The Role Of Fat In Your Muscle Building Diet

If you are interested in muscle building diet, you need to know that your body needs a small amount of two essential fatty acids each day: linoleic and linolenic acids. Flaxseed oil is an excellent source of these acids, although they are found in smaller amounts in fish and other fatty foods. A diet that is 10- to 15-percent fat usually provides enough of these nutrients. Depending on your workout program and metabolism, greater fat intake may result in body fat accumulation without any corresponding sports benefit.

Dietary fat is one of the most misunderstood aspects of sports nutrition. The traditional American diet contains very high levels of fat, far more than can be justified from a health perspective. Even today, the average American consumes over 40 percent of his or her total calories in the form of fat. On the other hand, some athletes have concluded that all fats are bad, leading to diets that eliminate virtually all sources of this nutrient. The truth lies in between. Fat actually has a number of vital functions in the body. It is needed to absorb vitamins A, D, E, and K. Fat also contains linoleic and linolenic acids, two essential fatty acids that are every bit as important for good nutrition as the essential amino acids. Linoleic and linolenic acid must be supplied by the diet, yet not all fatty foods contain them in large amounts. In addition to supplying the body with energy, these fatty acids are components of our cellular membranes and nerve cells. They also assist in the growth process and are part of hormone-like substances known as prostaglandins.

In order to get bigger muscles, you must consider that fat also serves as the body's long-term energy source, providing energy for all tissues of the body except the brain, nerves, and lungs. Since the body has only a limited capacity to store carbohydrates and proteins, all nutrients that are not immediately needed for energy or anabolic activities are converted to fat and stored in the adipose tissues for later use. This allows the body to maintain its normal functioning between meals.

The fat stores are an important energy source during light and moderate exercise. During long periods of jogging, up to 80 percent of the energy produced comes from the fat stores. That is why it is so important to include aerobic activities in a program of weight reduction - and exclude when you want to get bigger muscles. At the same time, anaerobic sports such as weightlifting and sprinting do not use fats for energy because these activities are so intense and short-term that the body's aerobic energy system cannot be geared up for action quickly enough to be of assistance. Glycogen, glucose, and a compound called ATP (adenosine triphosphate) provide the fuel for these anaerobic activities.