Tag: athlete nutrition

Bread, Gluten and some healthy bread options

Delina
Bread Gluten

Gluten in GrainsGluten comes from the Latin word for ‘glue’ which gives dough the elastic property that holds gas when it rises.  Bubbles of carbon dioxide are released from fermenting yeast, which become trapped by the visco-elastic protein, ensuring a light honeycombed texture for the dough. The elastic nature of gluten also holds particles of the dough together, preventing crumbling during rolling and shaping. Hence, gluten plays a vital role in the production of leavened baked goods.Gluten is the name given to the protein found in some, but not all,…

Testosterone and Endurance

Delina
testosterone

 What can lower testosterone and what we can do about it naturally? Low Testosterone as a result of endurance trainingLow levels of testosterone can lead to poor muscle mass development, increased body fat stores, compromised athletic performance, reproductive issues and low libido.Endurance exercise can contribute to lowered levels of testosterone in men and can affect other important hormones in women. Many of us are avid exercisers that love endurance training so what can we do to ensure that our testosterone and other hormone levels are optimised?Exercise stress on androgen hormonesStudies consistently…

Metabolism and Nutrition – Part 2

Delina
metabolism

In last week’s blog we looked at the science behind metabolism. This week we’ll look at how we can boost our metabolism in our daily diet.Metabolism Boosting Ideas for our Daily DietThe following are some ideas of how you can incorporate the sirtuin activating foods and niacin rich foods into your daily diet: • Use olive oil in salad dressings. • Have a jar of olives handy to snack on and add olives to salads or cooked dishes. Tapenade makes a good topping for oat cakes or rye bread. • Swap…

Metabolism and Nutrition

Delina

Nutrition and MetabolismWhat do you think of when you hear the word “metabolism”?Weight loss, energy, getting older? The term is used in many contexts…but what does it really mean? One authoritative definition of metabolism is the following:“The whole range of biochemical processes that occur within a living organism. Metabolism consists of anabolism (the build-up of substances) and catabolism (the break-down of substances). The term metabolism is commonly used to refer specifically to the break-down of food and its transformation into energy.”So what does that mean? It means metabolism is the body’s process…

Stress and its Effects on the Thyroid

Delina
stress and thyroid

Are you under stress and feel as though your metabolism is slowing down?Your thyroid may be affected as a response to chronic stress. When we are under prolonged levels of stress we will begin to experience multiple system issues, one of these is a change in our metabolism and consequent weight gain particularly around our midsection. We may also begin to feel puffy and fatigued. Due to the complexity of the thyroid I have only looked at a snap shot on what may be happening to your thyroid as a result…

Nutrition for Injury Recovery

Delina
Nutrition for injury

Food and supplements to speed up healing.Are you injured and need to heal quickly? Aid the healing process with these powerful tips on nutrition for injury recovery. Put the right eating and supplement strategies to work for you.  Injuries happen. The question is- after they happen, how can you help the body heal?For most athletes and the everyday person the idea that nutrition can play a powerful role in injury recovery makes perfect sense. Yet when injury strikes, very few of us know exactly how to use nutrition to improve healing.Here…

4 Impressive Reasons To Eat More Plant-Based Foods!

Delina
plant-based foods

During flu and cold season, building your immunity is very important. One way you can do this is by eating more whole, plant-based foods. Here are athlete and author Brendan Brazier’s 4 reasons why you should start incorporating more nutrient-dense foods into your diet. 1. Plant-Based Foods Provide Energy Before the body can turn cooked food into usable fuel, it must produce enzymes to aid in the digestion process. A healthy person can create these enzymes, but it costs energy, which creates a nominal amount of stress. As we get…

Fluid and Electrolytes for Endurance – Kokoda Challenge

Delina
fluid and electrolytes

Are you aware of your fluid and electrolytes? By drinking regularly during exercise, athletes can prevent declines in concentration and skill level, improve perceived exertion, prevent excessive elevations in heart rate and body temperature and improve performance – good justification for every athlete and coach to make fluid replacement a key priority during training and competition. It is very difficult to replace all fluid lost whilst exercising, due to the volume of sweat, as well as time cost of consuming fluid.  Athletes need to regularly plan and practice fluid intake…

Nutrition for Peak Performance

Delina
Nutrition for athletes

Athletes are often so keen to see results that they will go to all lengths in their attempts to succeed. However sometimes this can result in inflexible training regimes and strict dietary plans which may lead to being miserable and possibly not functioning optimally leading to poor performance. A flexible, open minded, science-backed approach is the best way to see nutritional and performance- based success. While nutrition by itself is important, it may have the greatest performance impact by allowing athletes to train consistently. Proper nutrition during the recovery period…