What you eat highly affects how you preform. Highly salted foods, sugary foods, fatty and fired food, and caffeine my lower an athletes performance at some point in time.
Sugary foods and drinks will supply an athlete with energy. However, this energy won’t last long. Non-natural sugars will burn up quickly in one’s body, thus in turn fatiguing the athlete. Foods with natural sugars should be eaten, but not in extremely high quantities. Apples and grapes are good examples of naturally sugared foods that can be eaten. Foods such as cookies, and candies are all sugar foods that will burn extremely quickly and make the athlete burn out really fast.Shoyu on rice, potato chips and ketchup! How does that sound? What do these foods all have in common? The answer is salt. An athlete should only have about 2,500 mg of salt per day. Keep in mind that one teaspoon of water in 2,325 mg. Salt is needed to help transmit nerve pulses through one’s body, and to help maintain the right balance of fluids. Too much salt can cause an athlete to be dehydrated due to the chemical compound of salt. Salt is chemically NaCl which is sodium chloride. This specific molecule is polar which means that it is attracted to water, thus taking it from one’s body. If an athlete has too much salt they may become dehydrated very quickly. Remember the water an athlete drinks during a practice is only a replacement for the water that has been used and should have been drank during the day. Salt is also used as a preservative in many canned and packaged foods. Try to buy fresh produce to avoid the salty preservatives.
Fats other wise known as lipids come in two types; they are saturated and unsaturated. All fats are connected to a three-carbon back bone called glycerol. Attached to the glycerol are carbon chains linked to hydrogen on the out side of every carbon connected to each other. Saturated fats contain the maximum number of hydrogen molecules that can connect will the carbon chains. Saturated fats are the types of fats that one finds in animal products and butter. Aside from saturated fats there are unsaturated fats in which have a “break” in the link of carbon chains because one carbon molecule does not have the maximum number of hydrogen molecules linked to it. Products of unsaturated fat include olive oil, corn oil, and vegetable oil. Based on this current information gathered, one can conclude that if an athlete needs to eat fat or ends up eating fats, they should avoid saturated fats that come with animal products. Yet, some fat is still needed for the body. Fat is used for insulation and as a last resort of energy. It’s found in the subcutaneous layer of the skin and keep the body warm and keeps fluids from leaking out of the internal body. When at the grocery store, think about buying meats with 93% fat free or more if available. The amount of protein an athlete needs should not be sacrificed for the amount off fat that comes with it. Protein is especially needed for muscle growth and enduranceAnother type of food athletes should really try to avoid eating are fried foods. Overall fried foods are bad for everyone’s health. However, there are two ways to fry. There are deep fried foods and pan fried foods. When deep frying foods less oil is absorbed, thus being less fat in the food. This is because when the oil is hotter it doesn’t soak into foods as well as it does when it’s a little cooler when being pan fried.
Soda and coffee are the two main drinks known for caffeine. Caffeine caused people to be more energetic, but for others it becomes more difficult for them to concentrate. Even so, caffeine is a short lived source of energy that burns out quickly and may make an athlete feel fatigued when the caffeine wears off. This is why people drink coffee in the morning. To get them more energetic and awake in the morning. However, there are other side effects of caffeine including higher blood pressure, increase in cholesterol, and sleep disturbances.Lastly, three to four hours before engaging in activity, dairy products should not be consumed. This is because milk digest slowly and can cause an athlete to feel nausea, purge, or have cramping.
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