|
Now this might sound like a real
easy question but what is Good Nutrition? Good nutrition can mean many different
things to many different people. Depending on your sporting requirements,
training requirement or even special needs you might have (diabeties, Crohn's
disease), You will find that your nutritional requirements might be different to
those around you. Now how many people here have been questioned because of their
nutritional needs.
Think back to the latest family
gathering you had where you hadn't seen people for a long while. When they find
out that you train and eat a healthy balanced diet, they say things like 'when
will you eat normally again?' Didn't you know that pizza and beer is a normal
meal for most people. So what we will cover here is just a general overview of
what good nutrition is. We will not go into specifics about what's good for what
sport etc, just a brief overview.
Macronutrients -
Macronutrients are the 3 different classifications of food. These are Protein,
Carbohydrates and Fats. No matter what you eat, food is comprised of either, if
not all 3 of these macronutrients.
Protein - Proteins are the
'building blocks' for all living cells in the body. Everything from your hard
earned muscle you train for, to your skin, bones, organs etc are all made from
protein. As you can see, protein is one pretty important substance. The biggest
debate has always been how much protein do you need?
In the old days, the recommended
daily amount was as little as 1.0 gram per kg of bodyweight. So this means that
for a 100 kg hard training athlete they only need 100 grams of protein a day.
Sorry folks, but you need a hell of a lot more. How much you say? Well, your
protein consumption should be based on your total nutritional intake. On
average, 50% of your daily calorie intake should come from high quality protein.
You should focus your protein intake on such things as lean beef, chicken, fish,
lite and/or skin milks, and supplemental protein powders, consisting of both
whey proteins and calcium caseinate. Many of you will be a little confused now.
Have you ever heard that too much protein, esp more than half your daily calorie
intake is bad for you. You know, too much protein puts too much stress on your
kidneys etc. Rest assured that this is not true.
To date there is no published
evidence that a high protein diet produces any negative effect on metabolism in
bodybuilders or any other type of athletes. Recently, a comprehensive study
completed by Jacques Poortmans and Oliver Dellalieux, concluded that high
protein intakes of 170 to 243% of the RDA show no toxicity, dehydration, calcium
loss or impairment of kidney function. Also, the researchers cautioned that some
of the upper-end clearance range.
Carbohydrates -
Carbohydrates
are the 'fuel' that our bodies
need to function. Too little carbs and you become slow and sluggish. Too many
carbs and you can have a little battle with the bulge. So what is the ideal
amount of carbs to eat, and what sort of carbs are best? Amounts - Typically,
carbohydrates should total on average 40% of your daily calorie intake. At this
amount, you will obtain enough energy to power you through the day, yet not so
much as to cause increases in fat.
This is a 'very' rough guide as
well as activity level also plays a HUGE role in determining your ideal amount
of daily carbs. For example, if you had 2 bodybuilders pretty much the same
(both male, 25 and 80kgs), yet one sits behind a desk all day and his
counterpart works in a high demanding physical job, the later will need more
carbs (and total calories) to get through the day and still have enough to train
and for recovery.
Carbohydrates used to be split
into 3 different groups: Simple, Complex and Fibrous. Simple are your sugars and
processed items like Soft drink, Complex are your typical pasta's, rice, grains
etc and Fibrous are your vegetables like carrots and beans. I think this is a
little outdated and I feel most of the fitness community feels the same way!
Today, we realise the Glycemic
Index (GI) rating is more relevant when it comes to carbohydrate choices for
one simple reason - it is more accurate. If you go by complex for instance, is
all rice equal, right - wrong. Calrose rice has a GI of 87 while Basmati has a
rating of only 58. Both these rice's will have different effects on your body,
yet both are essentially classes as complex - see what I mean.
Now focusing on GI for carb
intake, how do we tie this into our eating plan? You want to focus most of your
carb consumption around low GI carb sources (excepting around training times).
When it comes to your body storing energy, Insulin is king. It is a fluctuating
Insulin level which can result in massive weight gain (and that's not lean
weight). This is caused when you follow the general yo-yo diet all day of snack
foods, take away and soft drink.
To keep Insulin levels low, you
should be focusing on low GI carb choices. Foods such as Basmati rice, rolled
oats, sweet potatoes and an abundance of vegetables will do the trick nicely. By
doing so, this will keep your blood sugar level nice an low, allowing for a more
steady release of carbs other a longer period of time. This also enhances the
fat burning process.
The only time you want to consume
high GI carbs is directly before training and in the 3 hour window after
training. This is when your muscles are more primed too utilise nutrients, and
by increasing insulin levels, you open the flood gates so to speak, and your
muscles literally soak up everything like a sponge. This will increase your
chance of providing everything for muscle growth to happen and also greatly
enhances recovery. But after the 3 hr period, back to low GI carbs.
Yes it sounds like a lot of
mucking about, but trust me, it is the most efficient way to delivery quality
carbohydrates, and the most effective. Remember, there is a purpose to what we
do
Fat - By understanding
that not all fat is bad, you can greatly enhance not only your results in the
gym, but also your quality of life. As most people know, you want to avoid all
saturated fats and eliminate them from your diet. These have no nutritional
benefit for you at all, and in fact, can and will have adverse effects on your
health.
A bypass operation because of a
clogged artery, caused by saturated fat consumption never sounded like fun too
me. It is a mistake to avoid all fats though. Most people know of the Omega 3's
which are mostly found in fish such as Salmon, but there are some other great
sources of essential fats as well.
Flaxseed oil is another popular
product, which is found in the fridges of most health food stores. You can also
buy flaxseed (or linseeds) as seeds from a store, but if you do remember too
choose the crushed variety. When still in tact, they are unable to release their
oils when consumed. Eating the crushed variety does release it quite well, and
when you add a tablespoon to your cereal in the morning, it develops a nice
nutty flavour. With your daily calorie intake, fat should total approx 10%.
To sum it all up So there it is,
a very brief intro to good nutrition. Just remember what might be good nutrition
for you and your sport might not neccessarily be good for someone else. We are
all unique in our individual needs and requirements so instead of taking what
someone else says as gosphel, invest the time in yourself and find out what is
GOOD NUTRITION for you.
|
