Many people are still misguided when it comes to dietary fat. There is a tendency to believe that you must keep fat low to be fit and healthy. Yet nothing could be further from the truth. Fat is an important macronutrient for anyone interested in building muscle and gaining strength as well as optimizing health.
One reason you need to take in adequate fat is that some polyunsaturated fats, such as the omega-3 fats and omega-6 fats, are essential, which means your body cannot make these fats and you need to get them from your diet. Omega-3 fats (from sources like salmon, trout, flaxseed, and walnuts) have been found to be a critical player in muscle recovery and growth. They also aid joint health, protect from heart disease, and boost brain function, among other benefits. A study by Smith and colleagues (2011) suggests that those supplementing with fish oil, which is high in omega-3 fats, have a higher anabolic response (higher rates of muscle protein synthesis) when consuming protein, which can lead to greater muscle growth in the long run.
Then there is monounsaturated fat (from sources like olive oil, nuts, and avocados). This is not an essential fat, but it is a healthy fat because it provides numerous health benefits. On top of that, male athletes consuming more monounsaturated fat maintain higher testosterone levels (Hamalainen et al. 1983; Reed et al. 1987). Actually, male athletes consuming more monounsaturated fat and saturated fat maintain higher testosterone levels. So, yes, you actually should try to consume some saturated fat rather than try to avoid it at all costs. The Malmo Diet and Cancer Study reported that individuals receiving more than 30 percent of their total daily energy from fat and more than 10 percent from saturated fat did not have increased mortality (Leosdottir et al. 2005). Good saturated fat sources are beef, dairy (full fat or reduced fat, but not fat-free), and whole eggs. The only fat that you want to avoid is trans fat, as the evidence is clear that this man-made fat wreaks havoc on the body in many ways.
A simple rule for fat intake is to consume half your body weight in pounds (or about your entire body weight in kilograms) in grams of fat. So, if you weigh 200 pounds (90 kg), you would consume about 100 grams of fat per day, 33 percent of it as monounsaturated fat, 33 percent as polyunsaturated fat (mainly omega-3 fat), and 33 percent as saturated fat each day. Also consider supplementing with 4 to 10 grams of fish oil per day. If you really want to fine-tune this recommendation, look to see how much DHA (docosahexaenoic acid), EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid), and DPA (docosapentaenoic acid) your fish oil provides per capsule and try to get close to 1,500 milligrams of DHA and EPA and 300 milligrams of DPA per day for maximal benefits.