Ditch the junk food for super fast food

Cowboy Slim’s Beef Stew, from Company’s Coming, can be a hearty way to fuel young athletes.


By Judith Cobb

It really doesn’t matter how young the athlete is, nutrition is important to maximize performance and recovery. Certainly the longer, harder, and more frequent the workouts or games, the more vigilant one needs to be when feeding young, active bodies.

People under 20 have higher levels of growth hormone needed for normal growth and tissue repair. This usually means that young athletes appear to recover well after an intense physical session. Even so, repeated wear and tear without proper rebuilding can increase susceptibility to injury and slow recovery. Paying attention to the fuel consumed before, during and post-workout will help boost a young athlete’s performance.

Here are some solid nutrition ideas:

1) Skip the fast food. School days are perfect for a crockpot full of soup or stew, or a pilaf. Make wraps in advance with a tub of veggies and dip, cut-up fruit and water to wash it down. Fast food is high in fat and sugar and low in nutrients. That combination of poor-quality fats and sugars increases susceptibility to inflammation. During an intense workout muscle tissue is torn down. Growth hormone helps to repair the tissue, but the more inflamed the tissue is, the slower it repairs.

2) Increase the fruits and veggies to increase the antioxidants. Antioxidants help to prevent and reduce tissue damage. Include produce of all colours. I’ve never seen anyone who ate too much good fresh produce. Many antioxidants, and especially vitamin C, are fragile. Vitamin C in fresh produce has a half-life of 24 hours from when the produce was picked. Frozen is a good choice. This may mean using a good vitamin C and bioflavonoid supplement.

3) Ditch the junk food and the carbonated beverages. Working hard does not justify eating junk food. Working hard increases the demand for nutrients and increases the justification for avoiding junk foods that suck nutrients out of the body. Junk food, including carbonated beverages, increase the body’s acid level, increasing the demand for alkalizing minerals (e.g. calcium and magnesium) and vitamins, and increases susceptibility to inflammation.

4) Drink enough water to properly hydrate the body. The rule of thumb is half an ounce of water for every pound of body weight on a sedentary day. Increase the amount of water on active days.

5) Get enough protein. Include a variety of animal and vegetarian proteins in your diet. The basic rule is six servings of protein each day, at approximately two-to three-hour intervals, each portion being about half the size of the athlete’s palm. Muscles that have been torn down in workouts need amino acids, primarily from proteins, to affect the repair job.

6) Pre-workout/game. Be sure to eat healthy foods that digest easily. This is not a great time for raw veggies that take more effort to digest. Nor is it the time for a big roast beef dinner or fast food French fries. Steamed veggies, especially baby red-skinned or Yukon gold potatoes, followed by a smaller than usual serving of protein (homemade soup or stew) or a multigrain bagel with almond butter make great pre-game fuels. Potatoes steamed with sea salt work well for fuel and carb/electrolyte replacement. They can be used before, during or after a workout. Potatoes have nearly twice the potassium of bananas, but lack sodium, so be sure to sprinkle a bit of sea salt on them to balance out the sodium for the electrolytes.

7)  During the game/practice. Carbs need replenishing if energy is going to be expended for more than 30 minutes non-stop. Energy gels and drinks are fine and even helpful if they are caffeine-free and free of artificial colour and flavourings. Electrolytes need replacing over long workouts when the athlete is perspiring consistently. Organic energy and electrolyte products usually have fewer questionable ingredients than non-organic counterparts. Make sure an appropriate amount of water is consumed if gels are being used.

8) After the game – the recovery phase. The first 30 minutes after a workout is when the muscles are hungry for glycogen — a complex glucose storage molecule. This is the best time to load in the healthy carbs. Baby steamed potatoes with a dash of sea salt works well here, as do multi-grain bagels. The next 30 minutes is the time to load up on protein. Whey protein is one of the best for tissue repair after a workout. Most protein powders have questionable ingredients to make them taste better — sugar, artificial sweeteners and artificial flavours. Look for one that is plain filtered whey and mix it with pure juice to make a recovery drink. Black cherry juice helps to remove excess acid from the body so four ounces it is a good choice for a recovery drink.

9) Take enough high-quality vitamin and mineral supplements to make sure all the nutrient bases are covered. With agricultural soils being so depleted, a 150-lb person would need to eat 5,000 calories of fresh, organic food every day to meet all the vitamin, mineral, fat , protein and carbohydrate demands for one day. Add the increased demands of exercise to the equation and it becomes pretty much impossible to get all of our nutrients from food. Make the best food choices possible to act as the nutrient foundation, then work with a nutrition professional to put a supplement program together that meets the increased and specific needs of an active youngster
Excellent nutrition not only improves recovery after a workout, it also increases energy and alertness during the game.

Judith Cobb, MH, NCP, is an age-group placer in Olympic-distance triathlon, and owner of Cobblestone Health Ltd. in Calgary.


Cowboy Slim’s Beef Stew

An easy, hearty stew with baked-bean sweetness. A last-minute addition of tiny peas adds a fresh punch of colour and flavour to this family friendly dish. This can be stored in an airtight container in the freezer for up to three months.

2 lbs. (900 g) baby potatoes
2 cans (14 oz., 398 mL, each) baked beans in tomato sauce
1½ lbs. (680 g) stewing beef, trim fat
3½ cups (875 mL) baby carrots
1 cup (250 mL) water
1/4 cup (60 mL) barbecue sauce
1/4 tsp. (1 mL) pepper
1½ cups (375 mL) frozen peas, thawed

Combine first 7 ingredients in 5 to 7 quart (5 to 7 L) slow cooker. Cook, covered, on Low for 9 to 10 hours or on High for 4½ to 5 hours. Add peas. Stir. Makes about 12 cups (3.1 L).

1 cup (250 mL): 254 Calories; 7.2 g Total Fat (3.0 g Mono, 0.3 g Poly, 2.7 g Sat); 33 mg Cholesterol; 31 g. Carbohydrate; 6 g Fibre; 15 g Protein; 361 mg Sodium


May/June 2011 Issue