The Saturated Fat Myth and Bodybuilding

Back in the Golden Era of Bodybuilding, supplements were slim and eating was mostly real foods. There were vitamins, proteins and a few other supplements but nothing advanced as it is today. Even though it was the way it was, we were able to make good gains in training and set the stage for some of the greatest bodies in the world.

We based our meals on meat, eggs and cheese. Cheese omelets and cottage cheese were a favorite among bodybuilders as a protein snack. Sounds a little heavy and boring, but it worked. Lean red meat was popular, as it not only added size but strength as well. Chicken was number two on the list but today is number one. Red meat is blamed for heart attacks and hardening of the arteries, which is called cholesterol today.

The standard breakfast was hamburger patty, whole eggs and cottage cheese. Using the whole egg was preferred as the fat in the yolk was used for energy and not stored as fat. Cottage cheese was a perfect source of protein and also calcium.

The idea then was to eat large amounts of protein and fats and small amounts of carbs. This was not only a muscle building diet, but fat cutting as well, and it worked! Cheese omelets and cottage cheese were a favorite among bodybuilders as a good protein snack and pumped plenty of protein into the muscle. The cheese again was considered good fat for burning.

They varied their meals and did add chicken and turkey whenever possible. Fish wasn't the most pleasant choice of foods, but it was good for leaning out. The problem with fish was after you'd eat it, an hour later you were hungry again. Fish just isn't that filling.

Some did a six month program of eating just fish, eliminating the meats, filling in with chicken once in a while, and got extremely ripped and still maintained their body weight. Old school nutrition was more important since the chemical toolbox of the bodybuilder was very limited.

Diets

Fad diets came and went, as well as the Atkins diet, which is basically the same diet that the bodybuilders came up with long before Atkins. However, no one is going to listen to us, as we were freaks and people thought if they'd eat that way, they'd get huge muscles. We all wish it were that easy.

Then during the early 1970’s the fat phobia started. Back in the 1960s and 1970s, many prominent scientists believed that saturated fat was the main cause of heart disease, by raising the “bad” cholesterol in the blood and causing heart and artery diseases. This idea was the cornerstone of the low-fat diet. Because of a few bad studies and misguided political decisions, this diet was recommended to all Americans in the year 1977.

The removal of fats from our diet has led to an increase in consumption of carbohydrates and processed low-fat alternatives, which has contributed to record levels of diabetes, coronary heart diseases and obesity.

Saturated Fats where demonized and called “ Bad Fats”.

These types of fat are most often found in animal products (meat, seafood, whole-milk dairy products -cheese, milk, and ice cream - poultry skin, and egg yolks) and these are exactly the products Old School bodybuilders consumed. Just remember our blogposts about eggs and GOMAD (gallon of milk a day). More on Old School and bodybuilding nutrition later in this post.

It was during the 1990’s, that we started hearing that “actually, not all fats are bad.” Slowly the word got out that some fats are in fact healthy – for example, monounsaturated fats (MUFAs), the fats found in olive oil and avocado, have been shown to reduce bad cholesterol levels, and possibly benefit insulin levels and blood sugar control.

During that time, we were also finally told to stay away from trans fats – hydrogenated vegetable oils in processed foods and margarine. Trans fats are extremely harmful to the heart – it’s amazing to me that for so many decades, they were considered harmless and that margarine was thought to be healthier than butter. Trans Fasts result from the hydrogenation process, which occurs when hydrogen is added to vegetable oil. Trans fats are often used for commercial goods, as they are less likely to turn rancid — they therefore hold their shape longer.

Crackers, cookies and other processed products are typically high in trans fatty acids and, from a health standpoint they are a less desirable choice compared to saturated fats, as they actually lower the good HDL cholesterol while raising the bad LDL.

Trans fats have also been shown to cause an over activity of the immune system that is associated with heart disease, stroke, diabetes and other chronic conditions. Such a negative impact they can have on one’s health, all manufacturers must, by law, list on their product packaging the trans-fat content alongside saturated fat percentage. Although one is encouraged to limit their saturated fat intake, it is important they try to totally eliminate trans fats from their diet.

Cholesterol travels through the blood attached to a protein. This cholesterol-protein package is called a lipoprotein. Lipoprotein analysis (lipoprotein profile or lipid profile) measures blood levels of total cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, HDL cholesterol, and triglycerides.

• Cholesterol. The body uses cholesterol to help build cells and produce hormones. Too much cholesterol in the blood can build up inside arteries, forming what is known as plaque. Large amounts of plaque increase your chances of having a heart attack or stroke.

• HDL (high-density lipoprotein) helps remove fat from the body by binding with it in the bloodstream and carrying it back to the liver for disposal. It is sometimes called "good" cholesterol. A high level of HDL is linked with a lower risk of heart disease.

• LDL (low-density lipoprotein) carries mostly fat and only a small amount of protein from the liver to other parts of the body. A certain level of LDL in your blood is normal and healthy because LDL moves cholesterol to the parts of your body that need it. But it is sometimes called "bad cholesterol" because a high level may increase your chances of developing heart disease.

• VLDL: (very low-density lipoprotein) contains very little protein. The main purpose of VLDL is to distribute the triglyceride produced by your liver. A high VLDL cholesterol level can cause the buildup of cholesterol in your arteries and increases your risk of heart disease and stroke.

• Triglycerides are a type of fat the body uses to store energy and give energy to muscles. Only small amounts are found in the blood. Having a high triglyceride level along with a high LDL

Incorporating Saturated Fat Into Your Bodybuilding Diet

In some schools of nutritional thought, good and bad rule. Fat is bad, carbs are good, and too much protein and too few carbs are dangerous. But a bodybuilder’s diet is more about shades of gray: Generally speaking, no one nutrient or food is all bad or all good. Sure, some things are more bad than others; for instance, it’s hard to find anything good about trans fats. But on the whole, a bodybuilding diet tends to be more forgiving.

Here’s a good example. Most people know saturated fats are bad…except they’re not. At least, not always. It’s true that sat fats are more likely to be deposited in fat stores, but that’s more of an issue when a large proportion of your diet is made up of carbs.

In a low-carb diet, however, there’s room to eat more fat, since the calories you’re not getting from carbs have to be replaced somehow. We generally recommend you focus on healthy fats such as olive oil, avocados, nuts, peanut butter and salmon, but there’s always room for a good steak, and every bodybuilder’s breakfast should include more than one egg.

Old School

Famous Old School bodybuilders shunned the primitive soy-based protein powders of the day, and got their aminos the way mother nature intended. From food! They believed a large percentage of your daily food intake should be consumed in a raw, natural state. Their favorites were steak tarter, whole eggs, and raw milk.

Men like Vince Gironda, John Grimek, Armand Yanny, and most of the other muscle men of that era ate what I like to call "man food." Food that real men consumed, before fat phobia took over our collective conscious in the late 70s and early 80s. As a matter of fact, these men embraced fat, from clean, animal-based sources, and for good reason.

Fat is good for you! Fat especially saturated fat, is vital for optimal Testosterone Production.Studies have shown conclusively, that male vegetarians, who typically consume very little saturated fat, have considerably lower levels of testosterone compared to non-vegetarians.

In 2005 JS Volek conducted a study titled, The case for not restricting saturated fat on a low carbohydrate diet. This research compared the dietary records of several men involved in weight training. The authors found significant correlations between testosterone levels and total and saturated fat intake among men with a history of at least one year of weight training. Penn State researchers came to some of the same conclusions…Specifically, they found that monounsaturated and saturated fat raise testosterone levels, while polyunsaturated has the exact opposite effect.

The take home message from the studies above? Avoid the oxidized, liquid oils in clear plastic bottles, sitting on the grocery store shelf. Instead, get your fat from grass-fed beef, free range eggs, whole milk, almonds, and olive oil. These foods, specifically meat, milk, and eggs, are swimming in substances that a man's body needs in order to build muscle. These include zinc, cholesterol (a steroid hormone precursor), B vitamins, choline, vitamin A, K, and D, iron, protein, phosphorus, magnesium, selenium, calcium, etc.. Take the yolk out of the egg, the fat out of the milk, or the meat out of the diet, and the most important nutrients are gone!

But what about health you say? As long as your fat doesn't come wrapped in two all-beef patties, special sauce, and a sesame seed bun, you're going to be OK. In other words, the fat, in and of itself, isn't the problem, it's what you're eating along with the fat, that is. So, drop the burger, the fries, and the super-sized drink, and you've got nothing to worry about.

Need proof?

The French diet is very high in saturated fats from butter, eggs, cheese, cream, liver, and meats, yet they have 50% less coronary heart disease, compared to those living in the US.

The Masai out of Africa, who consume meat, blood, and milk, and get more than 50% of their calories from saturated fat, suffer very little heart disease.

In a meta-analysis published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Siri-Tarino and colleagues concluded that the evidence does not support "the conventional wisdom that reduced dietary saturated fat intake is beneficial for cardiovascular health." “Clinical trials and prospective-cohort studies have not consistently shown that reducing dietary saturated fat lowers cardiovascular risk. And, replacing saturated fat with carbohydrate has NOT been shown to reduce CVD risk.”

Again, let’s go back to the old school bodybuilders for proof that this current dietary mindset is entirely misguided. The three bodybuilders mentioned above, according to conventional wisdom, should have all died very young from heart disease. But, that's not what happened. Vince Gironda survived to within a month of his 80th birthday. John Grimek made it to 88, and Armand Tanny, the biggest carnivore of them all, lived until the ripe old age of 90.

Medium-Chain Triglycerides: The Good Saturated Fat

Another reason mainstream advice on saturated fats is misguided is that not all sat fats are the same. In fact, some aren’t readily stored as fat and don’t contribute to heart disease risk. They’re called medium-chain triglycerides (MCTs) because their chemical structure is shorter in length than other fats, and they’re found in coconut oil and palm kernel oil.

MCTs’ size allows them to do things that other fats can’t, one of which is be directly absorbed into the bloodstream after ingestion. Most fats go through a slow, laborious digestion process before they can be burned or stored, but MCTs bypass all that. They also skip right past the steps other fats have to take to be transported into cells to be burned. The end result is that MCTs are burned as fuel much more readily than other kinds of fats, which means they’re less likely to join fat stores.

MCTs also exert an influence on bodyfat that goes beyond this quirk. In study after study, scientists have found that consuming MCTs is directly linked to a reduction of bodyfat and an increase in energy expenditure (metabolism). In a study published in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, subjects who consumed 10 grams of MCTs at breakfast, lunch and dinner saw a greater increase in metabolism than subjects who consumed 10 grams of long-chain triglycerides, a type of fat found in olive and corn oils. Another study, published in Obesity Research, found that fat-burning increased and bodyfat decreased among subjects eating MCTs.

Despite all of MCTs’ apparent benefits, some doubt remains regarding their potentially deleterious effects on cardiovascular disease risk. They are, after all, saturated fats. Yet when scientists compared MCT oil consumption as part of a 16-week weight-loss diet with olive oil (which contains primarily healthy monounsaturated fats) consumption, they found no negative effect of either oil on blood glucose levels, cholesterol or blood pressure.

The upshot is that MCTs are enormously different from other saturated fats. Try taking 1 tablespoon of MCTs once a day, with food, and work up to 1-2 tablespoons 1-4 times per day.

I actually believe that heart disease is more likely to be a result of stress and the consumption of processed foods, especially refined sugar. When you have stress in the body, it causes a spike in cortisol, which breaks down vitamin C. When you have a long-term subtle deficiency of vitamin C, this causes a weakening of the arterial walls and then in your body's natural intelligence it, uses readily available cholesterol in the bloodstream to patch up the weakening arterial walls.

This is your body trying to protect itself from arterial wall damage. We call this healing process atherosclerotic plaques or heart disease. We then prescribe statins to reduce cholesterol and try and 'fix' the problem. The underlying cause, stress and vitamin C deficiency is rarely addressed.

I would love to see the case against cholesterol reopened and the evidence reassessed. But then the drug companies (Statins) and food companies (low fat products) might not like that …