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FATS AS ENERGY
So what else is fat good for? As you will read in the section on fats in this
website, fats are essential for many functions, especially the proper function
of cells, brain tissue and of course hormone and prostagladin production and
functioning. Fats are also used as heat insulation on the human body and as
protective padded to protect some of the organs and bones. But just why else
is the human body primed for storing fat on the body? Well, bottom line, Fats
are the prime energy store in the human body. A typical person will hold less
than 2,000 calories in stored glycogen (derived from carbohydrates) whilst a
200Lb man of 20% bodyfat stores around 150,000 calories in fat stores. And lets
face it. Humans adapt to their environment like any animal, but at the end of
the day, your body knows no difference between being a caveman in the wild and
being at the office with plenty of candy bar machines down the corridor. Your
body is a fat storing machine. Fat is your ultimate survival mechanism. In years
gone by, you would have periods of plenty of food, with good hunting and good
food harvesting. Then there would be periods of time where the food supply was
low to non existent. After using up your glycogen reservoirs, if you didn't
have your excess layers of bodyfat to rely on you would die. It would be as
simple as that. The human body is cleverer than that. It is a survival machine.
It does not wan to die so easily. So it builds and maintains and stores up fat
as a primary energy source for when it is most needed. That 200lb man with 150
000 calories of stored bodyfat could live for 100 days worth of energy from
that fat. Of course he would need amino acids and proteins to survive too, and
water of course. But this just illustrates the use of fat as a primary energy
source.
Along these lines, you can see where the theories of ketogenic diets have surfaced
from. We know that the human body does not need carbohydrates to live. We do
know that it needs protein and water and of course it needs the essential fatty
acids. Aside from this, the fat stored in your fat cells, around your waist,
your hips, bum etc, is your bodies ancient supply of emergency fuel and energy.
Consequently, there is no need to provide fats for fuel as our reserves are
already ample for our needs.
During aerobic exercise the fuel used is carbohydrate. During intense and brief,
low volume anaerobic exercise, the fuel source is a mix of carbohydrates and
intracellular fats.
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