Should athletes be on high-fat diets and drink butter coffee?
We know that sugar is bad for our health and that we should be eating good fats, such as those from nuts, seeds, and avocados, and to avoid all oils since they are processed and devoid of fiber.
Some fat is required to maintain a healthy body, but consume healthy fats in moderation. You’ve heard the expression: “An apple a day keeps the doctor away.” Too much of a good thing, can be a very bad thing. For example, you wouldn’t eat 50 apples a day; that’s excessive. You wouldn’t eat a pound of nuts a day since that would be too many calories, in addition to a excessive fat. Even too much water is toxic.
So, I was appalled when I read an article that athletes are drinking butter coffee and are on diets with 50% of their calories coming from fat. The Lakers, an American basketball team’s, “pregame beverage of choice is something the players call “bullet-proof coffee” — coffee seasoned with two teaspoons of pasteurized butter and heavy, grass-fed cream.” The addition of butter and cream makes acidic coffee even more unhealthy by adding saturated dairy fat.
Some people are touting a high-fat, no-sugar diet as a blessing since people feel better and lose weight, but if you think about it, it makes sense. If you are eliminating a lot of junk food, flour, soda and sugar, you’re going to lose weight and feel better.
I don’t advocate a high-fat diet, especially if the fat is from animal fat, which traps toxins and is a natural trans-fat. Our former president, Bill Clinton’s doctor took himself off red meat permanently to protect his heart.
Yes, cavemen ate Paleo diets with lots of meat and animal fat; they also lived to the average age of 40. I’ve tried high-fat diets among others and have found that what makes me most energetic and has resulted in the most fat loss, is a low-fat diet (10%-15%), combined with lean protein from beans and legumes, and a ton of vegetables and greens. I can’t stop you from drinking coffee with butter. If you see me at Starbucks, I’ll be drinking green tea.
Click the link below to read the entire article and watch the video.
Source: CBS Sports Nutrition in the NBA; Part I: Lessons learned in L.A. help Howard’s career , by Ken Berger. Link: http://www.cbssports.com/nba/writer/ken-berger/24370416
Related articles: http://realdiethelp.com/2013/11/07/want-some-butter-in-that-coffee/
Photo: I went to two different Starbucks and neither of them serve butter coffee and both employees said they’ve never heard of it.
