Friends For Life Bike Rally - A Benefit for the Toronto People With AIDS Foundation

Why Healthy Eating?

• To meet body requirements of essential nutrients (carbohydrates, protein, fats, vitamins, mineral, fluids)
• To prevent yourself from feeling too hungry
• Tend to care less about food you choose when you get too hungry

3 keys to healthy eating

• Variety: the more different type of food you eat, the more different nutrients you get
• Wholesomeness: choose whole and lightly processed good more often as they are richer in nutrients
• Moderation: instead of thinking about food as "good" or "bad", think about moderation

Planning Healthy Nutrition

Whole grains and starches

Best choices of whole grains and starches

Carbohydrates and the Glycemic Index

Fruits

• Rich in carbohydrates, fiber, potassium, and lots of vitamins (especially vitamin C)
• Improve healing, aid recovery after exercise
• Decrease risk of cancer, hypertension and constipation
• Best choices of fruits
• Citrus fruits
• Bananas (not overripe)
• Dried fruits
• Cantaloupes, kiwis, strawberries and other berries

Vegetables

• Also a good source of carbohydrates
• Have lots of vitamins and minerals (vitamin C, beta-carotene, potassium, magnesium, etc)
• Have a little more nutritional value than fruits

Best choices of vegetables

• Broccoli, spinach, peppers (best sources of vitamin C)
• Tomatoes and tomato sauce (lycopene and other important vitamins)
• Cruciferous family vegetables (cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, brussels sprouts, bok choy, collards, kale, mustard greens)

Protein

• Important in daily diet, but you should not consume in same quantity as you do breads, grains, fruits and vegetables
• Provides amino acids you need to build and repair muscle
• Good source of iron and zinc (decreases risk of anemia)

Best choices of protein

• Chicken / turkey
• Fish
• Lean beef
• Peanut butter
• Beans
• Tofu

Low-fat or non-fat dairy products

• Quick and easy
• Good source of protein
• Good source of calcium and minerals (good for bone health)

Best choices of dairy products

• Low-fat or non-fat milk or yogurt
• Calcium-fortified soy milk
• Low fat cheese (less than 20% M.F.)

Fats, oils and sweets can also be included in moderation as part of healthy diet.

Best choices for fats, oils and sweets

• Olive oil
• Walnuts and other nuts in general
• Molasses
• Berry jam

The Best Diet

• Better diets begin with breakfast - Don't skip breakfast
• Include good from at least 3 food groups (ex. Cereals with low-fat milk and fruits)
• Eat small frequent meals and snacks
• When snacking, think of it as a meal

Best choices: dry cereals, instant oatmeal, popcorn, pretzels, crackers, muffins, bagels, sandwiches, fruits, smoothies, yogurt, frozen fruit bar, energy bars, nuts and seeds, baked potato.

Energy Bars

• They are not "bad" for you
• Convenient
• Portable
• Promote pre-exercise eating: better than no snack at all
• Promote eating during endurance exercise: need 0.5 g of carbs / pound of body weight / hour (ex. 150 lbs ? 75 g carbs / hr ? 300 kcal)
• For endurance / long distance exercise, choose energy bar containing some fat so it will provide longer lasting energy.

Why Snack Pre-exercise?

• To help prevent hypoglycemia
• To help settle your stomach, absorb gastric juices, abate hunger
• To fuel your muscles (glycogen storage)
• To pacify your mind with knowledge that your body is well fueled

Best Time to Eat Pre-exercise

• Before all-day event such as bike ride
• 2 days before event, cut back on exercise. Take a rest day the day before to allow your muscles the chance before to replace depleted glycogen stores
• Eat carbohydrate-rich meals at breakfast, lunch and dinner
• Drink extra fluids

On day of event

• Eat a good breakfast
• While exercising, at least every 11/2 - 2 hours, plan to eat carbohydrate based food (energy bar, dried fruits, sports drinks) to maintain normal blood sugars.
• If you stop for lunch, eat a comfortable meal, but try to distribute calories evenly throughout the day.
• Drink fluids before you get thirsty; you should need to urinate at least 3 times during the day

Pre-exercise Snack Guidelines

• Eat adequate high carb meals on a daily basis to fuel and refuel your muscles so that they'll be ready for action
• Choose slowly digested carbs with moderate to low glycemic index if exercising for more than 90 minutes
• Limit high-fat proteins (fried chicken, hamburgers, etc.) as they take longer to empty from stomach
• Be cautious with sugary foods or foods with high glycemic index as they may cause drop of blood sugars
• Allow adequate time to digest; avoid caloric meals * allow more digestion time before intense exercise
• If you have finicky stomach, experiment with liquid meal replacer to see whether they offer you any advantage
• If you know you'll be too nervous to eat well on day of event, make effort to eat well the day before
• Eat familiar food before event; don't try anything new
• Drink plenty of fluids; you are unlikely to starve to death on day of event, but you are likely to dehydrate. Drink 4-8 extra glasses of fluids the day before to overhydrate

Supplements

Be careful! The Food and Drug Administration poorly regulates dietary supplements for quality and purity. What you take may not be what's on the label. Ask yourself: do I really want to take a questionable product? Rather than look for a quick fix, the best bet is to be responsible and fuel your body on a regular schedule.

Eating During Extensive Exercise

During extensive exercise, you should try to balance water and energy output with enough fluid to match your sweat losses and enough carbs to provide energy and maintain normal blood sugars level. You will need approximately 100-250 kcal (30-60 g) of carbs (liquid or solid) per hour while performing endurance exercise.

Ex: 4 glasses of 8 oz of sport drink
2 cups of sport drink and a banana
1 energy bar, plus extra water
* try a few combinations before the event to know what works for you

Fluid During Extensive Exercise

Some people sweat a lot more than others. During hard exercise, your muscles can generate 20 times more heat than they do when you are at rest. You dissipate this heat by sweating. You therefore need to drink plenty of fluids.

How Much Fluid Do You Need?

Determine your "sweat rate" by weighing yourself before and after an hour of exercise. For every pound (16oz) you lose, you need to drink ~ 80-100% of that loss (13-16 oz) while exercising. You need to train your stomach to tolerate that fluid; learn how many gulps of water is 16oz.

Dehydration

• Plan to drink before you're thirsty
• Pay attention to how you feel:
  • Muscle cramps
  • Nausea, vomiting
  • Headache, dizziness
  • Confusion, disorientation
  • Weakness, reduced performance
  • Inability to concentrate
  • Irrational behavior

Can You Drink Too Much Water?

Usually, people who drink too much are simply inconvenienced by frequent trips to the bathroom. But in some cases, drinking too much water can be lethal if it dilutes body fluids and create sodium imbalance.

• To prevent hyponatremia (low sodium level in your blood), people who will be exercising for more than 4 hours in the heat should:
  • Eat salty foods the week before the event
  • Stop drinking water during exercise if stomach is sloshing
  • Consume sodium containing sports drinks or snacks (pretzels, baked chips, stoned-wheat crackers) during extended exercise in the heat

Muscle Cramps

Usually are caused by:

• Lack of water
• Lack of calcium
• Lack of potassium
• Lack of sodium

Recovering From Extensive Exercise 

Recovery fluids: best choices

Juices
Watery foods such as watermelon, grapes, soups
High-carb sports drinks or soft drinks
Commercial fluid replacers
Water - the most convenient, well tolerated and least expensive!

Recovery carbohydrates

To optimize muscle glycogen replenishment, you should consume carbohydrate-rich foods and beverages within 15 minutes after your workout
The target intake should be about 0.5 g of carbs per pound (or 1 g of carb per kg)
Ex. 150 lbs x 0.5 g carbs = 75 g carbs = 300 calories carb
(8 oz orange juice and medium bagel, one bowl of corn flakes with milk and a banana)

Commercial high-carbohydrate sports drinks and carbohydrate powders can also refuel your muscles. Be be aware that these carbo drinks lack most of vitamins and minerals that accompany wholesome natural foods (unless the drinks are fortified).

Recovery protein

You don't need to avoid protein in your recovery diet; protein may even enhance glycogen replacement in the initial hours after hard exercise. Protein, like carbohydrate, stimulates the action of insulin, a hormone that transports glucose from the blood into the muscles. Protein intake post-exercise will provide amino acids which may enhance the process of building and repairing muscles.

Sources of recovery protein:

Milk with cereals
A slice or two of turkey on a bagel
A little lean meat in spaghetti sauce
Energy bar with at least 6 g of protein

Recovery electrolytes

When you sweat you lose not only water but also some minerals (electrolytes) such as potassium and sodium that help your body function normally. You can easily replace electrolytes losses with the foods and fluids you consume after the event; but you won't need salt tablets or special potassium supplements. For example, a marathoner who drinks 1 liter of orange juice after completing a 26.2 mile event replaces three times the potassium he might have lost; and munching on a bag of pretzels will more than replace sodium losses.

Best sources of potassium

• Potato
• Yogurt
• Orange juice
• Banana
• Pineapple juice
• raisins

Best sources of sodium

• Chicken noodle soup
• Ramen noodles
• Pizza
• Macaroni and cheese
• Spaghetti sauce
• Cheese
• Pretzels

Recovery and alcohol...

Gathering at the pub, celebrating victories with champagne, quenching thirst with a cold beer... keep in mind the following facts if you are planning to drink alcohol after an event. Alcohol is a depressant, and apart from killing pain, offers no edge for athletes. Alcohol is a poor source of carbohydrates; a 12 oz beer has only 14 grams of carbs compared to 40 g in 12 oz of soft drink. The calories in alcohol are easily fattening; people who drink moderately often consume alcohol calories on top of their regular caloric intake since alcohol stimulates the appetite - these excess calories promote body-fat accumulation. If you are determined to drink, drink moderately and have at least one glass of water for every alcoholic drink you consume.

References and Suggested Readings

Nancy Clark's Sports Nutrition Guidebook, 3rd edition by Nancy Clark, MS, RD (2003) (www.nancyclarkrd.com )
Canada's Food Guide for Healthy Eating
Canadian Diabetes Association (www.diabetes.ca )
www.lesliebeck.com (nutrition consultant)
www.dietitians.ca