 John Berardi |
Since the late 1990’s Dr. John Berardi has published 8 scientific abstracts; 15 scientific papers and textbook chapters; presented at nearly 50 scientific, exercise, and nutrition related conferences; and published countless articles online.
His first articles at Testosterone Magazine so many years ago, provided me with the basis for everything I know about nutrition today. Now I will turn some of that knowledge over to you in the form of Nutrition Tips written by Dr. Berardi himself.
Today’s Topic – What kind of fat you should eat.
The healthiest kind of lifestyle is to enjoy everything in moderation and in balance. This includes your fat intake.
We already know that the Zone diet is pretty popular with its calories coming 30% from fat. It is a moderate diet that does not take macronutrient partitioning to any extremes, as we used to see with low fat / high carb and Atkins diets.
There are a wide variety of fats that we must choose to consume in our diet, but just how much of each kind should we aim for?
We should definitely aim to avoid all trans-fats such as margarine or foods make with shortening. Anything that liquefies easily but congeals at room temperature is bad news.
Otherwise you’ve got your saturated and unsaturated fats.
Saturated fats are not that good for you, but they have their purpose.
At most, 33% of your diet should be comprised of saturated fats.
The other two thirds of your diet should be made up of unsaturated fats, which are made up of mono and poly unsaturated. Monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats should comprise an equal portion of your fat consumption – 1/3 of your total fat intake each.
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Increasing your protein intake, decreasing your carbohydrate intake, and consuming 66% of your total fats as unsaturated fats, will lead you to the most effective fat loss and muscle gain progress of your life.
But don’t take my word for it. Let’s see what JB has to say about it:
Tip: What kind of fat should you eat?
“On average, most people should ensure that 25-35% of their energy intake comes from fat, with your fat intake split equally between saturates (animal fat), monounsaturates (olive oil, avocados, etc), and polyunsaturates (flax oil, salmon oil, etc.).
Your total fat in the diet may vary but make sure you’re getting about 1/3 of each type for the best fat balance.”
See Also
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Tags: Diet, fat, fat loss, fatty acid, john berardi, lose fat, lose weight, nutrition, Nutrition Tip, precision nutrition, weight loss
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Agreed. That first sentence, “enjoy everything in moderation and in balance” is my mantra.
Thank you for the article on fats. It is probably one of the toughest areas that I have to convince people on. Too many people have taken the low- to no-fat diets too far. Those fats are good for us… in moderation.
I agree with the article in that balance is key to your diet, and I might even go as far to say that in everything in life. With the recent increase of media coverage on the harm saturated fats cause, people have begun to avoid it at all cost. I think it exists for a purpose, and we shouldn’t neglect it. Just don’t fall in excess.
Personally, I try to get 1 gram of protein per pound of my own weight. Another 30% of my caloric intake is composed of fats, and the rest is pretty much complex carbs.
Mario