Use of Protein, Carbohydrate, and Fat (cont.)
Fat
Your total fat intake should be in the range of twenty to thirty percent of your total energy intake per day. Specific levels for each athlete will vary, depending upon your overall energy requirements. Athletes participating in sports that require a higher energy intake such as distance runners, rowers, or cyclists will need fat on the higher end of the range. Fat plays many important roles in your body. Some of the main reasons that it is essential to get the recommended amount of healthy fats are because fat:
- Protects your internal organs from trauma
- Is essential for you to absorb the fat-soluble vitamins (A, D, E and K) from your diet
- Is necessary to help your body manufacture hormones, including the estrogen essential to help women maintain their menstrual cycle (without which they begin to lose calcium from their bones, often resulting in stress fractures and the risk of permanent loss of bone density
- Is a vital part of nerve cells
- Maintains healthy skin and shiny hair
- Provides a necessary energy source hard to find in protein and carbohydrates (gives you over twice the energy per gram)
- Helps your meals taste better, and keeps you feeling satisfied longer between times of eating
- Contains the mono- and polyunsaturated fatty acids necessary for good health, especially protection from heart disease and some cancers