Athletes and FUEL

FUEL for athletes needs to be affordable, convenient, and taste GREAT!
FUEL is a very personalized conversation. There are many nuances - including culture, heritage, health history, food preference, food security, and religious beliefs — to name a few. Getting enough FUEL to lead active lives, while protecting the future WELLbeing of athletes that includes bone health, reproductive health, and mental/emotional WELLbeing, is the top priority.

WATER —A good rule of thumb for athletes is to divide their body weight in half and drink at least an ounce per pound of body weight throughout a typical day (e.g., someone weighing 160 pounds should drink 80 ounces of water a day). This amount should then be adjusted for the day's activity level and outside temperature.

ELECTROLYTES — During exercise, your body loses electrolytes through sweat, and if not replenished, this can lead to dehydration, cramping, and fatigue. The important electrolytes for athletes are sodium, magnesium, calcium, and potassium. Make sure your electrolyte supplement has all of these components!

• SUSTAIN — a well sourced and well priced electrolyte supplement with about .60 cents a serving (NUUN $1.30 serving)

SPECIFIC COMPONENTS OF FUEL —

Carbohydrates, protein, and fat are referred to as dietary macronutrients. “Macro” means large, and we need relatively more of these nutrients than the micronutrients (vitamins and minerals). We generally get our micronutrients along with macronutrients.

The amount of the different macros that athletes need varies on the type and intensity of activity they are engaging in. Macro percentages for strength training, for example, differ somewhat from those for endurance runners.

PROTEIN needs vary by age, gender, and activity level. According to the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics and American College of Sports Medicine, athletes should aim for 1.2 to 2.0 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight per day (which is 60 to 100 percent of the recommended daily allowance for non-athletes). Check out some of the recipes below for creative ways to enjoy high protein snacks!

• Chocolate Chia Seed Parfait:
  - 1 cup coconut milk
  - 1/4 cup chia seeds
  - 2 tablespoons EARTH CHIMP or PROFLEX protein powder
  - 2 tablespoons maple syrup
  - Shake well. Refrigerate 4 to 24 hrs. Top with favorite fruit.

• Mocha Coffee:
  - 1/4 cup coffee (organic fair-trade if possible)
  - 1 tablespoon Chocolate Earth Chimp or PROFLEX  protein powder
  - Lots of ice, water to taste
  - Shake away and enjoy.

• Protein Balls:
  - Old-fashioned oats: Also called rolled oats — these will serve as the base ingredient for our energy bites.
  - Shredded coconut: Which I highly recommend toasting — either briefly in the oven or in a sauté pan — before adding to the energy bites. (Just be sure that they have cooled before adding in the chocolate chips, or the chocolate may heat and turn a bit melty.)
  - Creamy peanut butter: I have used both traditional creamy peanut butter and natural creamy peanut butter in this recipe, and both work!
  - Ground flaxseed: To add some extra protein, fiber and omega-3s to our energy bites.
  - Semisweet chocolate chips: I photographed this recipe with standard-sized semisweet chips, but mini semisweet chips mix in easier.
  - Honey: To add some natural sweetness and also help to bind the energy balls together.
  - Vanilla extract: For a touch of extra flavor.
  - Chia seeds (optional): Feel free to skip the chia seeds, if you do not have any on hand. But I love adding in a tablespoon or so when I do!

FAT — Athletes should consume 20 to 35 percent of their calories from fat.

According to the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, fats should make up 20-35% of our total daily calorie intake. For those attempting to lose body fat, 0.5-1g/kg of fat should be consumed per day to avoid essential fatty acid deficiency. For someone who weighs 150lbs (68kg), this would equate to 34-68g fat per day.

Since carbohydrate and protein intakes are more specific, once those intake targets are met, fat intake tends to naturally fall within the recommended range. And, like the general population, athletes are encouraged to select mostly unsaturated fats from foods like nuts, seeds, avocados, fatty fish, and oils - such as seed oils (like canola, safflower, or sunflower) and olive oil.

While carbohydrates are considered the body’s primary fuel source, the body uses both carbohydrates and fat as fuel, depending on the intensity and duration of the activity. When exercise intensity is light to moderate, fat supplies about half of the body’s energy needs – especially as the duration increases. For example, after jogging for more than 20 minutes at a moderate pace, fat becomes increasingly more important than carbohydrates for sustaining activity.

CARBOHYDRATES, serve as the main source of fuel during exercise, which is why it’s so important for athletes to consume adequate amounts. This ensures that they have readily available carbohydrate stores in the muscle, liver, and bloodstream.

Carbohydrate requirements will vary based on activity:

• For most, moderately active people, a well-balanced diet that supplies about half (45 to 55 percent) of the calories from carbohydrates should be adequate.

• Endurance athletes may need proportionately more, generally in the range of 55 to 65 percent of total calories.

• Ultra-endurance athletes, such as those who participate in events lasting longer than 4 hours, need even more: up to 75 percent of their total calories from carbohydrates.

Sports dietitians prefer to calculate carbohydrate needs according to body weight rather than a percentage of calories because it gives the athlete a specific intake goal:

• For general training, athletes are advised to take in 2.5 to 3 grams per pound of body weight (about 5.5 to 7 grams per kilogram).

• Endurance athletes (runners, cyclists, swimmers) need more; the goal is 3 to 4.5 grams per pound of body weight (about 7 to 10 grams of carbohydrate per kilogram).

• Ultra-endurance athletes who engage in competitions that last for four hours or more may need 5 grams per pound of bodyweight, or more (11 grams or more per kilogram).

The Humble PB&J — "In a recent issue of ESPN The Magazine, Baxter Holmes wrote a fascinating feature about how PB&J has taken over the NBA. Nearly every NBA team now makes PB&J sandwiches readily available to their players. The Milwaukee Bucks do it big—their spread usually includes three nut butters, a wide assortment of jellies, Nutella, and three different types of bread from a local bakery. NBA stars like Russell Westbrook, Damian Lillard and Steph Curry all religiously eat PB&Js for their pre-game snack.”

Why It's So Good for Runners
Peanut butter provides a feeling of fullness much longer after you've eaten it than if you'd munched on carbohydrates in the form of, say, pretzels, a candy bar, or even a banana. And that feeling of fullness can help you finish that last set of repeat 400s on the track or power you to the finish line during the last mile of a cross-country 5-K.

"Straight sugar or any simple sugar found in carbohydrates shoots your insulin levels high soon after you eat, but then drops them to the floor halfway through your workout," says Kearney. "Peanut butter, on the other hand, is full of fat, protein, and fiber, and it gives you a slow, sustained release of energy." It does contain fat, but it is overwhelmingly the preferred unsaturated fat, which makes peanut butter good for your heart.

MULTIVITAMINs/MINERALS
Please consult a doctor and/or legal guardian before starting any vitamin/mineral supplement.

• Vitamin D — Vitamin D has an important role in supporting many body systems, including the muscles, the nervous system, and the immune system.

• MULTI VITAMIN plus IRON — Micronutrients play an important role in energy metabolism, hemoglobin synthesis, maintenance of bone health, and stimulation of the immune system. Therefore, increasing the intake of micronutrients may be required to support the building, repair, and maintenance of lean body mass in athletes.

• MAGNESIUM — Magnesium helps to maintain normal nerve and muscle function, heart rhythm (cardiac excitability), vasomotor tone, blood pressure, immune system, bone integrity, and blood glucose levels and promotes calcium absorption.

I personally buy my protein, magnesium, vitamin D, and multi vitamin from Melaleuca.com. The supplements are all fresh, have an 86% documented absorption rate (highest in the industry), and they are affordable. I can send you your own link if the store makes sense to you.