Frying any type of food in oil adds a lot of calories to the food and thus increases its calorie density. For example, a grilled chicken drumstick contains 90 calories. A fried chicken drumstick contains 150 calories. Fried foods promote weight gain more than any other type of food except sweets, and their effects on heart disease risk are even greater. A Spanish study conducted in 2011 found that, in a sample of nearly ten thousand men and women who were tracked for more than six years, those who ate fried food more than four times a week were significantly more likely to become overweight than were those who ate fried food no more than twice a week.
Fried food is very tasty and hard to resist. I can’t help but indulge in it every now and then. But you must avoid it as much as willpower enables you to during marathon or half-marathon training, lest you arrive at the starting line with the consequences clinging to your belly and hips. Note that I’m talking specifically about deep frying. “Light” frying such as sautéing and stir-frying are okay.
Frying is almost always done with oils, of course, but oils are not always used for frying. Oil-based salad dressings are not fried, for example. I’ll have more to say about oils on page 49.