Nutrition is crucial. What we eat is very very important, but how, when, in what order is what also makes ton of difference. Enormous gigantic difference !!! Especially if you follow something like a low sugar diet, weight loss program, high protein diet, low fat, high fat diet. I think that actually all dieting is a scam. Really. If somebody had a fruit garden and in Hawaii and have fruition season all year around, that is all normal, that he is eating high sugar, high water fruits as his main calories. Others might live in Canada, Alaska, Very South America or mountainous or Mediterranian Europe. We should abandon habits and acclimatise for local logical habits. When used to live in Malta, I was eating prickly pears and sea urchins, tomatoes, tons of fish, big fish and loads of greens. In Ireland, butter, beef, porc, loads of sea vegetables, potatoes, fish and sulfur rich veggies. On the Cote d'Azur, it was a lot of fish and also loads of fruits and veggies growing all year around. In Hungary, vegetables and fruits are exteremely seasonal and also meat is seasonal. Summer time it is often chicken and other birds and winter time it is porc. Beef, horse, turkey, goat, sheep is regionally eaten. Right now I am in the Pyrenese France, land of the apple and hunting. So yes, we eat loads of apples, loads of meat and loads of wild greens.
This is just to say that adhering to a particular lifestyle because it is appealing, I leave it to rich New Yorkers and the Fashionistas of big city people.
For runners trail runners, eating well is crucial, but eating in an orderly fashion is what makes a difference. Red cabbage is fantastic for you, but you don't eat it before running. Not even 3 days before a race. Intermittent fasting is great, but if you want a performance outing, make sure you eat a caloric not fatty snack before your outing and take 2 to 4 gels your raining session. Actually, if you were healthy, handling sugars in an empty stomach can result in a very pure fast burning of energy. Efficatious with low emission.
Post race and post workout you got this famous period of opening for protein absorption. This is why it is crucial to hydrate well. We need to be hydrated all the time. Taking in fluids is always the first thing. No dehydration ever ! When even 0.5% dehydrated, you cannot digest properly and over that percentage, your stomach might be even closed with zero hunger signals, despite that you need to consume repairing calories.
So yes, drink during training with electrolytes, even if did not really need. A recovery or volume building general easy run, up to 90min, well, it is not crucial, but still recommended. In case of a workout, sugar and water with electrolytes, obligatory. This way, post race protein is absorbed and used better. Your body has already the sugar flowing in that can pull the protein as needed.
Post workout or post race order:
- Hydration with water and electrolytes
- Hydration with sugars
- Protein supplement with amino acids like EAA and creatine
- Snack if needed to open up the stomach
- Proper meals, more likely some carbs and easily digestible protein
- Next meals with fibre, veggies, salads, fruit snacks
There are a couple of notions not to forget if you wanted to eat properly. One is that what we do, train, work, push ourselves hard on dangerous terrain, using shoes with grip, hydration packs and poles, GPS watches dictating hard race pace. We do this without animalistic instinct behind, without anybody pushing us or forcing us. It is a bit of mindf..k isn't it ? Putting our selves through this rigor and vigor for no reason. Nothing natural about, at all ! So do not be affraid of gels, powders, capsules, potions and any sort of supplements.
We are genetically different and we do not live, any of us, properly. We do not know, what mix of lifestyle, training, work and environmental factors deplete in what way, what sort of micro-nutrient or macro-nutrient. For instance, if you were Germain origine, lived on the mediterranian spanish coast, had your Wifi 6 and AC turned on daytime, and consumed fish and coffee on a regular basis, you would develop low level B12 defficiency and enzymatic issues. Possibly if you changed one single factor in these conditions, either you'll have other deficiencies or no deficiencies. Measure, measure, measure. Understand and observe your body. Look for all actions. In same cases, sever problems can be prevented with low level periodic supplementation. Like taking 12€ B12 and Vitamin D+K during 3 winter months. Taking instead of 2, 4 grams of creatine post workout 3 times a week. Use quercetine, Q10, curcumin, cinnamon, digestive enzymes or probiotics.
Secondly, there is no sandwich in nature. Eating a big salad with 3 ingredients and next time eating another salad with other three ingredients is better than eating salads with 12 ingredients each time. Half a lettuce, with a couple of drops of olive oil and lemon and a giant steak. Or baked potatoes with olives, spinach leaves and aioli. No need to go overboard with half a million ingredients. Simplicity, just like in nature. Eat when hungry, stop when full.
Think hard about seasonal foods as they might be damaging to be eaten off season, constantly in regular quantities. Nuts and seeds !!! First of all it is hard to find freshly dried ones. If they are not dried properly, they are toxic, if they have been dried long time ago, they are rancid. If you ate too much, the imbalance of omega 3 and 6s cause inflammation. This inflammation can be further exaggerated with gluten, milk, nightshades and other slightly sensitive foods. Often people think about the equilibrium, so they consume fish. Now you can discover that you are mercury sensible, due to too much oily fish and so on. I actually eat very little to non of nuts and seeds. In case of legumes I eat some beans and chickpeas, but very very little peanuts. A jar of quality, tested, organic peanut butter of 1kg is around 14€. I prefer to buy 700g of quality steak or 1.5kg of red porc chops. Maybe a bag full of cilantro, persil and purse-lane. Seeds are little better, but do not over consume them either. Do not buy them chopped up or ground. Black sesame seeds or cumins seeds, classic sesame seeds, flax/lin seeds, chia seeds, poppy seeds. One table spoon daily in your salad or yoghurt is enough. Grind well.
I hope that these helped a little on understanding what is and what is not important. Privilege always the 5 major food groups. Fruits, veggies, meat, fish and eggs. The rest is not important. Feel like having a dessert or a snack, eat 3 apples or have another piece of chicken. Use fibre for satiation, like carrot sticks, crunchy organic salad leaves, couple of tomatoes and olives, gherkins.
Do not think of nutrition as big science. All nutritional disorders, weight loss, weight gain, digestive issues are coming from not eating correctly these 5 food groups. People focus on all sorts of cereals, seeds and grains and spiruline, bakery products, seawead and tiger nut, magic potions coming from the amazon forest, the fonio grain of africa, the chia seeds of mexico and south America. Did you eat your shredded raw beetroot or marinated raw organic broccoli ? Have you harvested your freely available stinging nettles, thyme, lavander, narrow and wide leaf plantain ? Have you collected a couple of mushrooms autumn to boost your vitamin D levels ?
Well, chances are that most people fall under that umbrella 75% of a time and not have a real look at themselves is real. Yesterday I went to a rugby match. I hydrated well during the day, but had not real electrolytes. I ate a bunch of crap, like chips, sandwiches, white chocolate, dark chocolate, biscuits and bad coffee from the rugby stand, croissants and so. Normal, night time I had 30minutes of bad stomach and dry mouth. My bad ! Today anyways is fasting Monday with some rocovery jog, so will detox this mistake !
Natural, or I would say normal nutrition and pointing out stupidity in diets and in training, spotting biomechanical mistakes, calling out BS is my speciality. Even back in the day the local olympic team swimming coach used me as an eye for looking at angle issues for streamlining swimmers to get rid of badly imprinted habits. Anyways. Keep up the work, I do it too !
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