Food for Thought

By: Bill Bridel

It seems like everywhere you turn these days there is new information about food, calories and diets. One magazine praises an all-protein diet, a health-related web site talks about counting calories and any one of umpteen infomercials boasts that their product is the miracle product in dieting.

With all this information floating around, how do you know what is fact, what is fiction and, most importantly, what is safe? It's not as hard as it may seem - because the bottom line is, nothing has been around as long, nor is as tried and true, as Canada 's Food Guide to Healthy Eating.

Whether an elite or recreational athlete, or the parent or sibling of one, it is important that your diet be taken into consideration. Our food intake provides us with energy to get through all our activities in our day, fuels our bodies so we can train for extended periods of time and plays a significant role in injury prevention. Well-fuelled bodies are energetic bodies - a majority of injuries occur when the body is worn-down and tired!

What is the magic formula? Unfortunately - there isn't one. Canada 's Food Guide acts as just that, a guide. It needs to be adapted based on your own needs and requirements. According to Canada's Food Guide: "The amount of food you need every day from the four food groups and other foods depends on your age, body size, activity level, whether you are male or female. That's why the Food Guide gives lower and higher number of servings for each group. For example, young children can choose the lower number of servings, while male teenagers can go to the higher number. Most other people can choose servings somewhere in between."

Generally, athletes require more food per day than non-active people do, but a certified nutritionist, family doctor or sport medicine doctor will be able to assist you in developing a specific diet that works for you.

Canada 's Food Guide breaks foods down into four categories as follows:

  1. Grain Products
  2. Vegetables and Fruit
  3. Milk Products
  4. Meat and Alternatives

The recommended servings per day and some examples for each group are as follows:

1. Grain Products

  • Five to 12 servings per day
  • Bread, cereal, bagels, pitas or buns, pasta and rice are all examples of Grain Products.
  • Choose whole grain and enriched products more often

2. Vegetables and Fruits

  • Five to 10 servings per day
  • Fresh, frozen or canned fruits and vegetables or fruit and vegetable juice
  • Choose dark green and orange vegetables and orange fruit more often

3. Milk Products

  • Two to four servings per day
  • Milk, cheese, yogurt
  • Choose lower-fat milk products more often. If you are lactose intolerant, there are many tasty substitutions now available!

4. Meat and Alternatives

  • Two to three servings per day
  • Meat, poultry, fish, beans, tofu, peanut butter
  • Choose leaner meats, poultry and fish, as well as dried peas, beans and lentils.

Other Foods

The Food Guide also notes that "Taste and enjoyment can also come from other foods and beverages that are not part of the four food groups. Some of these foods are higher in fat or calories, so use these foods in moderation."

Convenience

Often, what we eat revolves around what we have time to eat - hence the overwhelming numbers of fast food outlets in every city and town in Canada . With a little advanced planning, you can eat well and conveniently at the same time! Following are just a few tips (if you have others, please share them by sending an e-mail to skatecanada@skatecanada.ca - we will list them on The Sport Science Page as they come in!)

1. The next time you go grocery shopping pick up some extra fruit and vegetables and some food storage containers. As soon as you get home with the groceries take an extra 20-minutes, wash and cut the produce up and store in the containers in the refrigerator. This will make for a snack that is both quick and healthy!

2. If you are in the habit of buying your lunch or giving your children lunch money on a regular basis, mostly because you run out of time in the morning - pack a lunch the night before. Even better, take some time on a Sunday evening and make a few sandwiches and freeze some for later in the week.

3. When cooking a meal, cook extra and set some aside for lunches or dinners later in the week. These can be frozen or refrigerated, depending on when you plan to eat them! Try to avoid eating out as much as possible - not only is it costly, but we eat more! Restaurant servings are, by and large, more sizeable than what we would serve at home. And, because we are paying good money for it - we usually clean the plate!

4. Drink lots of water. See the article "Don't Run on Empty" for further information!

5. Replace an afternoon soft drink with fruit or vegetable juice, a glass of milk or a glass of water.

6. Replace an afternoon sugary snack with a piece of fruit or some vegetable sticks.

7. Try to avoid eating right before you go to bed (three hours before bed is optimum). If you must eat before turning in for the evening avoid caffeine and sugar and try to focus on eating fruits and vegetables - they are more easily digested than grains and milk products and will likely not disrupt your sleep.

8. Treat yourself once in a while, but make sure it remains once in a while!

Keeping a log of what you eat on a daily basis is a good idea for everyone. It can help you track if you may be lacking in one area and can be particularly useful if you do get injured and you can see if it may have been prevented by more careful eating.

 

As stated earlier, Canada 's Food Guide is meant to be a guide. Everyone is different in terms of exact needs. What is essential to all athletes though is that they are eating a healthy, balanced diet. Think of your body as a car - when it runs low on gasoline it is not as efficient. For optimum performance, the car needs to have fuel. Your body is the same way!

 

For more information on Canada 's Food Guide visit Health Canada 's web site at

www.hc-sc.gc.ca .

Any nutrition or sport science related questions can be directed to the Sport Science Subcommittee by sending an e-mail to skatecanada@skatecanada.ca .

Bill Bridel, Marketing Communications Coordinator