Edited by Doctor Francesco Casillo
In the "article"Proteins and lipogenesis"(published in" Cultura Fisica "N ° 370 - September / October 2003) I have reported all the biochemical steps by virtue of which calorie excesses of protein derivation have little chance of converting into fat compared to those of carbohydrate derivation.
All this is aimed at finding the theoretical-scientific justification of the high muscular quality of the bodybuilder reported in the pre-competition period, when the dietary manipulations redesigning the dietary-nutritional distribution of macronutrients - responsible for the extremity of the protein quota and the quantitative penalization of carbohydrates - they are decisive for this purpose, despite the fact that the absolute caloric level in relation to the energy expenditure does not make the resulting daily energy balance assume the characteristics of "deficit" that dietary recommendations consider essential to promote fat loss!
In another article of mine: "More proteins, less carbohydrates"(published in" Cultura Fisica "N ° 375 - July / August 2004), on the other hand, the effectiveness of a hyperproteic-hypoglucidic dietary approach in favoring the loss of fat and on what wrong application foundations and "interpretation are the criticisms of this dietary model, considered ineffective in real fat loss and even prone to endangering the health of the individual" draw their inspiration ...!
It is on this last point that the present article will be centered, but this time not following a repetitive line on the observations exonerating the danger of the "hyperproteic-hypoglucidic approach, but even distorting and overturning the positions occupied by the high-protein-hypo-glucidic and hyperglucidic nutritional regimes. -hypoprotein (15% protein, 55% -60% carbohydrates, 25% -30% fat, typical of our guidelines) on the prosecution and defense tables respectively.
The threat posed by high-protein diets, increasingly adopted when you want to favor the increase in lean mass or the loss of fat mass - whose final result (although the high-protein regime is the constant) comes from the characterizing features of the entire nutritional approach in which the high-protein intake is framed - it would be a parallel and quantitative-like in the lipid intake.
This derives from the fact that some protein sources of high biological value also contain a high quantity of fats (for example: cheeses, whole eggs, fatty meats, cured meats, etc.) and hence the assumption that their high consumption poses a threat to the cardiovascular health of the individual.
These considerations are not only not applicable to the high-protein structure typical of the true bodybuilding lifestyle - since it is built on low-fat protein sources (for example: chicken and / or turkey breasts, egg whites, protein powders, cottage cheese, etc. .) - but it will be seen, also thanks to the contribution of recent studies, how these accusations have no basis even when referring to the consumption of a "high percentage of fat including even the perfidious and demonized" saturated fats "and how instead the nutritional recommendations in the continue to spread emphasizing the wholesomeness of carbohydrate foods - at the base of the obsolete food pyramid - they lose sight of the superlative "Hyper" inherent in the recommended daily carbohydrate quota (ie 55% -60% carbohydrates), which is actually responsible for the subtle and deleterious alteration of blood lipid profile at the basis of cardiovascular diseases, despite the continuing to think and hypothesize that it is the dietary intake of fats their causal factor given the lipid nature of atherogenic formations!
Let's proceed in steps:
Until now, as far as the scientific literature has given us to know, the possibility of cardiovascular complications linked to a high lipid consumption are to be referred NOT to the common "LIPIDS" item, but rather to particular and specific chemical-structural configurations inherent in their carbonaceous molecule, which differentiates them from a chemical, biological and functional point of view. We refer to the difference between Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids (PUFA "s), Monounsaturated Fatty Acids (MUFA" s) and Saturated Fatty Acids (SFA "s).
The need for this detail is essential since a minimum variation in the chemical configuration of the molecule in question, the number of carbon atoms, the number of double bonds inherent in the carbonaceous molecule and their positioning (with respect to the carboxylic and methyl termination), attributes peculiarities very different to the different lipid sub-classes.
If this were not taken into account, it would be equivalent to saying that all proteins (regardless of their amino acid content), that all carbohydrates (regardless of their content in amylose, amylopectin, fiber, and relative glycemic index), that all polypeptides (GH, EPO etc.) are the same in their structure, metabolism and function since they belong to the same class!
Other articles on "Fats, health and atherosclerosis"
- Atherogenesis, the process of atherogenesis
- Effects of a hypoglucidic, hyperlipidic, low calorie diet on the prevention of CVD
- Fats, diet and prevention of atherosclerosis
- Atherosclerosis prevention: hypolipidic, hypocaloric hyperglucidic diet VS hyperlipidic, hypoglucidic, hypocaloric diet
- Low Fat Diet and Cardiovascular Risk
- Fats and health: conclusions
