good for you. There are several reasons these foods are bad. First simple carbs usually have a high GI (glycemic index) and can spike your blood sugar levels. You'll have that burst of energy and then soon after crash. Not only will it leave you feeling tired and fatigued, you'll soon feel hungry again and you'll be grabbing for something else to eat. Also, unless you're going to be active soon after eating those simple carbs, those calories will more than likely not be burned and will turn into fat. Foods consisting of simple carbs also often pack a double-whammy of being loaded with saturated fat or even trans fats both of which can lead to high cholesterol. Increased fat and a sedentary lifestyle can lead to obesity and for some to Type 2 diabetes. See a vicious cycle here?

The good or complex carbs that are found in whole grain foods take longer for your body to process. Because it takes longer, it leaves you more satisfied and it also allows your body to make use of those calories as energy. Foods high in complex carbs tend not to be loaded with extra sugar and/or fat. Being active is also important even if you're eating complex carbs. If you're sedentary, even those good carbs can turn to fat. But if you're active, those carbs will be the fuel to sustain that active lifestyle.

Simple carbs aren't all bad. If you need a little pick-me-up, the sugar fructose, found in fruits, vegetables, and honey can provide an immediate source of energy. This type of simple carb is much better for you than that candy bar, because the fruits and veggies also are nutrient dense. So along with that fructose, you're also getting a lot of vitamins and minerals as well as fiber. Speaking of fiber, eating a diet rich in fiber will help decrease your chance of colon cancer as well as help keep you "regular." A "clean" system will also help keep you from feeling sluggish. Who wants to run with an extra "load" anyway?

A diet high in fatty foods can also make you feel sluggish. That's why it's not recommended to eat much fat before a run...it can literally slow you down. Just like with carbs, there are "good guys" and "bad guys" for fats. Good fats are comprised of the liquid or soft monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats and Omega 3 fatty acids. These types of fats play an important role in your overall good health. Monounsaturated fats include olive oil, canola oil, peanut oil, avocados, nuts, seeds. Polyunsaturated fats include vegetable oils (i.e., safflower, corn, sunflower, soy and cottonseed oils), nuts, and a variety of seeds. Omega 3 fatty acids are found in foods such as salmon, mackerel, herring, flaxseeds, flax oil, and walnuts.

Saturated fats and trans fats are the bad guys. Both of these types of fats increase the amount of cholesterol in your blood and a high level of cholesterol in your blood is associated with increased risk of coronary heart disease. Saturated fats are found in animal products (i.e., meat, poultry, seafood, eggs, dairy products, lard, butter), and coconut, palm and other tropical oils. Trans fats need to be avoided altogether. Now your body actually does need some saturated fat. Choosing leaner cuts of meat, turkey, and chicken will help keep the amount of saturated fat to a minimum. As a rule of thumb, try to limit your daily intake of saturated fats to about 7% of your total daily calories.

Trans fats include partially hydrogenated vegetable oils, commercial baked goods (i.e., crackers, cakes, cookies), fried foods (i.e., doughnuts, French fries), shortening, many types of margarine. Your daily intake of trans fats should be less than 1% (preferably 0%!). The remaining fat in your diet should come from sources of monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats.

Protein is important because it provides the amino acids needed for building and maintaining your body tissue. There are 20 amino acids. Eleven of these amino acids (dispensable) can be made by the body. Nine of them however (indispensable amino acids), come from a variety of food sources. Foods that are high quality or complete protein sources have all nine of the indispensable amino acids. Animal food sources are complete proteins. Soy and quinoa (pronounced keen-wa)are the only plant food sources containing complete proteins. Other plant food sources are considered incomplete proteins because they are missing one or more of the indispensable amino acids. Combining plant food sources can create a complete protein such as combining beans and rice or peanut butter and bread.

Food really is the fuel on which our bodies run. If you're putting in premium food, then your engine will purr like a kitten. Put in the low-grade stuff and you're engine might just stall. Making sure you fuel your body throughout the day is key as well. Many people skip breakfast or eat very little for breakfast and then wonder why they poop out before lunch. Breakfast truly is the most important meal of the day. It's your first fueling.

Eating 5 or 6 mini-meals is a great way to provide the energy you need throughout the day. Think about it. You skip breakfast and so you're starving by lunch. If you skimp on lunch, then you're more than likely going to stop by the convenient store on the way home and load up on simple carbs (which won't satisfy you). So by dinner time you're so ravenous that you lose all control and before you know it you've eaten dinner plus that half gallon of Rocky Road!

If you eat each meal (breakfast, lunch, and dinner) and have a midmorning, midafternoon, and post dinner snack, you'll keep that engine (your metabolism) firing all day long which actually will have you burning more calories. Lowfat traditional or Greek yogurt, peanut butter on whole wheat bread, a handful of almonds, fruit, raw veggies, granola bars...all of these make great snacks. Now, keep in mind that eating more frequently doesn't mean eating more calories. You're still eating the same amount of calories, just spread out over smaller meals throughout the entire day.

Fat As a Fuel For Runners? You Betcha!

The body depends on three macronutrients in order to maintain good health—Carbohydrates, Protein, and Fat. Most runners think of carbohydrates when they think of fueling the body. They think of protein when thinking of rebuilding muscle tissue. But when it comes to fat, most runners probably think they need to steer clear of it. WRONG! Now, just like most things, fat has its time and place. A runner definitely doesn't want to eat a sausage biscuit right before a race, but he/she does want to make sure fats (the good kinds) have been a part of his/her diet during training. (Although my friend did eat pasta with cream sauce and sausage the night before a marathon and set a PR. We'll just attribute that to an Iron Stomach and an Iron Will.)

For so many years fat has been the bad guy. "STAY AWAY FROM IT!" is all we heard. Then came the day of fat-free this and fat-free that. Just like anything, if Americans can blame something for weight gain, they will, and they did and to excess. Instead of understanding that too much fat can be the culprit, many jumped on the bandwagon that all fat is bad. So fat has gotten a bad rap for a long time, but some fat is essential for survival.

Sited from The McKinley Health Center at the University of Illinois-Urbana-Champaigne, according to the Dietary Reference Intakes published by the USDA 20% - 35% of calories should come from fat. We need this amount of fat for:
• Normal growth and development
• Energy (fat is the most concentrated source of energy)
• Absorbing certain vitamins (like vitamins A, D, E, K, and carotenoids)
• Providing cushioning for the organs
• Maintaining cell membranes
• Providing taste, consistency, and stability to foods

There are three main types of fat—Saturated, Unsaturated, and Trans. Saturated fats are found in foods like meat, butter, lard, palm oil, coconut oil, and cocoa butter. Saturated fats remain hard at room temperature.

Unsaturated fats can be divided into two groups—Monounsaturated and Polyunsaturated. These fats tend to be healthier for you. Monounsaturated fats are found in foods such as nuts, avocados, olive oil, canola oil, peanut oil, corn oil, safflower oil, sunflower oil, and whole grain wheat. A good way to tell if something contains monounsaturated fat is that if it's put in the refrigerator it remains a liquid but becomes cloudy. Polyunsaturated fat is found in foods such as grain products, fish and sea food (herring, salmon, mackerel, and halibut), soybeans, and fish oil. Polyunsaturated fats remain a liquid and clear when put in the refrigerator. At least 2/3 of your fat intake should come from unsaturated fats.

Trans fats truly are the "bad guys." This type of fat is found in some prepackaged baked goods, snack foods, fried foods, and margarines. Hydrogenated or Partially Hydrogenated oil are the key terms to look for in the ingredients list when determining if something contains trans fats. This can be confusing though when you look at the fat content and don't see trans fats listed or see "0" beside trans fats, even though you see hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated oil listed in the ingredients. This is because if the food contains less than .5g of trans fat per serving, legally it can claim that it contains no trans fats. So, if you want to be 100% trans-fat free, be sure to read the ingredients list. Trans fats have been shown to increase your risk for heart disease by raising LDL cholesterol (the bad kind) and lowering HDL cholesterol (the good kind). Replacing saturated and trans fat in your diet with unsaturated fat has been shown to decrease the risk of developing heart disease.

Okay, so know you know just about everything this is to know about fat, you're probably wondering how and why is this important to runners? Good question. The biggest difference between carbohydrates and fat is that fat packs more power per punch. Technically speaking every gram of fat provides 9 calories (energy) vs. each gram of carbohydrates providing only 4 calories. Fat provides almost twice the energy. But unlike carbohydrates, a runner shouldn't "fat-load." Instead the runner needs to condition his/her body to make better use of the fat stores he/she already has.

Whether runners know it or not, they are using fat as a fuel in lower-intensity exercise (less than 70% max). However, running at this lower intensity over and over will not help with better utilization of fat as an energy source especially at increased speeds or later in an endurance run when you tend to get fatigued.

So, you may be wondering how to determine your VO2 Max and then how to increase it? The best way to determine your VO2Max is through a stress test. It used to be that stress tests were done mainly in a clinical setting, but now some running stores such as some of the Fleet Feet Sports stores are providing VO2 Max testing. But if you don't have access to such testing, the next best thing is to do a timed 1.5-mile run test on a treadmill or on a track. Run as fast as you can for 1.5miles (6 times around a track). Divide 428 by the minutes and add 3.5 to that number to calculate your VO2 Max.

3.5 + 483/time in minutes = VO2 Max

Example:

3.5 + 483/9.83 mins (9:50 converted all to minutes; just divide the seconds by 60 and add to the minutes)

3.5 + 49 = 52.5 VO2Max

Runner's World's Amby Burfoot has created the 5 Principles of VO2Max Training that are great in helping you on your way to increasing your VO2 Max and better utilizing your fat as energy.

5 Principles of Max VO2 Training

1. Maximum oxygen uptake, or max VO2, is a scientific measurement of the amount of oxygen your body can deliver from your heart and use in your major exercising muscles. As you get fitter, your maximum oxygen uptake increases.
2. All running increases your aerobic capacity, but the most efficient workouts for increasing it are those in which you run slightly faster than your 5-K race pace. For example, run 4 x 800 meters at 10 to 30 seconds per mile faster than your 5-K race pace. Jog for four to five minutes between repeats.
3. You can also run aerobic-capacity workouts off the track by running hard and fast (but not all-out) for three to five minutes at a time. Jog for four to five minutes between repeats. You may also know this type of running as Fartleks.
4. Do aerobic-capacity training only once a week, and skip it on a week when you have a race. Otherwise, you risk overtraining and increasing your fatigue rather than your performance.
5. After six weeks of max VO2 training, take a break from it for four weeks. Concentrate instead on longer, more relaxed runs.

Periodically check your VO2 Max by redoing the 1.5-minute test to see if your VO2 Max has increased. So now that you have the skinny on the fat as fuel, get out there and try it!

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The Skinny on Fat

Researching the information for an earlier posting—"The Energy Bar Standoff" (March 20, '09)—left me wanting to know more about the good and bad of fat. Okay, I know what you're thinking....This guy has way too much time on his hands. At the moment, that's probably true, however, I think it's important for my fellow runners to know the skinny on fat. Bottom line is you need it. Not all of it and not all of it in the same amounts, but you need it.

Similar to your favorite superhero comics, there are the good guys and the bad guys. The "good guys" are comprised of the liquid or soft monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats and Omega 3 fatty acids. These types of fats play an important role in your overall good health.

• Monounsaturated Fats: olive oil, canola oil, peanut oil, avocados, nuts, seeds

• Polyunsaturated Fats: vegetable oils (i.e., safflower, corn, sunflower, soy and cottonseed oils), nuts, seeds

• Omega 3 Fatty Acids: salmon, mackerel, herring, flaxseeds, flax oil, walnuts

The "villains" are comprised of the hard saturated fats and trans fats. These fats are considered villains because they increase the amount of cholesterol in your blood and a high level of cholesterol in your bl

ood is associated with increased risk of coronary heart disease.
• Saturated Fats: Animal products (i.e., meat, poultry, seafood, eggs, dairy products, lard, butter), and coconut, palm and other tropical oils

• Trans Fats: partially hydrogenated vegetable oils, commercial baked goods (i.e., crackers, cakes, cookies), fried foods (i.e., doughnuts, French fries), shortening, margarine

Whoa! I know what you're thinking....You mean I can't eat chicken? seafood? cheese? The answer is, "Of course you

can." Those foods are listed as villains because they do contain saturated fat, but that doesn't mean you can't eat them. Actually, you need a certain amount of saturated fat for proper digestive function, growth, and several other processes. Also, the saturated fat foods listed vary greatly in the amount of saturated fat they contain. For example, beef has a lot more saturated fat than chicken breast.

The key is eating more of the good fats than the bad. Trans fats should be avoided completely. Most sources I found said that individuals should limit their intake of saturated fats to less than 10% of their daily calories, however, in 2006, The American Heart Association did lower that percentage to 7%. The American Heart Association's Nutrition Committee strongly advises the following fat guidelines for healthy Americans over age 2:
• Limit total fat intake to less than 25–35% of your total calories each day
• Limit saturated fat intake to less than 7% of total daily calories
• Limit trans fat intake to less than 1% of total daily calories
• The remaining fat should come from sources of monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats

• Limit cholesterol intake to less than 300 mg per day, for most people. If you have coronary heart disease or your LDL cholesterol level is 100 mg/dL or greater, limit your cholesterol intake to less than 200 milligrams a day.

Nancy Clark, author of Nancy Clark's Food Guide For Marathoners, recommends that healthy marathoners have a diet with about 25% of the calories from "primarily healthful" fat. So, for an 1800 calorie diet, a runner could use 450 of those calories on fat (31.5 of which could be from saturated fat). She also says that runners should include a little fat in each meal because not only does it help in the absorption of certain vitamins, but it can also help enhance performance. Clark says that runners who boosted their intake of healthful fat from 17% to 30% of calories were able to run longer and also had less inflammation afterwards. (To order your own copy of Nancy Clark's Food Guide For Marathoners, see the "My Picks" carousel under the Runner's Market on the right side of the blog.)

So, what are the most important things to remember from this posting?

1. Fat plays a key role in overall good health (well, except trans fats).
2. Some fats are better than others.
3. Eat more unsaturated fats than saturated.