There are many great reasons for bodybuilders and other athletes to use healthy oils as part of a daily diet, and not just during pre-contest. These essential fatty acids (EFAs), such as olive oil, canola oil, MCT oil and natural peanut butter, are a great source of condensed good calories (unsaturated healthy fat). EFAs provide omega-3, omega-6 and gamma linoleic acid (GLA). All are important for health and athletic importance.

Bodybuilders find that ingesting EFAs are a great alternative to consuming carbohydrates, especially pre-contest. When training and dieting hard to get ripped, you want to maintain as much hard-earned muscle as you can while you cut fat.

When dieting to lose fat and maintain muscle, your body actually needs calories to burn. Protein is just not enough. Many low-calorie, low-carb, low-fat diets have shown that the body begins to burn up (or break down) muscle to be used as energy. And eating a low-calorie diet during periods of hard training can also lower testosterone levels.

Depending on your body type, increasing or juggling your carbohydrate intake can cause your body to store fat. This is where the use of the cost-effective healthy fats (listed earlier) can come into play. They can be easily digested by the body and used as a direct source of energy. In this sense, these oils mimic the function of carbs and encourage caloric thermogenesis without the ups and downs of insulin spikes.

EFAs enhance metabolism, energy, insulin function, growth-hormone secretion and testosterone production (both of the latter hormones are needed for recovery and growth). Studies have also found that these fatty acids improve blood pressure, liver function, cholesterol profile and decreased inflammation response (supporting joint and heart health).

Hardgainers will find that supplementing with healthy oils every day helps increase caloric intake without increasing body fat. You can add EFAs easily to protein drinks, or you can ingest the oils alone or use in capsule form. Many weight-training athletes find that swallowing an average of 2-4 tablespoons per day of fish, flaxseed or other healthy oils gives them a boost. Most research studies on EFAs suggest an intake of 3-10 g is beneficial for cardio-protective health.

Tags: diet, EFA, energy, essential, fat, GLA, growth, heart, metabolism, muscle, oils, omega-3, omega-6, testosterone, thermogenesis, training

This entry was posted on Saturday, March 29th, 2008 at 10:10 am and is filed under Supplements. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.