Pro Cheer Health: Myths About Dietary Fat You Should Stop Believing
Dietary fats don’t only play a crucial role in keeping your body healthy and strong, but they also provide your body with energy to drive activity. For most athletes and pro cheerleaders, eating fats is one way to meet their energy needs and improve performance. In fact, fats make up the majority of energy sources during long-duration or high-intensity workouts.
But then again, dietary fats are also higher in calories, have longer digestion time, and are often associated with weight gain and adverse health effects. While some of it may be true, there are certain misconceptions about fats that give them a bad rap. Here are five myths about dietary fats you should stop believing.
1. Eating fat leads to weight gain
One of the most common myths about eating high-fat foods is that they can lead to weight gain, which would explain why most athletes try to avoid them. Although consuming highly processed foods, such as fast foods, fried foods, and sugary baked goods, may increase your risk of weight gain, some fat-rich foods are healthy and may actually help you lose weight.
According to studies, dietary patterns that are very high in fat, including ketogenic and low carb, high-fat diets, may help boost weight loss and feelings of fullness. Furthermore, the consumption of high-fat foods, such as avocados, whole eggs, nuts, and whole-fat dairy, has been shown to promote weight loss.
2. Saturated fat is bad for you
For many years, health professionals believed that saturated fat causes heart disease. But recent research has shown no significant evidence to link dietary saturated fat and heart disease risk. While it’s true that saturated fat intake increases LDL (bad) cholesterol, certain types of saturated fat may also help increase total HDL cholesterol, which is associated with better protection from heart diseases.
In other words, it’s not necessary to avoid saturated fat altogether. Instead, limit your consumption to saturated fat foods that are nutritious, like cheese, dark cuts of poultry, full-fat yogurt, and unsweetened coconut.
3. Eating fat increases diabetes risk
Another myth suggests that dietary fat consumption may increase diabetes risk, which led to low-fat diet recommendations as a treatment for diabetes. Fast food, high-fat baked goods, and trans fat consumption are all known to increase diabetes risk. Yet, research has shown that some high-fat foods may improve blood sugar and insulin levels and offer protection against diabetes development. Such high-fat foods include:
4. Vegetable oil is the healthiest oil
Vegetable oils indeed contain a good amount of heart-healthy monosaturated fat. However, the problem lies with the manufacturing process that produces them. Vegetable oils, along with canola and soybean oils, undergo a process of refining, bleaching, and deodorizing (RBD). This RBD process means they’re treated with solvents and subjected to intense heat, stripping away the nutrients. For a healthier option, use olive oil or avocado oil instead. They’re rich in monosaturated fat and are safe for cooking at high temperatures.
5. All fat is good on the keto diet
There’s no denying that following a ketogenic diet has proven to promote weight loss. But getting 70% of your daily calories from fat may contribute to blood clots, high blood pressure, and heart disease, especially if you’re eating a high-fat diet rich in pro-inflammatory foods.
According to a 2018 review, eating foods rich in omega-3 fatty acids and monosaturated fats may help reduce inflammation and prevent numerous chronic diseases, including rheumatoid arthritis, diabetes, obesity, and heart failure. So, if you want to follow a keto diet, make sure to include foods like avocados, fatty fish, grass-fed meats and dairy, nuts, and olive oil.
Conclusion
Ultimately, certain high-fat foods, such as fast food and high-fat baked goods, should be restricted in any healthy diet, especially for pro cheerleaders who want to stay fit and maintain weight. However, it’s important to note that many nutritious fat-rich foods can help constitute a healthy, well-rounded dietary pattern and are perfect for ketogenic and low-carb, high-fat diets. As we debunk the five myths about dietary fat, you can now easily choose the right fatty foods to include in your pro cheer diet.
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