Fact Or Fiction – Is Eating Low Fat Always The Best?

Fact or fiction?
Bodybuilding is a 24-hour-a-day job–everything you eat is an effort to maximize muscle and minimize bodyfat. We’re willing to bet that, when you go out to dinner, your night typically looks like this: you eat your bread plain, rather than dipping it in olive oil; you order your salad with fat-free dressing; and your main course is broiled fish or a grilled chicken breast–no butter or oil added–with a plain baked potato on the side. All in all, another successful night of dodging dietary bullets. But are low-fat meals always the best way to eat when dining out?

Verdict: Fiction

The solution
When you eat fast-digesting carbs, like bread and white potatoes, they cause the hormone insulin to spike. Sure, this anabolic hormone helps with muscle growth, but only when the muscles are primed for it, such as after workouts. When you’re inactive, an insulin spike will result in increased fat storage. What’s a bodybuilder to do? For starters, replace the fast-digesting carbs with slower-digesting carbs, such as whole-wheat bread and sweet potatoes. Another choice is to skip the carbs altogether. But, unless you’re following a low-carb plan, that may not be the best option, either. Instead, the solution may just be to add some fat. Research from Australia reports that eating fats, such as olive oil, with or before a meal of fast-digesting carbs significantly slows down the rate of digestion of those carbs and keeps blood glucose and insulin levels lower. In addition, research from Iowa State University (Ames) reports that eating a salad with full-fat dressing increases absorption of critical phytonutrients from the salad more than eating a salad with fat-free or reduced-fat dressing.

Alternative food choices
For most meals (except postworkout), try to find slow-digesting carb options, such as whole-wheat breads and pastas, sweet potatoes and brown rice. When that’s not feasible and you can’t bring yourself to dip your bread in olive oil or order olive oil-based salad dressing, consider taking a healthy fat supplement–such as one or two tablespoons of fish or flaxseed oil–before eating.

References: M.J. Brown et al., “Carotenoid bioavailability is higher from salads ingested with full-fat than with fat-reduced salad dressings as measured with electrochemical detection,” American journal of Clinical Nutrition, 80(2):396-403, 2004; D. Gentilcore et al., “Effects of fat on gastric emptying of and the glycemic, insulin, and incretin responses to a carbohydrate meal in type 2 diabetes,” The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, 91(6):2062-67, 2006.

Author Jim Stoppani, PhD
COPYRIGHT 2007 Weider Publications
COPYRIGHT 2008 Gale, Cengage Learning