Modern Athlete Magazine Issue 117, April 2019 | Page 43

COACHING
NUTRITION
I’ll Take the Salad
When designing your own salad for a main meal, think of the traditional Food
Plate Model to achieve a balance in nutrients. Half your plate should always be
vegetables, or one quarter vegetables and one quarter fruit. Another quarter
of your plate should be carbohydrates and the remaining quarter should be
protein. A small dairy portion should be made part of the meal, either as part
of the protein portion (e.g. cheese) or as a salad dressing (using low-fat plain
yoghurt).
Fresh salads can be a cool, light, refreshing meal that can energise your day,
but still leave you feeling light before a run, and you could start with this
delicious, recommended salad recipe, which is perfect to fuel your running.
Ham, cheese and potato salad with
honey-mustard dressing
Salads are part of our South African culture, and can be an
easy go-to meal for those of us trying to watch our weight,
as well as those trying to try prevent our weight from
dropping too low. The secret is in making your salad the
right way. – BY CHRISTINE PETERS, REGISTERED DIETICIAN
Most athletes tend to be fairly health-conscious and thus eat quite healthily,
including salads in their weekly meal plans, but how do we make them
suitable to our nutritional requirements as athletes while also meeting our taste
requirements? To make a meal balanced, we should take the following into
consideration:
•
It should contain all three macronutrients: Carbohydrates to provide
energy and fibre, protein to provide building blocks for tissue maintenance
and repair, and fat to provide essential fatty acids.
•
It must contain vegetables and fruit to ensure variety of vitamins and
minerals and fibre.
•
It should be low in salt.
•
It should contain some dairy for healthy bones.
one of which is thought to be irritation of the ligaments and the membranes that
hold and connect the various muscles, bones and organs of the lower abdomen.
Basically, the impact of running pulls the organs downwards, tugging on the
ligaments in the upper abdomen and creating irritation. This would explain why
consuming a big meal before running can bring on a stitch. However, swimmers
also often complain about side stitches, so vertical tugging due to impact can’t
fully explain the stitch.
Another theory is that a stitch is cramping of the diaphragm, the muscle that
expands your lungs and allows you to breathe, which becomes over-exerted
by heavy breathing and thus cramps during high-intensity activity like running
Furthermore, another theory holds that this cramping can be made worse by
consuming certain foods or fluids, notably concentrated sugary drinks, which
causes more bloodflow to the stomach to help with digestion, thus decreasing
bloodflow to the diaphragm and speeding up the cramping. However, horse-
riders are another group who often complain of side stitches, and while they are
subjected to high impact, their activity is usually low-intensity in terms of breathing.
Yet another theory is that stitches are caused by irritation of the spinal column,
thanks to studies that showed that the pain from a side stitch can be reproduced
by applying manual pressure to the vertebrae along the upper spine. This may
explain why some stitches are accompanied by pain at the tip of the shoulder, as
nerves running to both the diaphragm and the shoulder are connected to the same
vertebrae. That, in turn, may explain why runners and horse riders (high impact on
spine) and swimmers (repeated rotation of the spine) all experience high rates of
stitches, but cyclists do not.
Serves : 4
Time to make: 45 minutes
Main Ingredients:
• 500g baby/sweet potatoes, boiled,
drained and halved
• 400g can artichokes in brine, boiled,
drained and halved
• 1 yellow or red capsicum, diced
• 3 green onions, sliced
• 150g snow peas, trimmed and
shredded
• 2 eggs, hard boiled, quartered
• 200g shaved ham, cut into bite-size
pieces
• 100g low-fat cheese, grated or cubed
Dressing Ingredients:
2
2
1
2
2
teaspoons honey
tablespoons lemon juice
tablespoon olive oil
teaspoons Dijon mustard
tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
Step 1: Combine all salad
ingredients in a large serving bowl.
Step 2: Make dressing by whisking
together all ingredients in a small
bowl. Drizzle over salad.
Step 3: Place this delicious salad
on a bed of mixed lettuce leaves
instead of adding a fruit, to increase
the nutritional value.
About the Author:
Christine is a registered dietician in the Johannesburg area.
SELF-REMEDY FOR THE STITCH
As you can see, there are several possible factors causing your side stitch, and
similarly, there are several things you can try to alleviate or prevent the pain:
•
Breathe easy: Make sure your breathing is regular. If you’re pushing yourself
too hard, your breathing will automatically become shallow, which puts extra
pressure on the diaphragm, shutting off bloodflow and creating that ‘pinch’
under your ribcage. If you get a side stitch often, practise belly-breathing on
the run, which will lower and relax your diaphragm.
•
Stretch it out: Extend your right arm upwards and hold for a few seconds.
As with any cramp, gently stretching the muscle and massaging the pain will
increase bloodflow, alleviating the contraction.
•
Stop or slow down: Runners are stubborn and try to “run through it,” but it’s
important to take any pain as a warning. If the pain subsides, then you can
carry on at a slower pace before speeding up again.
•
Work on speed and strength: Concentrating on abdominal and lower back
strengthening exercises can also help with stitches. The tighter the muscles
are in your core, the less movement of the organs and lining, or pressure on
your spine. And training to go fast will allow you to go fast in races without
getting a stitch.
•
Eat and drink carefully: Stay hydrated throughout your run, because less
water means less oxygen and less bloodflow to your muscles, but avoid
heavy meals three hours before your run, as a full stomach will place added
pressure on your diaphragm.
The good news is that most times a stitch quickly goes away as soon as you slow
down or stop running, so it is relatively easy to cure.
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