Holistic Health
Performance nutrition doesn ’ t mean missing out on flavour
Elite athletes need to eat masses of protein , but doing so shouldn ’ t be an ordeal
Speaking on television after picking up her Olympic silver medal in Tokyo this year , British weightlifter Emily Campbell described her diet as “ anything , but a whole lot of it .”
“ For breakfast , I ’ ll have eggs and toast , Weetabix and fruit . For lunch , it will be any sort of meal , particularly pasta , but it will be so much that I ’ m sweating afterwards ,” she told the BBC .
“ When people say it ’ s great being able to eat a lot of food , I ’ m like , just come and sit at the table next to me . My family will be cheering me on , saying , you can do it , come on , finish it !” she said .
When it comes to high stakes sports involving professional power athletes , once they ’ ve built up their muscles to a competitive level , the real challenge is keeping them fuelled with the right number of calories each meal and supporting their bodies during intensive training sessions .
According to UK Sport , a weightlifting training session can last up to two and a half hours , although the actual hands-on-the-bar time will amount to only five to 12 minutes . During this short time , however , a lifter may move anywhere from four to twenty tonnes .
During one training session , an elite lifter can burn 1,500 or more calories , meaning that the energy expended by elite athletes who train twice a day would eclipse the roughly 2,500 calorie intake recommended for adults in the UK .
Before reaching that level , a high-protein diet is recommended that allows the individual to build muscle , recover from training , and maintain energy levels .
The International Society of Sports Nutrition ( ISSN ) advises that consuming 1.4 to 2.0 grams of protein per kilo of body weight per day is sufficient for most exercising individuals to build and maintain muscle mass , although this should increase to 3 grams for high-intensity trainers , such as weightlifters .
On top of this , carbohydrate consumption is
essential to replenish glycogen stores in the muscles and liver and help avoid fatigue during training . The ISSN suggests that consuming 45 to 55 percent of daily calories as carbohydrates is sufficient for a general fitness programme , but people who take part in highvolume training may require more than this .
While it ’ s often believed that athletes live on a diet of steamed meat and plain pasta , it doesn ’ t mean they need to give up flavour when power-eating , according to Malaysian nutritionist Joice Tan .
Combining the right ingredients in an imaginative way can keep performance food tasty , while still avoiding high-salt , high-sugar sauces .
“ Greek yoghurt is a fantastic source of protein as it contains fast-digesting whey protein and casein protein , which digests slowly . Together , these have been shown to build lean mass .
“ You can combine Greek yoghurt , which has about twice the protein of regular yoghurt with tuna , which not only has lots of protein but also a lot of vitamins and fatty acids , to make a nice topping for a pasta salad , which gives you the carbs you need , or even better , brown rice ,” said Tan .
Another great tasting dish for athletes that she recommends is eggs Benedict .
“ Eggs have high-quality protein , healthy fats , vitamins , and fatty acids , just like salmon and turkey breast , which has almost no fat or carbs . Scramble the eggs and put it all on a base of tofu instead of bread for more protein and less carbs , although a wholemeal muffin would be perfectly good .”
Carbohydrate consumption is essential to replenish glycogen stores in the muscles and liver and help avoid fatigue during training
18 OCTOBER 2021 GlobalHealthAsiaPacific . com