Ready To Play “Athletes Nutrition”

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Welcome to Getting Ready to Play Nutrition for Athletes. I'm Cheryl Buckley, a registered dietitian nutritionist. I'm very happy to be on the Mike Hartman show and I hope to give you some great guidance on how an athlete needs to eat for performance. So we might ask ourselves what? Proper nutrition is needed to fuel the body for an athlete. And really optimal nutrition is needed to properly fuel your body, not just for the actual event itself, but also for training and recovery. And it's really important that we eat a wide variety of foods that offer a variety of our micro and macronutrients that are needed to perform daily. So you need to consume adequate calories, protein, carbohydrates, fats to sustain your energy levels that are needed to support your exercise energy requirements. So we're going to focus in on three macronutrients. We have carbohydrates, we have protein and we have fats. And we're going to start with carbohydrates first. So carbohydrates are really important because it serves as the primary fuel for the body during exercise and it helps to replenish energy stores during recovery. But it also helps from a performance standpoint when you consume an appropriate amount of carbs during a training or competition lasting more than an hour. Remember that a small amount of water is needed to help promote flute absorption as well. So we think about how many carbs do I actually need? Well, you need to make sure about two thirds of your every meal is carbohydrate carbohydrates that include grains, fruits, vegetables and drinks. And it's also important to include carbohydrates in your snacks along with your meals. When we think of like the sources, I always like to refer back to like whole grain breads, whole grain pasta, brown rice, could be potatoes of the white and or sweet potato version, beans such as legumes, it could be lentils, it could be pinto beans, it could be kidney beans, it could be black beans, and then obviously we have fruits and vegetables. So eating a variety of what I like to say of these different carbohydrate products is going to be super important. But I also like to point out that eating A variety of colorful fruits and vegetables are going to help offset the type of stress that you are going through, whether it be from your workout or the actual athletic performance. So some examples of this would be maybe having some oranges, mixed berries, sweet potatoes, broccoli, spinach, carrots. Those are some bright, colorful fruits and vegetables that really will help offset the stress from working out. So when do you eat these? Well, for carbohydrates, it's important that several hours before an activity that you eat a meal that is rich in carbohydrates. So think of something like the whole grain pastas. And then up to one hour before an activity you can eat a small snack. So think of something like a small granola bar or a banana. And then if you have practices or games that are lasting 60 minutes or longer, you'll definitely need to have something at that point as well. So we say an after activity, eating a snack like a protein bar. Maybe it's a smoothie, maybe it's a Greek yogurt with a piece of fruit. Anything that contains a carbohydrate and a protein for recovery is going to be important in this. Okay, so now let's talk about protein. That's the second macro. We need to consume lean protein foods to support growth and also build and repair our muscles. And we need to target ones that are especially rich in omega 3 fatty acids because they contain an anti inflammatory component. So if we think about protein and why it's important, our muscles and hormones and other parts of our body are actually made up of protein. So during training, working out in competition, the muscle proteins are broken down and need to be built back up. So eating protein post activity provides those building blocks that are needed to rebuild the muscles. And good recovery helps the athlete bounce back strong and being able to ready to perform at their next event. So what are some sources that are really good for, for protein? Well, we have meat, we have fish, tofu, soy, eggs, cheese, Greek yogurt. Even milk can be a good item to utilize. Remember if you are having meat to choose some lean protein sources which would be chicken, turkey and fish. If you are having dairy, I recommend 2% milk fat or less. And then again some examples of the omega 3 fatty acids that are used to offset that inflammatory component, they're very high in anti inflammatory would be salmon, nuts and seeds. So how much do you need as an athlete? And you know, actually we get more protein than we actually think we do from our meals. So athletes should really start with, you know, eating small portions of protein throughout the day. And we like to say that's anywhere from 10 to 20 grams of protein in every meal or snack, depending upon your actual weight. Again, that's a reference point, a range, but depending on your actual height and weight, that in your activity level, that will vary. But anywhere from 10 to 20 grams of protein each meal or snack. So about one third of each meal should be protein. When we always recommend around every three hours during the day and as soon as possible after a game or practice to replenish. I also think it's important to mention that there are some other nutrients that we're going to want to focus in on and I will touch those after I finish the last macro, which is fat, I will come back to that. Okay, so if we're looking at fat, remember something, you have to use this at a discretion because fatty foods will slow the digestion process down and that can affect your performance. So when we think of fats, we think of nuts and seeds. So think of something like peanut butter, almond butter, avocados. It could be extra virgin olive oil that you're using to stir fry some vegetables. Use minimal amounts because again, it slows the digestion process down. It can make you feel kind of heavy and full and not have the ability to perform because your body is trying to break that down. But those are some great options to use. But just be careful in how you incorporate them within your meals. So some other nutrients I would like to cover, I feel are so important that get overlooked is you know, you're trying to perform, you're working out, you're practicing, and you have to keep your immune system strong and you have to fight that inflammation that's naturally going to come up from the types of things that you're doing to train and perform. So we've talked about anti inflammatory foods, which are the omega 3 fatty acids that are present in salmon, nuts and seeds. But you also need to make sure you're getting enough vitamin D every day. And vitamin D is to help with immune support. So if we think of some items that have vitamin D, it would be salmon, tuna, fortified foods such as milk, Greek yogurt and tofu. Sometimes we aren't able to get all of the vitamin D that we need from food and sometimes we need a supplement. So we can obviously cover that on an individual basis. I don't, you know, promote that unless we know what your blood values of vitamin D looks like. And once we have an idea of what that looks like, then we know if we need to supplement it. Additionally, outside of food. Okay, the last piece that I like to talk about that helps to build with your immune system is utilizing prebiotics and probiotics in your food. A lot of people will take supplements, but I feel like you can get this from food. You can get it from kimchi, you can get it from kefir, you can get it from regular yogurt or Greek yogurt. You can even get it from a raw sauerkraut. Incorporating these types of foods are going to be very important in building a very strong GI tract to help build the immune system to fight off infection. The last component that we really haven't talked about is hydration. It's super important that you stay hydrated by drinking water all throughout the day. You also need to make sure that two to three hours prior to event that you are drinking and then continue to drink during your game. We usually reference anywhere from like a half a cup of fluids every 15 minutes and then afterwards to rehydrate due to all the sweating. So for any sessions that you have over an hour, you may require sports drink to replace those electrolytes that have been lost through sweating. Again, one's water or fluid requirements are really based off of your body weight and the amount of activity that you are sweating. So it's not just a standard number that I'm going to give you. It really is individually and can be figured out on one's individual needs. Okay, so what are some examples of what a game day for nutrition would look like? If I look at like a pre game, again, we want that to be three hours before it should include a protein, a whole grain, a fruit and a non fat dairy possibly. So maybe we're looking at having some eggs with sweet potatoes and mixed berries with some milk. Maybe if it's a lunchtime that's pre game. We're looking at the whole grains, lean proteins, fruits and vegetables in a low fat dairy. So that would maybe be like whole grain bread with some lean turkey, lettuce and tomato and a non fat yogurt. During the gamer practice, like I've mentioned, it's important to stay hydrated. But sometimes you need a little food to get you through because of the energy burn. So think of some things such as bananas or potatoes or maybe a low fat yogurt or maybe a chocolate milk to kind of replenish and you the potassium and carbohydrates that you need during that game. In practice, when we think of post practice or an afternoon game snack, you probably will need a snack before your dinner. So maybe some fresh fruit with a low fat Greek yogurt or a smoothie or a protein bar would be something good to consume. When we talk about post game dinner again, I want to make sure that you're including your proteins, whole grains, grains, vegetables, fruits and dairies. So remember, you know, lean cuts of meats of chicken, salmon or tuna, including whole grains such as whole wheat pasta, maybe with some tomato sauce and some Parmesan sprinkled cheese. Maybe we're going to have some vegetables or a side green salad and some fruit for dessert such as an apple or orange. And maybe you're going to connect that with some some Greek yogurt or maybe you're just going to have it with some whole grain cereal. So it's important that at each phase that you're having different strategies used for basically including all of your macros again, the carbs, proteins and fats, but also making sure that you are timing it correctly to ensure that you are getting the energy you need and not only to recover, but to also give your body the ability to be able to recover and get ready for the next event. So I feel like that should give you a good idea of some snacks and meals that you can have, whether it be pre, during or post. Keep in mind that most of us are not able to meet all of our nutritional needs from our food only. And I sometimes do recommend that it's important to incorporate plant based nutrition supplements. Again, I like to say that that can be on an individual basis. Once somebody is assessed nutritionally, we'll be able to tell whether or not they need additional supplements. But most of us do benefit from plant based nutrition supplements. Okay, so I'd like to end in saying if you have any further questions for me on how to fuel your body as an athlete, please feel free to reach out to me at my website, which is www.CherylBuckley.com. again that's www.CherylB Buckley.com or you can send me an email at c buckleyrdmail.com again that's c buckley rdmail.com I'd like to thank Mike Hartman for having me on his show and I hope that I help you figure out a little bit better of a way for you to eat for better performance. Have a great day.

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