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Fat

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Abstract

For decades before the current low-carbohydrate focus pervading public opinion, dietary fat was the primary target of public and academic condemnation. But just as the present trend in macronutrient preference will likely lead to an understanding that the type and not just the amount of carbohydrate matters, so too has awareness grown regarding dietary fat. There are examples. The latest dietary guidelines for Americans has a modified descriptor for total fat intake (“moderate” as opposed to the former “low”) and the Harvard School of Public Health has published a radically changed eating pyramid that differs from the longstanding Food Guide Pyramid.1,2 It flips healthy fat sources such as olive oil and nuts—now near the plentiful bottom—with refined carbohydrates such as white bread and pasta—now limited at the top. More specific to fat type, academicians are discussing saturated fatty acids (not all are equally “bad”), trans fatty acids, monounsaturates, specialty nutraceutical fats, and omega-6 to omega-3 ratio in the diet. It is important for exercise physiology and sports nutrition students to understand the basic chemistry of fat, the metabolism of fat as illustrated by common, whole-body laboratory measurements, and the research regarding biologic systems that are affected by fat. In these ways, one can appreciate the nutritional importance and pharmaceutical-like nature of this macronutrient—and see how it can be applied to athletic endeavors.

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Authors
  1. Lonnie Lowery
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. International Society of Sports Nutrition, Deerfield Beach, FL, USA

    Jose Antonio PhD

  2. Division of Nutrition and Endocrinology, Miami Research Associates, Miami, FL, USA

    Douglas Kalman PhD, RD

  3. Department of Health and Exercise Science, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, USA

    Jeffrey R. Stout PhD

  4. Department of Health, Human Performance, and Recreation, Baylor University, Waco, TX, USA

    Mike Greenwood PhD  & Darryn S. Willoughby PhD  & 

  5. Division of Exercise Physiology, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV, USA

    G. Gregory Haff PhD

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© 2008 Humana Press. a part of Spring Science+Business Media, LLC

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Lowery, L. (2008). Fat. In: Antonio, J., Kalman, D., Stout, J.R., Greenwood, M., Willoughby, D.S., Haff, G.G. (eds) Essentials of Sports Nutrition and Supplements. Humana Press. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-59745-302-8_13

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