Eat well perform better
Your diet can make a real positive difference to what you can achieve in either
your sport or your general get-fit exercise programme. Unfortunately many of the
common culprits that provoke allergic reactions or intolerances are also the very
foods that come highly recommended by sports dieticians and sports nutritionists.
The body can only store a given amount of carbohydrate in the muscles, unlike
fat which can be stored in unlimited amounts – as a trip down the local High Street
will testify! Yet it is carbohydrate that is the priority fuel in anything other
than fairly gentle exercise. Wheat in bread, biscuits and pasta and high-gluten
cereals like oats in porridge are great sources of carbs for so many sporty types.
Cutting them out could seriously restrict your energy supplies during training
and competition. Similarly, sensitivity to banana can deny this sport staple to
a significant number of sportsmen and women. Equally, unwittingly consuming any
of these before a competition or match could have dire consequences – not just
on the result either.
So what are the alternatives? Finding non-wheat breakfast cereals is probably
not an enormous problem as there are plenty of varieties based on oats, rice or
maize, though it is important to check the labels carefully to make sure the manufacturer
has not included a small amount of wheat in an otherwise wheat-free product. Pasta
is a quick and popular source of carbohydrate amongst sports people, particularly
for those not too handy in the kitchen, but is of course off limits for the wheat-intolerant.
A suitable alternative is buckwheat pasta. Rice is eminently suitable but takes
longer to cook than pasta; potatoes need preparation and a reasonable amount of
cooking time. However jacket potatoes need no preparation, apart from giving the
skin a good scrub, and can be cooked in minutes in a microwave. And not everyone
with a food intolerance has a problem with bananas, which take no cooking at all.
Bread can be problematic. It is such a handy food for people who need to keep
their carbohydrate intake up and can figure more than once a day in a sporty diet.
Wheat-free and gluten-free breads are commercially available and may be obtained
on prescription by people who have coeliac disease or a true wheat allergy but
a prescription for people with wheat intolerance may be more difficult to obtain.
Bananas provide a quick and easy way to start the refuelling process after a training
session but an inability to enjoy this fruit and its high carbohydrate content
need not be a major problem. Just because top tennis players nibble on bananas
during matches doesn’t mean that you have to miss out on refuelling. There are
many other alternative foods that can do the job just as well, including dried
fruits (apricots, dates, raisins etc), flapjacks and oatcakes as well as sports
drinks, which will hydrate you too.
Eggs are seen as a great source of high quality protein by athletes participating
in a wide variety of sports. They are certainly a nutritious food that can be
cooked in many ways in a very short space of time. Alternative sources of protein
include all meats, fish, soya milk, baked beans, lentils, chickpeas, red kidney
beans and other pulses and, for those who can tolerate them, nuts and seeds. Many
athletes believe they need to eat lots of protein-rich foods, often at the expense
of the all-important carbohydrate-rich foods. In fact the actual requirements
are much lower than many realize.*
Milk is another great source of quality protein. It also contains a range of
minerals and vitamins including calcium, a vital mineral essential for strong
bones. Those who cannot tolerate cows’ milk can opt for soya milks and yogurts
that contain added calcium. A pint of semi-skimmed milk contains 702mg calcium
and a pint of soya non-dairy alternative with calcium contains 505mg. Adults need
700mg calcium a day so a “pinta” can make a very significant contribution. Intakes
can then be topped up by including broccoli, watercress, spinach, baked beans,
dried apricots and nuts and seeds – if tolerated.
Citrus fruits are a great source of vitamin C but again another group of foods
that can trigger a reaction. Adults need 40mg vitamin C a day and this can be
achieved by ensuring a daily intake of five non-citrus fruits and vegetables.
Particularly good sources are blackcurrants, strawberries, raw peppers, tomatoes
and green leafy vegetables (as long as they are not over-cooked as this will reduce
the amount of vitamin C quite drastically). Potatoes are not a fantastic source
of vitamin C but as they tend to be eaten in decent amounts they do make a very
worthwhile contribution and only very rarely cause a problem . You should be able
to get all the nutrients you need from food but if in doubt a simple multivitamin
and mineral supplement from a recognizable company can make up for any short-fall.
Having to exclude certain foods means you will have to think a little more carefully
about how your diet is made up. This may not be a bad thing as the resulting diet
may be considerably better, meeting all the requirements, than the diet of a sportsperson
who can “eat anything”. hard.
Performance Porridge with Honey and Almonds
Preparation time:
5 minutes
Cooking time:
6 minutes
Serves 4*
120g porridge oats
840ml water
100g flaked almonds
4 tbsp heather honey
Put the oats in the pan, add half of the water and leave to stand for a few minutes.
(It is recommended that the oats are soaked beforehand as the water softens and
bloats them.)
Add the remaining water when ready and put the pan on a medium heat. Bring to
the boil and reduce the heat and simmer for 6 minutes stirring occasionally.
Scatter the flaked almonds onto a baking sheet and place under a medium grill
for 1-2 minutes until golden and set aside.
Meanwhile, check the porridge. Once the porridge has reached its desired consistency,
serve into bowls, top with a generous tablespoon of honey, sprinkle with some
almonds and serve immediately.
