EVOO and sports performance with Monica Astola

Extra Virgin Olive Oil contains numerous phenolic compounds that exert a powerful anti-inflammatory action, which is why it is so essential in what we know as the Mediterranean Diet.

 Monica is a nutritionist specialized in sports nutrition by the University Pablo Olavide and anthropometrist ISAK. She teaches and divulgates on occasions. Currently, I work with people who want to improve their body composition for more "aesthetic" purposes, and/or their sports performance, as well as their health. Always in a totally individualized way to create adherence. Taking into account their preferences, goals and starting point. She considers herself passionate about strength training and assures that fats are fuel, just like carbohydrates.

What basic aspects of nutrition do we overlook?

The importance of good nutrition in improving our quality of life and health. In fact, the philosopher Hippocrates (in the 5th century B.C.) already said "If we could give each individual the right amount of nutrients and exercise, neither too little nor too much, we could find the safest way to ensure their health. 

It is worth mentioning that in recent years, the importance of nutrition for the prevention of risk factors in relation to our health is becoming more and more known, in addition to being aware of the importance of planning and organization of nutrition in the field of sports for the improvement of performance and physical condition.

Another aspect that we sometimes overlook, is the individualization that there must be, within the same, and the importance of context of the person in question, taking into account that "generalist" messages cannot always be given because NOT everything is suitable for everyone. Nutritional requirements will always depend on the age, sex, weight, body composition, sport and/or physical activity practiced; added to the volume and distribution of the same.

What role does each macronutrient play in our body?

The distribution of proteins, carbohydrates and fats is very important for the proper functioning of our organism.

Proteins are responsible for the stimulation of growth and development, they are the basis for forming the structures of our organs, muscles, tendons and other tissues. Carbohydrates are the "fuel" of the organism, since their main function is to provide energy. Finally, fats are essential, since they are needed for the absorption of some fat-soluble vitamins such as A, D, E and K; as well as for the synthesis of some hormones, they are part of the nervous system and the cell membranes of all cells. 

Are some more essential than others?

In the general population NO. All are important for the proper functioning of our body. Even in fat lossit is not necessary suppress or restrict some of them. 

The amount of each of them, is what should be adapted according to lifestyle, physical activity, sport, individual characteristics, pathologies, preferences, etc.

What is the role of healthy fats?

They have a role quite important, as we have already mentioned, they are required for the absorption of some vitamins fat-soluble vitamins such as A, D, E and K; as well as for the summary of some hormonesare part of the nervous system and cell membranes of all cells. 

Consume below 0.5 grams of fat per kilogram of weight would already be a risk. The ideal in a diet with the objective of fat loss would be around 0.7 grams to 1.1 grams per kilogram of weight; and in a diet for muscle gain or maintenance would be 0.9 to 1.5 grams per kilogram of weight.

Is its caloric intake as high as we have been led to believe?

Yes, but with nuances. It is true that they are the macronutrient with the most calories per gram. Proteins and carbohydrates have 4 kcal per gramand fats, however, have 9 calories per gram.

 

Even so, this does not mean that they are NOT healthy. The energetic contribution has nothing to do here. The only thing we should take into account is that the fat intake in our daily diet should be lower than the protein and carbohydrate intake. (generally around 30% of our total daily intake and that less than 10% of this 30% be saturated). but they are essential and essential.

For many years fats have been demonized, but what kind of foods should we mainly avoid?

First of all, we must know here, that eating fats does not make us accumulate more fat in our body. That is totally false.

If we want to be healthy and/or have a good body composition, the products we should really avoid are the ultra-processed products. That is to say, cookies, pastries, sweets, sugary and/or refined cereals, precooked foods, sugary drinks, etc. In addition, we should reduce the frequency of "visits" to fast food places.

Fatson the other hand, we should include them in our daily dietespecially if we talk about the "healthy fats" which would be olive oil, avocado, raw/roasted nuts, oily fish (such as tuna and/or salmon) etc. The ones we should avoid would be the saturated ones, which are the ones that usually come in processed products; (in ice cream, dairy desserts, pastries, sausages, cookies, palm oil, etc). So this boils down to the above: we should not demonize the consumption of fats, but moderate the consumption of ultra-processed products and avoid consuming them in our daily lives. They should be consumed only occasionally or on very specific occasions. "more special" if they can be avoided, so much the better.

How is a general nutritional plan different from one with a physical objective behind it?

We all follow "a diet", since this is the one we usually follow without the need to follow a paper or guidelines, that is to say: what we usually eat in our day to day, is our diet.

However, there is a difference between following a "healthy diet" to have a better quality of life and persevere our health, in which we simply focus on reducing the consumption of ultra-processed foods and ensuring the necessary intake of macronutrients and micronutrients. (vitamins and minerals)without nutritional deficiencies. Increasing the consumption of vegetables, fruits, meat, eggs, fish, whole grains, etc.

On the other hand, there would be the diet with a "aesthetic purpose" and/or with the objective of improving sports performance, which in this case should take into account not only the basic requirements and a healthy diet, but also the activity factor of the person in question and his or her lifestyle, the total daily energy expenditure and the energy balance, which, depending on the person's objective, will be negative or positive. 

The positive balance would be when you eat more than you spend. (this is used for people who want to improve their performance or muscle mass). and the negative energy balance, which would be when you eat less than you spend (that this is used for objectives such as fat loss).

Do these seconds usually change the amount of fats for their caloric intake according to the physical objective?

There is nothing generic here. It is a matter of individualizing the planning to the athlete, always taking into account his or her context. But in most cases, athletes do not restrict fat intake to less than 0.5 grams per kilogram of weight; and this would already be the minimum recommended. So we would be talking about this figure, always upwards. Fats are less "changeable" than proteins and carbohydrates in nutritional planning according to the objective. That is to say, they tend to be more stable and never go below the figure mentioned above.

How do fats benefit sports performance?

Fats are fuel just like carbohydrates. Unlike the latter, fat reserves in the body are greater, so if, for example, we are going to perform a physical activity of long duration and wear; glycogen reserves are scarcer and our body ends up "pulling" also fat reserves, which will also improve our performance. Even so, we must know that the deficiency of carbohydrates in the diet, would affect the reduction of muscle glycogen, and this in turn, harms us in the activities that require us a higher intensity.

How important is the anti-inflammatory character of EVOO?

Extra Virgin Olive Oil contains numerous phenolic compounds that exert a potent anti-inflammatory action, which is why it is so "essential" in what we know as  "Mediterranean Diet. Some studies show the importance of this in the improvement and prevention of some diseases, in addition to the numerous benefits it can bring to our body.

For all this, it should be noted that within vegetable oils, they are NOT all the same, we should always avoid the consumption of vegetable seed oils, especially those richer in linoleic acid, such as soybean, corn or sunflower and if these are used occasionally, if possible it should be raw. For cooking, we should always PRIORITIZE in olive oil and/or coconut oil, although living in the land where we live, I would always opt for olive oil.

We hope you liked it. Thank you so much Monica for so much quality information, we keep it all!

Follow us on @verdesmeraldaolive and visit the profile of @monicastolanutrition !