Dietary Fat
Role of fats in our diet
Significance of Fat reserves in humans
- Fats are important in our diet as they provide a massive energy reserve, they are important for protecting our organs, they provide thermal insulation, and help transport fat-soluble vitamins (4). Fats or lipids are also what our cell membranes are made of.
Significance of Fat reserves in humans
- Fat provides the largest energy reserve within the human body, where it provides roughly 50X as much energy as the total amount of carbohydrate stored (5).
- Fat also has more energy per gram (9kcal/g of fat) than does carbohydrates or protein (4kcal/g), therefore our burning of fat is much more proliferative as compared to our burning of protein and carbohydrates (5).
- The problem with fat is that it cannot be burned at an adequate pace to supply the energy demands of the body when exercise intensity rises past ~60% VO2max. Since Hockey is typically played at intensities well above this (75-100%VO2max), fat reserves are very rarely used as a primary fuel source for a hockey player (1-3).
- Although fat may not play a major role in energy production for hockey players, it is important to note that reducing fat to less that 15% of your total caloric intake can be detrimental to performance, therefore ACSM (2000) suggest that fat intake for athletes range from 15-25% (7).
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Types of Fats to Eat?
- Avoid fast food, trans fats, and highly processed meats, as these have been shown to increase risk for cardiovascular disease, and will certainly have a negative effect on performance (8).
- Focus on eating unprocessed meats, dairy products, avocados, olive oils, and coconut oil, as these will provide more health benefits, as well as help keep fat stores adequate (9).
- Avoid high fat/low carb diets for hockey players. Carbohydrates are your main energy source, and high fat diets have been not been shown to be ergogenic in research (5).
Conclusion
- Hockey players do not rely on fats as a primary fuel source during competition, however the role of fats within our body still make their consumption essential to overall health and performance, so make sure to have your diet comprise 15-25% fats.
- Because elite hockey players are very well conditioned, fat oxidation rates will increase due to the amount of training that takes place in the offseason, as well as during the season, therefore fats will be more heavily relied upon during resting periods, and periods of sub maximal workloads (< 60% VO2max), so consuming fat in your diet is still important (5).