Carbohydrates
This post comes on the heels of our last pasta dinner, a meal stuffed with all kinds of carbohydrates. I would like to start by thanking all those in charge of the pasta dinners, especially Darin and Linda Lake--it takes an amazing amount of set-up and they can never be thanked enough for it.
I am going to keep this short, because this could be a HUGE post. Here goes...
First off, remember that all carbohydrates turn into the same thing: sugar. Please realize, unlike the majority of Americans, that too much sugar is a bad thing. You must regulate your sugar intake, or bad things happen. If you consider something a sugary food then it would be considered a carb-dominant food.
Why Avoid Sugar? (This section is an edited piece that comes from Mark's Daily Apple)
- Sugar stimulates a physiological stressor-reaction cascade that provokes adrenaline and cortisol release and thickens the blood.
- Sugar effectively disables your immune system by impairing white blood cells’ functioning.
- Sugar decreases your body’s production of leptin, a hormone critical for appetite regulation.
- Sugar induces significant oxidative stress in the body.
- Sugar appears to fuel cancer cells.
- Sugar promotes fat storage and weight gain.
- Sugar disrupts the effective transfer of amino acids to muscle tissue.
- Sugar intake over time spurs insulin resistance, subsequent Type II diabetes and the entire host of related health issues like nerve damage and cardiovascular disease.
How many carbohydrates am I eating?
I'm willing to bet a lot. I would check the labels on everything to see the amount of carbohydrates just for a good learning activity. If you looked at all the food you ate in the span of a day I am fairly confident (because I ask you guys what you eat) that you would have a great imbalance of carbohydrates compared to fat and protein. For those of you willing to measure, carbohydrates should be about 40% of your daily intake.
What foods are full of carbohydrates?
Well, in our country that would be most every food. But these would include breads, pastas, vegetables, fruits, candy, and most snack foods (amongst many many others).
What should I eat?
Remember I am not a fan of eating grains, especially wheat. I think we could all do with limiting the amount of wheat we eat in a day at the minimum. That aside I recommend you eat...
- Limited breads, especially white bread
- Some rice and other grains
- Extremely limited candy
- Very limited snacks
- Great amounts of vegetables; especially broccoli, spinach, cauliflower, but hey any of them will do (the advice I like the most "eat a rainbow" of vegetables as often as you can)
- Oh yea, because I know you guys...eating your vegetables with a bucket of ranch dressing is not what I have in mind. Sort of defeats the purpose. Maybe try an olive oil based dressing.
- Eat a lot of fruit; especially berries. Do not rely on bananas or oranges for long term energy, those are very quick burners. This means that they will give you quick energy (10-20 min after eating) but will not help you in the long run.
- Protein: Remember from part 2 of this series protein should be consumed within 15-30min of a workout. For instance, a protein shake would be perfect.
- Carbohydrates: The emphasis of "Car" is not a mistake. Carbohydrates are basically a vehicle for protein to get to your muscles. Without them protein is provided to muscles much less efficiently. Make it easy on your body!
- Easy carbohydrates for you: heat up a sweet potato in the microwave (instructions); eat a cup (or two!) of unsweetened apple sauce; mix together a sweet potato + applesauce (yum!); dried figs (can replace those Fig Newtons and the breading they have that we all love so much); fruit; and when in a pinch a sandwich (love your body and do not use whitebread); I have never used it, but you could by a Glucose supplement that is carb loaded.
- And follow Sep's advice and try not to eat things that you cannot pronounce. I would also add that you should limit foods that have more than 5 ingredients.
That depends. If you are done competing I would recommend what I have typed directly above. However, most of you do more than one event and need sustenance between events. I have never seen a failure with Goo. Ask Sep for one, he is more than generous in handing them out when it will support an athletes or the teams performance. Many athletes complain about the taste and refuse them. My advice: suck it up! I would prefer the nasty taste of those things than the nasty taste of not being ready to compete, and getting destroyed by the competition, and then wondering what happened. That is a bad taste all athletes should avoid. If you have a long time between events, have a Goo, and then about 15 minutes later eat a meal that has carbohydrates, fat, and protein (try to make sure you eat 1-2 hours before your event). If you have a short time between events, or are going back and forth between events, have a Goo ten minutes before you are to begin top performance.
Please post comments, questions, or criticisms. I would love to talk to any of you about your diet. Please just ask.
Nack
And now the obligatory disclaimer:
I am not a registered dietician, I am a high school SPED teacher, so take everything I say with a grain of salt. Also, I am not a medical doctor, so never pretend that what I say will cure what ales ya'.
A point of potential bias: I have Celiac disease, which means I cannot, and do not, consume gluten which is in wheat, rye and barley. I must say that since I have adopted a gluten free diet, I feel much better, have lost weight, am much healthier, am now "missing" some strange health problems I once had, and, well again, I feel much much better. Honestly, if I could I would remove it from most everyones die.However, I realize the impossibility of that. So I recommend we all try to eat just a little (or a lot) less of it, i.e. from the 6-11 (!!!) recommended daily servings of grains to perhaps 2-3 daily. For high school athletes, eat it, but make sure you eat plenty of fruits and vegetables also.
