Discussion Board

Hey LM,

What do you recommend as a fat percentage for athletes?

Thanks

Hey Starch,

Here's a chart with additional info that may help you out:

http://www.sport-fitness-advisor.com/bo ... ntage.html

As you can see there are variables depending on gender, sport, and genetics!

Lani

Sorry I should have been more specific.

I meant what is a good dietary fat percentage of calories for athletes. I think McDougall recommends 80% carbs and 10% fat for normal people, what do you think is a good percentage for athletes?

Thank you

Hey Lani,

I know McDougall recommends 7% fat for normal people.

What is the upper limit for athletes?

Thanks

Hey Starch,

Health considerations aside, this would vary based on body composition, weight, and energy needs. Let's defer to the dieticians on this one - have you asked Jeff Novick?

Lani

I posted in the lounge section and someone gave me a newsletter from Dr. McDougall that quoted a source as recommending athletes consume 60-70% carbs. I am not sure if that is what he recommends though.

Say my BMI is 19.5, I have 8-9% body fat, I'm 6'2", I weigh 155lbs, and I need 4000 calories a day. Would it be healthy in the long term to eat 20% fat to meet my caloric needs?

I'll make a new post on JN section as well.

Thank you.

You may want to pick up the college textbook "Ninth Edition, Nutrition for Health, Fitness & Sport," by Melvin H. Williams. This textbook covers among other things plant-based nutrition for athletes and will provide you with the answers you seek based on recent studies. You may also want to pick up a copy of the original book "The McDougall Method." In my opinion, this is a great book for athletes (since we are not interested in the "Maximum Weight Loss" book for fat people).

Basically, if it is a whole plant, eat it. You want to maximize getting all your vitamins and minerals, your essential fatty acids, and your essential amino acids -- easily done on a whole plant-based diet (although you do need to eat more plant protein since it is harder to assimilate than animal protein, but as the text will point out, among other things, we don't really need all that much protein -- a recent study, for example, shows that athletes actually need less protein than the non-athletes because in pertinent part the athletic body does a great job retaining protein).

A good rule of thumb is to eat at least 300 grams of starch-based carbohydrate to keep your glycogen reserves up, and you need no more than about 85 grams of plant protein (50 of animal), and then you could add in an oz of nuts, and an avocado for your salad, and eat some more grain if you need 4000 calories -- that would add up to a lot of fat! In other words, I don't think we need to be thinking in terms of "fat" -- just in terms of eating lots of variety of any whole, unrefined plant-based food. QED

Deb, yes especially as it is not just the overweight who stand to benefit from the MWL guidelines. These are compatible with Esselstyn's guidelines in Preventing and Reversing Heart Disease
from which even the non-overweight can suffer. Good point!

Lani

Also pretty close to the CRON calorie restriction for increasing longevity guidelines. Though MWL does not specify numbers, you can easily end up right in the ball park without really trying and feeling quite satisfied and well fed at the same time.