Fit Food Friday: Chocolate Milk

It's Fit Food Friday again!  Today I'm highlighting one of my very favorite "foods" (well, in this case it happens to be a beverage...), chocolate milk!  Chocolate milk has really gained popularity in recent years for being an ideal recovery drink and for good reason!  Research shows that chocolate milk works as well (if not better) than some of those pricy specialized recovery drinks.  Let's breakdown the nutritional components of chocolate milk and see why it's a great option for runners or fitness fanatics:

Quite obviously, since chocolate milk is a liquid, consuming it post exercise automatically replaces fluids lost from sweat during exercise.  In addition to fluids, it provides the electrolytes sodium and potassium, which also need replacement following sweat losses.

The best benefits of a post-workout chocolate milk comes in the ideal combination of protein and carbohydrates.  The simple sugars in the milk and chocolate syrup provide rapid replenishment for glyogen-depleted muscles.  After a tough workout, proper refueling will lead to improved recovery and better performance during subsequent exercise. 

As an added benefit, chocolate milk provides vitamins and minerals like calcium and Vitamin D, which are often lacking in our diets and are essential to healthy muscles and bones.

The type of milk you choose depends on personal preference and how it fits into your nutrition "budget" in terms of calories and fat.  As always, it's important to remember that some athletes have GI issues and may not tolerate milk or dairy products well.  However, chocolate milk is definitely a fantastic option for anyone who wants to try to eat more "real" foods and less process, engineered products.  After your long run or workout, try replacing those chalky protein/recovery drinks and with a nice cold glass of chocolate milk!

FIT FOOD FRIDAY: Sweet Potatoes!

Happy Friday, everyone!  It's time for another edition of Fit Food Friday and this week we're talking about SWEET POTATOES!  During the holiday season you likely saw your fair share of marshmallow-laced yams or sweet potato pies, but I'm here to encourage you to reap the health benefits of sweet potatoes all year round!  This sweet orange spud is definitely a food with fitness benefits and here's why:

Sweet potatoes are high in fiber.  Getting adequate fiber promotes a healthy weight,regular bowel movements, lowers cholesterol levels and helps to control blood sugar levels.  However, the fiber might not be the only reason sweet potatoes are good for maintaining steady glucose levels!  Sweet potatoes have been linked to higher levels of adiponectin, a hormone that improves insulin sensitivity. 

Sweet potatoes are chock full of nutrients, including beta carotene, vitamin C, iron!  Most people recognize that the orange flesh of sweet potatoes means they are high in Vitamin A/beta carotene, an antioxidant that plays a role in improving eyesight, controlling blood pressure, preventing heart disease and potentially treat certain cancers.  From a fitness perspective, adequate beta carotene levels have also shown to decrease symptoms of exercise-induced asthma!  Remember to add a healthy fat (such as olive oil) when cooking with sweet potatoes to maximize the uptake and benefit of beta carotene!

When it comes to athletes, probably the most important nutrients found in sweet potatoes are manganese and copper.  These two trace play vital roles in muscular function and protein synthesis, yet some runners fail to meet their daily requirements.

Since they're naturally sweet and extremely versatile, sweet potatoes can be incorporated into our diets in so many ways!  Mash, boil or slice 'em up for a tasty and nutritious addition to any meal! If you're not a fan of sweet potatoes yet, but want their nutrient boost, start by making mashed potatoes with half regular and half sweet potatoes or pureeing them to add to soups!

Make sure to tune in next Friday for a new Fit Food! :)

Fit Food Friday: B-A-N-A-N-A-S!

Welcome back to Fit Food Friday, where every Friday I'll highlight foods that have great benefits for fitness and exercise!  This week we're getting bananas and focusing on that yellow fruit we runners love so much!  Bananas are a staple in most runner's diets...we grab them before heading out for runs and then celebrate post-run with them...but what is it that makes the banana a fit food?

Bananas are high in potassium-This makes them great for preventing muscle cramping, maintaining electrolyte balance as well as reducing blood pressure and decreasing risk for stroke!

They provide readily available fuel quickly.  Including complex carbohydrate foods in your diet will provide your muscles with fuel stores for longer workouts, but consuming a simple carbohydrate food like a banana provides fuel for immediate use.  The simple sugars in bananas are rapidly broken down to be available for your workouts!

Bananas are easy on the GI tract.  Despite having a good amount of fiber (which helps regulate bowel movements), bananas are generally a "safe food" for people who are prone to GI upset.  Bananas contain fructooligosaccharides (often called "FOS"), a prebiotic that helps to establish a healthy bacterial population in the gut. 

They're "pre-packaged", super portable and very cheap!  Bananas are only about $0.79 per pound and you can easily toss them in your purse or gym bag for a quick snack!

GO BANANAS!
While grabbing a plain banana pre- or post-workout is simple, try slicing it up to add to oatmeal or tossing it in a smoothie with Greek yogurt to maximize the benefits!  Combining the carbohydrate in the banana with a protein (maybe my favorite, peanut butter?!) will help keep you full, stabilize blood sugar and promote a healthy weight!

Stay tuned and come back next week for another edition of Fit Food Friday!

*Introducing* Fit Food Friday: Beets!

Happy Friday, y'all!  I'm very excited to announce Fit Food Friday's here on PB&P.  Each week will feature a different food and discussing it's health and fitness benefits! 

To kick off the first edition of Fit Food Friday, I bring you Beets!

The beet is a root vegetable that belongs to the chenopod family (with others like spinach, chard and quinoa).  Most people are familiar with the red/purple color of the beet root, but they can be yellow/golden too!  The green leaves attached to the end of beet roots are also edible and taste a lot like spinach or Swiss chard.  While beets (unfortunately) are not most people's favorite vegetable, they're packed with lots of vitamins and minerals and offer up great health benefits to both athletes and non-athletes alike.

Beets are naturally low in sodium & fat and are also good sources of folate, potassium, Vitamin C, manganese and fiber.  Beets do have a high sugar content, which makes them a sweet addition to salads, soups and mixed dishes.  My personal favorite way to enjoy beets is to combine them with goat cheese and/or walnuts on a flat bread pizza or tossed in a spinach salad!

If you are a fellow fitness fanatic, you've likely already read about how eating beets (or drinking beet juice) can improve exercise performance.  Including nutritious root vegetables in your everyday diet will definitely promote a healthy body weight, in turn leading to enhanced athletic ability.  However the key players in the connection between beets and improved performance are nitrates.  These are different than nitrites, which are the preservatives found in processed meats like hot dogs and bacon that have been linked to cancer and other negative health outcomes.  Nitrates have been shown to increase the efficiency of oxygen uptake by our body and muscles. 

There are several published research studies showing that supplementation with beet root juice enhances both power output and VO2 max (maximum oxygen consumption) in cyclists and other endurance athletes.  However, a 2012 study in the International Journal of Sports Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism found that single servings of beet juice immediately prior to exercise did not perform short-term performance in cyclists.  Ultimately, further research needs to be conducted to provide solid results that can be extrapolated to larger populations and show true improvements in athletic performance. 

In the meantime, I definitely recommend including beets in your vegetable repertoire for its antiinflammatory and antioxidant benefits...with an added possiblility of improved exercise potential!


A few interesting side notes...Some people do experience changes in urine and/or stool color when consuming beets on a regular basis.  So if you're stool turns pink/red, this is totally normal...but just make sure you're able to identify that the redness is not blood, which of course is not normal.  And finally, if I've inspired you to roast (or steam or pickle) some beets at home, but you prefer not to have pink-stained fingers, you might want to wear gloves during handling! :)

Fueling 101: During

Most people know that what we eat on a daily basis plays a big role in our overall energy level and our ability to perform (at work, during exercise, etc.).  We've already discussed some things to do before exercise to make sure you're properly fueled and ready to go.  But what about during workouts?  Proper nutrition during exercise can result in improved performance and enhanced stamina...which are both very good things for athletes!  

So what do you need for exercise lasting longer than 45-60 minutes?  Simply put, we need to replace what we are losing.  So think about it...during prolonged physical activity, your body is losing fluids (sweat), energy (more specifically carbohydrates) and salt (sodium also through sweat).

Fluid
Finding a good balance between sweat losses and fluid intake is essential to preventing dehydration, cramping and other undesirable outcomes.  The average sweat rate is about 1 liter per hour.  This might sound gross when you quantify it, but it's still important to take note of.  Sweat rate varies with exercise type, intensity, body size, weather conditions and more.  The key is to understand your personal sweat rate.  And guess what?! Figuring out your sweat rate is easy and you can calculate it all by yourself! Start by weighing yourself before and after a long workout (~1hr makes it simple), and determine the weight you lost.  Convert this to ounces (1lb=16 ounces) and add any fluids you took in during the workout.  For example, if you lost one pound over the hour and drank 16 ounces of fluid, your total sweat rate is 32 ounces per hour.  So this is what you should aim to replace!  As a general guideline, start taking fluids around 45-60 minutes into a run and try to take 3-6 ounces every 15-20 minutes.

Carbohydrates
After the first hour(ish) of exercise, we need to consume about 30-60 grams of carbohydrates per hour (about 120-240 calories).  It doesn't really matter what form these carbs and calories come in.  There are a variety of products, including sports drinks, energy bars, gels, beans, etc that provide calories and carbohydrates for fuel.  Go for whatever is best tolerated by your body and GI tract!  For a lot of people, especially those who are new to eating on the go, this is not easy.  As with most things, practice makes perfect! Experiment with different products BEFORE your event to determine what you feel most comfortable with and practice on long runs!  Also remember to check what products your event will provide on the course and practice with that or plan to BYOF (bring your own fuel)! 

Salt
While most people should restrict sodium in their diets, athletes who do this put themselves at risk for electrolyte imbalance leading to cramping, muscle spasms or worse.  As with fluids, sodium excretion can vary person to person.  If you're a "salty sweater", you may notice crusty white salt on your skin or clothes following a workout.  On average, athletes lose around 1,000mg of sodium per hour of exercise, which needs to be replaced.  This can be done through sports drinks, salt packets, tabs or salty snacks.  

So...the takeaway?  For exercise lasting more than one hour, you should be replacing fluids, carbs and salt to maximize performance.  You no doubt are following a training plan for your event, and likely know your projected pace, expected playlist and race day outfit...so have a nutrition plan as well!  Practice makes perfect!

Up next....Recovery nutrition for AFTER!

Fueling 101: The Before

As a runner, I find myself talking, thinking and reading about running a lot.  Runners as a bunch are pretty crazy.  We get up before the sun to "squeeze in" a quick 5 miles (or more) before work.  We're way too comfortable using porta-pottys and forget what it's like to have all 10 toenails.  We run in 100 degrees, 90 percent humidity, through blizzards and downpours...and we love it.  

In addition to talking running, I love talking nutrition.  However, I often find that nutrition and fueling can fall by the wayside for runners who dedicate so much time and energy to training with speed work, cross-training and long runs.  Some runners may not realize how important nutrition is.  Others might just find it completely overwhelming.  How much should you be eating? And when?  Not to mention how confusing fueling during workouts can be with the number of sports nutrition products out there! Bars, beans, sports drinks, gels, Gu, oh my!

Don't freak out just yet! Whether your goal is to just finish, set a new PR or avoid hitting "the wall", I'm here to tell you that it is possible to figure out what and how much fuel you need!  Optional nutrition before, during and after your runs is so essential for successful training, racing and recovery.

It's very important to keep in mind is how individualized nutrition and fueling is.  Runners love to share their experiences and advice, but remember that what works for your best friend/neighbor/trainer/mom may not work for you.  We all have different needs, preferences and GI tracts.  Which is also why it's important to practice your nutrition plan many times and adjust as needed!  

So let's start out with some basic sports nutrition for before exercise:

• Strive to drink half your body weight in ounces daily for adequate hydration.  Every person is different, so forget the 8-glasses a day plan! A 150-lb runner should be consuming 75 ounces, or about 9 cups of water.  Check your urine throughout the day to assess your hydration status.  [Hint: dark yellow=bad!] 
• Hydrate before runs with 12-16 ounces of water or sports drink
• Consume a carbohydrate rich meal (ideally 3-4 hours prior to exercise) that is also low in fat & fiber.  Examples include cereals, english muffins, bagels, bananas, and energy bars.  [If you're already getting up at 4 a.m. for a race, it may be unrealistic to wake up at midnight for breakfast.  If that's the case, you may consider adding more carbohydrates as a late night snack the night before and consuming a smaller "breakfast" 45-60 minutes prior to exercise.  If you struggle with eating solid food before exercise, starting out with sports drinks might be the way to go.]
• For long runs or on race day, don't forget to add some protein! Eggs, 1-2 Tbsp of peanut butter, cottage cheese or yogurt are all great choices.

What questions or problems do you run into when it comes to eating prior to exercise, long runs or races???  For information and recommendations during and after exercise, stay tuned!!!

References

SCAN Dietetic Practice Group of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (http://www.scandpg.org/)

Nancy Clark's Sports Nutrition Guidebook, 4th edition, 2008