As the winter weather sets in, you might have a little extra time on your hands. What a good opportunity to use that time to educate yourself about fueling for performance, longevity, injury prevention, and stamina.
The goal for all athletes should be to eat pro-actively, to stay in peak health. This is the opposite of eating reactively. (You know, “I just got the flu … maybe I should I start eating more oranges?”) The following websites can help you fuel your body wisely and well.
“How-to” Sports Nutrition Websites
For “how to” nutrition nuggets, surf on over to the website for the US Olympic athletes. You will find an assortment of sports nutrition fact sheets, including a graphic of what an Athlete’s Plate should look like on an easy, moderate, or hard day of exercise. Other fact sheets will answer your questions about alcohol (Did you know a Pina Colada has 380 calories???), caffeine, and vitamin D, among many other topics. The video clips are filled with nutrition tips, and the recipes can help you to make your own sports foods.
www.ausport.gov.au/ais/nutrition
The Australian Institute of Sport also offers an array of nutrition information. In their section on Sports Supplements, you will find supplements divided into four groups based on current scientific evidence that determines whether a product is safe, legal and effective in improving sports performance. For example, caffeine, a proven ergogenic aid, is in Group A, while glutamine and HMB are in Group B, suggesting they are deserving of more research. Substances with little meaningful proof of beneficial effects are in Group C, and banned substances are in Group D.
General Nutrition Websites
For information that addresses the day-to-day hot topics and sources of questions confusion, Marion Nestle PhD of New York University offers trustworthy information. You’ll find answers to questions such as: Is High Fructose Corn Syrup good, bad or indifferent to health? Are organic foods worth the money? Is red meat good or bad? She offers a balanced, well-educated perspective.
The website for The Center for Science in the Public offers “unbiased advice to help you eat healthfully and live longer.” Part of CSPI’s mission is to ensure science and technology are used for the public good (i.e., not to create the tastiest junk food). CSPI has changed how we think about trans fats, soft drinks, fast foods, and marketing food to kids. Click on “nutrition” in the top bar and you’ll find articles of interest to you and your family.
Sports Nutrition/Sports Science Websites
For sports nutrition information, the website for the Gatorade Sports Science Institute is chock-full of all you might want to know about fueling for performance. While you might think that websites funded by Gatorade would be commercialized and biased towards their products, the Gatorade Sports Science Institute is the non-profit, educational branch of Gatorade. Their mission statement asserts that GSSI is committed to helping athletes optimize their health and performance through research and education regarding not only hydration, but also the effects of nutrition on the human body before, during and after exercise.
Click on Sports Science Exchange, and you’ll find articles on a wide range of topics, such as vitamin needs of athletes, immune status, brain function, and protein for muscles, as well as abundant information, of course, regarding all you want to know about hydration.
www.powerbar.com/nutrition-in-training.
PowerBar’s sports nutrition information is provided by respected nutrition experts. The sections on fueling & hydrating, refueling and recovery, and nutrition science include written tips as well as short video-clips of interviews with trust-worthy researchers who suggest ways to optimize performance via smart fueling practices.
May this information help you win with good nutrition!
Best,
Nancy