Fats: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly |
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| Well, let’s start with the ugly. Fat definitely gets a bad rap, no “body” wants to be fat, but what exactly is fat and why does it exist! Fat is the body’s main long-term energy storing device, and it is very efficient. The human body is amazing and it is not only efficient, but it is self-sufficient in so many ways, and energy storage is one of them. |
| The body needs fats for so many functions, one of which is burning carbohydrates. Yes, we need fat to basically get and keep our internal fire burning. We also need fat to protect our organs and tissues, and we need to be able to call on it, when needing energy beyond the energy we can store in our muscles for physical activity, and we also need it to make sure that we don’t starve or freeze. The problem is that the body is so efficient at the fat-burning storing process, that many times it stores too much fat, and it becomes selfish at letting it burn. In order to burn stored fat, the body has to not take in more carbohydrates, or proteins, than it needs for activity. If the body does get too much in a day, it will store it as fat. If the body gets less than it needs in a day, it will burn it for energy and body functions. This all seems perfectly great for a wrestler since most wrestlers do more than enough aerobic activity for the body to continually break into the fat storage. In fact, a lot of wrestlers can eat an abundance of calories and not store any fat–at least not during the season; or so it seems to be the case, but this isn’t necessarily true. |
| The problem for the wrestler comes in the form of weight-cutting. As I mentioned earlier, the body is a “well-oiled machine” (pun-intended). What this means is that the body takes care of itself, and when it feels threatened in any way, it goes into protection mode; when it comes to weight-cutting, it means “starvation” protection mode. If/when the body thinks it is going to starve, it will start hanging onto fat and will become very stingy about allowing it to burn, and great at conserving it. From the body’s perspective, it is doing its job. It is slowing the metabolism down in order to protect. Weight-cutting will then get more difficult, so then the wrestler will intake less and less food during each weight cut, and then it begins to take more and more exercise for the body to get the weight off. This is known as the “yo-yo effect.” |
| This becomes an even bigger issue in the wrestler’s later years because the high-level athlete stops being so physical. That athlete ends up putting on a lot of weight because the body is still so efficient at protecting, and the athlete cannot, or does not, reach the same level of aerobic intensity as they did when they were in their prime. This is why you see athletes, who used to be in such great physical shape, become heavy and out of shape. The problem is that even if they workout as a regular non-high-level athlete, it will never be enough, unless they can get back up to that intensity, or if the athlete doesn’t cut weight during their prime–which is optimal. So, what does a person do to activate the fat-burning process? Many people are doing a keto diet (food plan), which basically takes high sugar type carbs/grains out of the diet, and they eat fats and proteins so that the body will utilize stored fats. The problem I have with this type of diet, is that high-saturated fats are allowed in it. So what does this mean? |
| Saturated fats are actually bad fats for the body because the body cannot break them down (metabolize) easily. The reason being, is that they are fully “saturated” with hydrogen. A fat molecule consists of carbon and hydrogen, and a saturated fat molecule, also known as “bad” fats, have a hydrogen for every carbon. That makes the fat molecule very stable, and basically unbreakable, which makes sense since all saturated fats come from animals, and of course, it wouldn’t be that great for the animal to be made from breakable fats, but we as humans are not meant, to eat a whole cows or whole pigs. Our bodies have a very hard time breaking them down, and so they clog our arteries with the saturated fat as it goes through our system. Now, I am not saying that we don’t need any food product from animals, as they are a great source of protein and nutrients such as iron, but we definitely do not need near the intake as many humans eat. |
| With that being said, many people have switched to a Vegan or Plant-based diet (food plan). The fats that come from plants are actually very good for the human body. These are called “unsaturated” fats because they do not contain one hydrogen for every carbon, so they are an unstable or “breakable” molecule, and our bodies can actually metabolize and utilize them very well. Examples of these fats are avocados, olives and nuts. |
| The worst fats for the human body are called “Trans” fats. These fats are perfectly good “Unsaturated” fats that humans add hydrogen to, in order to package them and to allow them to be shelved like in a grocery store. These fats then basically become a “man-made Saturated fat,” so stable that hardly nothing can break them down and humans should NOT eat them! Examples of these are any packaged products like Oreos, and donuts and crackers–basically anything in a box on a shelf at the grocery store. |
| One of the issues with these “Trans” fats is that the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) recognized these fats as being bad and they supposedly banned them from our food. Well, that is not necessarily true. Manufacturers are not allowed to ADD “Trans” fats, but there are still “Trans” fats in food because they can still add “hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated” oils into our food which are oils they add “hydrogen” to, and therefore making them “Trans or Man-Made Saturated” fats! You also have to be careful when cooking with oil, such as olive oil, which naturally becomes a “Trans” fat when it reaches a certain temperature. So choose either Canola, Vegetable or Avocado oil for cooking, and choose olive oil for salad dressing or cooking at low heat. |
| The best and well-documented food plan choice is a Mediterranean diet. Also just choose low-saturated meats and fish, and good healthy fats like avocados and olives, and fresh unpackaged foods whenever possible. Read the labels and watch for the hidden “hydrogenated and partially-hydrogenated” Trans fats EVEN when a package says that it contains “No Trans Fats” and also Don’t “cut weight.” Get to the weight you want by a healthy fitness and food plan over-time, and then maintain that weight as opposed to doing the “yo-yo” plan! Many people are also now using intermittent fasting which can jump-start or “trick” a plateaued metabolism without putting the body into starvation mode, and without taking in too much artery-clogging fats. |
| Here are a couple more links if you would like to read more on the subject: Mayo Clinic Healthy Lifestyle |
