The Simple Healthy Fat Strategy Nutritionists Recommend for Runners

Before explaining how to create a daily plan of eating healthy fats, remember that the dietary fat you consume has no relation to the composition of body fat. (It’s really too bad the words are the same.) Like carbohydrates and protein, dietary fat is an essential macronutrient that supports your energy needs, hormonal health, and mood. Chronically consuming too little fat may negatively affect hormonal function and recovery.Dietary fat also has a specific health benefit for runners. “Healthy fats like nuts and seeds are rich in omega-3s, which have been shown to lower inflammatory markers in the body. For runners, that matters because persistent inflammation is linked to slower recovery and a higher risk of overtraining,” explains Mireille Siné, a running and strength coach in Los Angeles who hosts The Runner’s World Guide to Nutrition and Fueling. “Keeping inflammation in check helps you bounce back faster after long runs and hard efforts.”As a general baseline, at least 20 percent of your daily calories should come from fat, and those should be mono and polyunsaturated fats. Saturated fats—found in animal products—and hydrogenated fats—found in processed and fried foods—are less healthy than those found in plant-based foods.Just as your calorie needs rise if you increase your training, so will your need for more fat.“Fat is one of the body’s primary fuel sources during long, steady-state efforts like distance running,” says Siné. “Athletes who cut fat intake too low often see those systems suffer first, which is why healthy fats are essential for keeping both energy and hormones stable during training.”To plan your meals around your training schedule, stick to lower-fat foods and meals prerun (try not to eat dietary fat in the hour window before your run), because fat takes a long time to digest, then include higher-fat foods after training and throughout the rest of the day.However, if you’re going out for a long run or race (over 90 minutes), include more fat in your prerun/prerace meal to ensure a slower release of carbohydrate energy over the long duration of effort to come. You’ll also want to allow two to four hours to digest that meal before running. Great choices here include a bagel with peanut butter or two eggs on toast and a banana.Just as you balance your plate with carbs and protein, incorporate a healthy fat at every meal. Remember, though, that serving sizes for fat (9 calories for every gram) are smaller than carbs and protein (both 4 calories for every gram of food). Some sources of healthy fats include olive oil, avocado, nuts and seeds, and fatty fish.Here is Frances Largeman-Roth, RDN, a Dobbs Ferry, New York–based nutrition expert's healthy-fat meal plan:Breakfast: ½ cup dried oatmeal cooked with 1 cup water + 2 tablespoons natural peanut butter + ½ cup blueberries (380 calories, 15 grams of fat)Snack: 1 ounce walnuts + 1 medium orange (270 calories, 18 grams of fat)Lunch: 1 cup cooked quinoa + 1 cup roasted veggies + sauce of choice + ½ avocado (600 calories, 12 grams of fat)Snack: Banana + 2 energy bites (280 calories, 18 grams of fat)Dinner: 3 ounces roasted salmon + 1 cup cooked pasta + 1 cup asparagus + 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan (490 calories, 15 grams of fat)Approximate daily total calories: 2,020Approximate daily total fat: 70 grams (30 percent of calories from fat—the majority is from mono and polyunsaturated fat sources)Donna Raskin has had a long career as a health and fitness writer and editor of books and magazine articles. A certified run coach who has practiced yoga for many years, she also loves to lift weights, dance, and go for long walks with her hound dog, Dolly.