Macronutrient Monday: Dietary Fats 🥑🥜

Happy Macronutrient Monday! Today, we are highlighting Fats, because they hold a special place in an athletes diet!

Diet culture and social media give fat a bad reputation— and we are here to debunk that! Fats consumed in the diet does not automatically turn into fat tissue on the body, like some people might think! Instead of thinking that we should eat less fat, the goal should be to eat the right kinds of fat in sufficient amounts.

We want to aim for an eating pattern that includes less than 10% of total calories from SATURATED fat and emphasizes intake of unsaturated fats.

Unsaturated fats are the soft or liquid mono- and polyunsaturated fats that are found in olive oil, avocado, fish, nuts, seeds and nut/seed butters. These are SUPER important for athletes because they decrease inflammation, enhance absorption of fat-soluble vitamins, protect the heart, provide us energy, aid the immune system, maintain body temperature and regulate hormones.

So don’t be afraid of fat— just aim to consume more of the unsaturated fats instead of saturated fats.