Fat Variants - Guide for beginners

[OptikaNET]

Testosterone, like a lot of fat soluble hormones, is based on the cholesterol molecule. The human body is incapable of making this molecule from scratch (although it can create it from certain plant sterols like squalene etc) and so must get it in the diet.

Therefore the amount of dietary cholesterol, and certain other fats, is going to influence the proportions of various hormones in the body. Testosterone, in particulary, is known to play an important role in anabolism and is therefore of crucial importance to bodybuilders and other weight trainers.

It is important to realise, as some don't, then when we are told "Cholesterol is bad for you" what is actually being said is "Excess Cholesterol is bad for you."

The body cannot make unsaturated fats from scratch, and so the are essential in our diet. We can, however, make most saturated fats from basic building blocks like Acetyl CoEnzyme A (Acetyl CoA). It is for this reason that fats are considered "Non-essential" but it needs to be remembered that this doesn't mean that we can live without the fats. In fact, without them we would quickly die, just that those fats can be scavenged and/or created from other sources and so the body can function even if those specific fats are not provided in the diet.

I'm sure the readers of this thread are probably already aware of this fact - at least at a subliminal level - but with the phrases like "essential" and "non-essential" bandied around carelessly in the media, it's important to stop from time to time and actually realise what these phrases mean.

A person who eats a large excess of unsaturated fats will still be at a higher risk of heart disease. A person who eats saturated fats in exactly the correct proportions for their body's needs will be totally healthy (assuming no other disease indicators).

What matters is eating these things in proportion, which is something we don't tend to do in modern society! In this unequal situation the body's response to some fats can help control the bad effects of the excess of other fats, which is where the "cholesterol lowering" claims we become so familiar with come into play.

Needless to say, a lot of rubbish is talked about all of these things in the popular media and the average man-on-the-street has a very poor understanding of the situation. To that average person, the information contained within the first few posts on this thread is probably useful and is "street true" even if the actual situation is considerably more complex.

Trans-saturated fats, on the other hand, are fats that have been artificially created - usually by reacting unsaturated fats with hydrogen in the presence of a catalyst - which produces fats of a type not normally found in nature. These are useful for the food industry because they are resistant to the enzymes produced by food-spoilage organisms, and therefore they last longer without going rancid. This is good news for manufacturer's whose priority is to make products with as long a shelf-life as possible, so that they can be sold before they have to be thrown away.

The fact that these fats are somewhat incompatible with our own enzymes is where the problem begins and there is an accumulating body of data showing that these fats persist in our bodies, that they are stored in fatty tissues (since the body doesn't know what else to do with them!) where they create problems with our future health, may cause some cancers etc, etc...

The best advice, then, is - eat everything in moderation. Stick to natural foods where possible to avoid trans-fats and excesses of salts. Ensure that unsaturated fats are part of the diet because the body cannot make them itself and try to get most of your calories from carbohydrates (and proteins, but for most people on this forum, we would prefer our proteins to go into anabolism not catabolism!).

One final word of caution; there is increasing evidence that the health benefits of Omega-3 fatty acids have been greatly over-estimated and many early research papers into those benefits have now been discredited...

Kind Regards
Dave

[Jasonhannen]

References please...

Here you go Bro http://www.helpguide.org/life/healthy_diet_fats.htm

[Jasonhannen]

Now I completely see your point, initially I thought you were being flippant.

Please accept my apologies.

Great articles by the, thank you for the references.

Hi Jason,

I hope your day is going well. Thanks for the response.

The reason I asked for the references is solely to back up claims made. In forums, I have seen members throw out ideas and don't have references to support the notions they espouse. Hence the term "Broscience" rears its ugly head.

As with Deviation, I respectfully disagree with saturated fats being evil. Please consider the research of Weston A. Price as well as the fat consumption of the French. References below:

1) Weston A. Price Foundation: http://bit.ly/H1ZB3Y

2) The French Paradox: http://bit.ly/GXWA5X

[Jasonhannen]

I have removed the definition of good fats and bad fast to just fat variants but I cannot seem to change the thread title?

[Deviation]

I have removed the definition of good fats and bad fast to just fat variants but I cannot seem to change the thread title?

Fixed .

[Jasonhannen]

Fixed .

why thank you good sir

[Jasonhannen]

Hi Jason,

I hope your day is going well. Thanks for the response.

The reason I asked for the references is solely to back up claims made. In forums, I have seen members throw out ideas and don't have references to support the notions they espouse. Hence the term "Broscience" rears its ugly head.

As with Deviation, I respectfully disagree with saturated fats being evil. Please consider the research of Weston A. Price as well as the fat consumption of the French. References below:

1) Weston A. Price Foundation: http://bit.ly/H1ZB3Y

2) The French Paradox: http://bit.ly/GXWA5X

Okay based on the info you have provided I been doing a little reading and decided to go Keto.

My current diet is seeing me slowly bulk but I am not losing any body fat and reading the article about the French Paradox lead me to find out about Keto

Thanks for your help

[Chibuike]

Sorry for the late reply, Jason. Glad to be of help.

[Jasonhannen]

Sorry for the late reply, Jason. Glad to be of help.

I have gone from 87.8kg to below 85kg in less than 3 weeks on Keto, I have not lost any strength. You helped me more than you realise

[OptikaNET]

Well done!!!

Kind Regards
Dave