Sport Nutrition

ATLANTA AT PLAY
YOU'RE ONLY AS GOOD AS WHAT YOU EAT:
A BALANCED DIET IS ESPECIALLY IMPORTANT FOR ATHLETES, WHO OFTEN NEED TO TAKE IN MORE CALORIES THAN THE AVERAGE PERSON.
By: Michelle Hiskey
Section: Sports

   Weightlifting always came naturally to Pernell Cooper. He took it up three years ago and a few months later broke the national bench-press record for heavyweight disabled lifters.

   But to compete internationally, the 34-year-old from Buckhead ended up doing something much harder for him: eating three meals a day, instead of one huge midday feast, and taking vitamins and extra protein to repair muscle tears.

   "Nutrition can be the No. 1 thing for an athlete," said Cooper, who credits better eating with adding 65 pounds to his best bench press and earning a bronze medal in the 1996 Paralympics. He is ranked fifth in the world. "I don't care how much ability they have, if athletes don't start with the basic foundation of nutrition, they can forget it. Because you've got to have the gas to last."

   If you're serious about improving your performance, it's easy to schedule another workout, turn to the latest tennis racket or book more lessons with a pro. But eating better is a simple way to increase endurance and power, fend off injuries and manage weight. You're going to eat every day anyway — think of each bite as a chance to fuel your body better. Eating breakfast, snacking on fruit and drinking more water during a match gave Jamie Dockter, a AA-level ALTA player from Alpharetta, more energy in thethird set.

   "And I move a ton better on the court," said Dockter, 26, who revamped his diet after spraining his ankle last year — an injury he blamed on extra weight he has since lost. It may surprise you how much difference food makes in your game — and how little most athletes know about fueling themselves.

   "They do what they do out of habit and don't eat specifically for their training needs," Atlanta sports nutritionist Page Love Johnson said. "Most people don't know in a practical sense what to eat, and how to put it in a menu plan."

   Recreational athletes commonly think that because they work out, they can eat what they want, that frequent exercise is their license to eat poorly. Like couch potatoes, they make dietary mistakes such as eliminating fat from their diets, skipping meals and eating empty-calorie snacks.

   "Too many people begin a diet as part of fitness, but they don't see food as fuel," said Georgia State University nutritionist Chris Rosenbloom, a representative of the American Dietetic Association.

   Registered nutritionists typically don't promote shortcuts, fad diets or starvation — they tailor nutrition basics to fit an athlete's training regimen. Their wisdom has been around for years: Get enough complex carbohydrates to energize the muscles, enough proteing to build muscle tissue and some fat as an extra energy source. Drink a lot of water, and fuel up before and during exercise, particularly if you're sweating for longer than an hour.

    "Don't get hung up on completely eliminating one food group, like carbohydrates or dairy," Marietta sports nutritionist Kelly Kullick advised. "Balance is essential."

   DeAnne Faison, 26, found that out last year. She thought she was in shape after working out six days a week for at least an hour. But the Atlanta Hawks dancer and nursing student from Tyrone couldn't figure out why a few unwanted pounds stuck to her 5-foot-5 frame and why she felt so sluggish each day. The cause: She didn't eat enough — and when she did, she didn't choose well. Faison's body needed more than a bowl of rice for dinner, but many nights that was all this picky eater wanted to eat.

   "Taking in more calories was scary," said Faison, who last year adopted a three-meal, three-snack daily plan ranging from 1,500 to 1,800 calories. Included were some of her favorite foods, such as peanut butter, fruit, lettuce and an occasional energy bar. She gained energy, lost the weight and found a brighter outlook on life.

   "If I don't eat right, it really zaps me," Faison said. "At the end of the day, especially if the game's at night and I didn't eat that well, I am going to feel pretty (crummy). It affects my mood and everything."

   The discipline required to become skilled in sports sometimes turns into an unhealthy obsession with food. A nutritionist helped teach Faison that it was okay to eat a brownie occasionally, something she always thought would ruin gains she had made in her training. But splurging a little helped her relax.

   "Athletes need to get out of the 'good food, bad food' mentality," said nutritionist Johnson, who has seen that type of thinking lead to eating disorders. One of her clients, cyclist and in-line skater Kim Henry, thought he could build speed and endurance on a diet so rigorous that he insisted on non-fat Parmesan cheese, a dairy product that in its regular form has far less fat than most other cheeses. He had trimmed almost all fat and most of the meat from his meals, but he didn't replace the lost protein.

   "Eating was almost becoming compulsive; I felt I had to watch things so carefully," said Henry, a dentist in Haperville. "There's a lot of misinformation on nutrition, and a lot of people who compete have different needs than someone who is losing weight."

   Within a few weeks of replacing those nutrients, Henry discovered that he could lift more weights. He lost 10 pounds, and better fitness helped him cut 45 minutes off his best time in last fall's 86-mile Athens to Atlanta Skating Marathon.

   "Even with the best training regimen, a faulty dietary strategy can wreak havoc in a distance race," Henry said. Of course, anyone who eats a balanced diet will feel better, but the stakes are higher for athletes. Their bodies can require thousands of calories more, depending on the sport, than other people.

   Lynn Deal discovered that by examining what she was — and wasn't — eating. The 43-year-old runner from Alpharetta usually skipped breakfast, barely ate lunch and tried to grab a decent dinner after a busy day in sales. She didn't have enough fuel for the three sessions with a personal trainer and 30 miles she put in each week. On the advice of a nutritionist, she started eating a big breakfast (oatmeal, toast, fruit, juice, scrambled egg whites), a well-rounded lunch, a protein-based dinner and snacks twice a day. She cut nine minutes off her time in the Atlanta Half-Marathon and says, "I am probably in the best shape of my life. If you don't have the fuel you need for your body, you don't get the benefits from your workouts."

The food boost

1. Drink, drink, drink. Drink at least 10 cups of water or fluids a day, starting before you get thirsty. Drink a liter — roughly four cups — for every hour of competition.
   
   
2. Load up on carbs. Eat at least eight to 10 servings of carbohydrates to fuel your muscles. Chose higher-fiber options such as cereal, bread and pasta when possible. Seven daily servings of fruits and vegetables in a wide variety of colors provide extra carbohydrates along with needed minerals and fluids.
   
   
3. Eat breakfast. After an overnight fast, muscle energy levels are low. Good choices: bagels, juice, low-sugar cereals, toast, pancakes, waffles, milk.
   
   
4. Eat at least 4 to 6 ounces of complete protein sources such as turkey, chicken, fish and lean deli meats. Cheese, peanut butter, beans and tofu are other options.
   
   
5. Eat a small amount of vegetable fat each day. It will help make hormones, absorb vitamins, provide a secondary energy source and help curb hunger. Aim for 30 to 50 grams of fat a day. Liquid vegetable fats like oils or liquid margarines, salad dressing and mayonnaise are better than fried foods, creams or sauces.
   
   
6. Don't forget dairy. Get at least two dairy servings a day. Female athletes especially need this. Skim milk, yogurt, low-fat cheese, cottage cheese, dark green vegetables and canned fish can help fulfill this requirement.
   
   
7. Eat every three to four hours. Your body will be able to refuel at the rate it is burning calories. Especially if you compete in multiple events, keep on hand carbohydrate-based snacks such as bagels, pretzels, fig bars, granola bars, fruit or sports drinks.
   
   
8. Eat a pregame meal within three to four hours of competition. It can be a typical lunch or breakfast; if you have less time, consume less food, and go lighter on protein and fat.
   
   
9. Limit simple sugar food before and between matches. Soda, candy, frozen yogurt or fruit juice causes a drop in energy level within an hour of consuming the food. Same goes for refined carbohydrate foods such as doughnuts or fat-free cookies or desserts.
   
   
10. Refuel after competition. Drink two to three cups of fluids and eat a piece of fruit, for example. Within two hours of strenuous exertion, eat complex carbohydrates (such as pasta) to prevent muscle fatigue. Limit heavy proteins, fats and caffeine to prevent loss of fluids.

The 10 best foods

1. Water. The top choice of all the experts consulted. It's necessary throughout the year, but especially in the spring and summer during outdoor exercise. Replacing lost fluids with water (supplementing with low-sugar sports drinks and diluted juices is OK) will allow your body to operate at peak efficiency. Plus, when properly hydrated, your body then can take advantage of all the other nutrients on this superfoods list.
   
   
2. Bananas. Easy to carry, peel and eat. They're a quick source of carbohydrates and are packed with potassium, which encourages muscle contraction and a regular heartbeat.
   
   
3. Broccoli. Provides 90 percent of the recommended daily allowance of vitamin A and twice the RDA of vitamin C per 1-cup serving. Also rich in fiber and potassium.
   
   
4. Lean red meats and dark-meat poultry. Some exercisers overlook the iron and zinc content of red meat when deciding to lean more toward fish for protein. Lean cuts of red meat (anything with "loin" or "round") are great foods for recreational athletes; if you choose to pass up red meat, dark-meat chicken without the skin is another good iron source.
   
   
5. Oranges. A great way to get vitamin C and folic acid, oranges also help the body absorb calcium. Eating whole oranges is best, to get more fiber into the diet.
   
   
6. Skim milk and yogurt. The most efficient food source of calcium, milk keeps bones strong. If you don't like the taste of milk or can't tolerate its lactose content, fruited yogurt is an alternative.
   
   
7. Tomatoes. A fast-riser, because of their lycopene content. Researchers are finding out all sorts of encouraging things about the antioxidant's ability to fight cancer, particularly for men concerned about prostate cancer. Research shows that lycopene is significantly better absorbed by the body when tomatoes are cooked.
   
   
8. Beans and legumes. Take your pick of this category that offers both carbohydrates and protein.
   
   
9. Sweet potatoes. Packed with beta carotene and other antioxidants to go along with a carbohydrate boost. Natural sweetness allows you to skip the butter and sour cream.
   
   
10. Whole grains. An essential part of an athlete's diet. Whole-wheat and whole-grain breads are the start for sandwiches containing a variety of foods and can be carried throughout the day.

The myth of supplements

• Amino acids/protein powders: Touted as a muscle-builder, they can add fat if too much is consumed. May cause dehydration and cramps.
  
  
• Antioxidant vitamins: Believed to protect muscles from damage, the scientific evidence is inconsistent. They may help blood and respiratory functions.
  
  
• Caffeine: Allegedly improves endurance but can lead to muscle tremors and fluid loss.
  
  
• Carnitine: Advertised as a fat-burner, but the human body produces all the carnitine it needs, and the extra does not burn fat.
  
  
• Chromium: Supposed to build muscles and shed weight, but unsupported in studies. It is present in most diets, and the picolinate form of chromium can be unsafe.
  
  
• Creatine: A popular muscle-builder for anaerobic activities such as weightlifting. Taking 20 grams for five days can improve performance, but dehydration is a possible side effect.
  
  
• Ginseng: No studies prove that it improves energy. Can cause dehydration.
  
  
• Shark cartilage: Claims to reduce muscle stiffness, but studies show no anti-inflammatory effect.
  
  
• Vanadyle sulfate: No proven studies that it will build muscle.

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This article was published on Friday, April 3, 1998