Eating for Optimum Performance Part 1

More people then ever are active, especially in the beautiful state of Colorado, where I am from. Boot camps, fitness competitions, athletic competitions and being athletic in one's life in general are important to many of us. The biggest problem I see, across the board, is the absence of good, high quality nutrition. Nutrition that is able to meet the demands of a high performance lifestyle. Many strive to make healthy food choices and compared to the less active population, their food choices are probably more healthy. What most fail to realize is that if their could get their nutrition up to the same levels as their athleticism, they would dramatically increase their overall results. From increased energy, increased strength, stamina and endurance to decreased recovery rate times, and the incidence of injury, having Optimum Performance Nutrition is imperative. 


Here we focus on the foundational pieces needed in the athletes diet to attain the highest levels of athletic performance. Most athlete's diets are lacking in one or more of these areas, so if attention is focused to the missing areas, the athletes overall results can be increased dramatically!

Oxygen 

Your body uses oxygen to carry all the nutrients you eat around to all the various part of your body, muscles, tendons, bones, the very same areas you put under more stress and demand when you are active. Oxygen supports your lungs, cardiovascular, muscular and nervous system during heightened demand. When your oxygen levels are low your run out of endurance and strength more quickly. The other important role of oxygen is to carry away acidic waste, waste you naturally metabolize every second but at an even greater rate when active. If you do not have enough oxygen available in your body to perform this last task, acidic waste, one of which is carbon dioxide, builds up in your body reducing stamina, endurance, energy levels and your overall strength and increasing the rate of injury and soreness. Oxygen is one of the nutrients most deficient in most diets and that is for several reasons. First, we eat foods absent of all oxygen. Foods found in their natural state, before they are cooked, processed, boxed, pilled or powdered, contain a high amounts of oxygen naturally. Chlorophyll, found in all green foods like dark leafy greens, is so rich in oxygen it can be used for blood in the need of a blood transfusion. It is a rich oxygenator and removes carbon dioxide from your blood, making it a powerful detoxifier. It quickly gets rids the blood of impurities. It is also high in iron making it an excellent blood and muscle builder so eating lots of fresh natural foods is important. If your diet is primarily made up of cooked, processed, boxed, canned, frozen, pilled or powdered foods, the oxygen levels in your body will naturally be lower. The more demand you place on your body for oxygen, the higher your need, so increasing the ratio of fresh, raw, foods in your diet is imperative. Second, most of us don't breathe deeply enough. Most of us take very shallow breaths, especially when we are stressed and often when we are performing athletic tasks because we may hold our breath during some exercises or not take enough deep full breaths to match the heightened need. Remind yourself often throughout the day and your workouts to take deep, full breaths and engage in some type of deep breathing exercises weekly through yoga, mediation or simple deep breathing exercises!

Protein

In the West we place an usually high importance on the need for protein. Protein is needed to help build a stronger body and repair natural break down. Amino acids are specifically what our body needs. Amino acids are the very basic building blocks of every cell. We dont naturally make all the amino acids our body needs, so must get them through the foods we eat. When a greater demand is placed on the body to increase the rate of building and repair, the higher our need for amino acids becomes. We have been traditionally taught in the US that animal meat is a superior protein. It is seen to be superior because it is a complete protein, meaning from its one source we get all of the amino acids our body doesn't make but needs. This prevents us from needing other sources of amino acids, so in effect animal meat is efficient. But what is not discussed is the amount of anti-nutrients most meat typically comes with. First, it has a poor essential fatty acid ratio. Our body needs a good balance of omega 3 and 6 fatty acids to prevent inflammation in the body. Wild meat, meaning animals that lived in their natural habitats, eating their natural foods and that were athletic themselves have a good balance of have fatty acids. Domesticated animals, who do not live in their natural habitats, eat their natural foods or engage in any physical activity have a poor fatty acid ratio, heavy in omega 6, absent of omega 3, which induces an inflammation state. As an athlete, the last thing you want is chronic inflammation, from a structural point of view and an internal health point of view. Second, we eat too much meat. Because meat has all the needed amino acids we do not need a ton of it. In the West we have grown accustomed to making animal protein the center piece of every meal, which means large portion sizes. While animal meat is a complete protein it is also a protein, by its very nature, that is more difficult for the digestive system to process. Animal meat is tough so needs a longer amount of time in the digestive tract for the body to break down fully. Smaller amounts can be processed by the body efficiently, but large amounts end up siting in the digestive tract for too long which allows purification inside of the lower digestive tract to begin. There is a direct link between this phenomenon and the rate of cancers of the bowel, ie colon cancer, that we see in this country. Animal meat also creates an acidic effect in the body. The natural metabolic result of animal protein is acid. Eating smaller amounts of protein, the wilder the version the better, with fresh vegetables is an easy way to circumvent all of these problems. Also include lots of other types of proteins that are not as difficult to digest, don't have an acidic metabolic result and include a wide variety of nutrients beyond just amino acids. The highest quality protein, even superior to animal meat, is quinoa, a grain. Quinoa was the food of the Inca's, which as we know where one of the most athletically adept people ever to live. Quinoa is not only a complete protein it is abundant in a variety of other nutrients, classifying it as one of the Wold's best super foods. 

Enzymes

Enzymes are what make every process in your body happen. When your body is placed under a demand to perform, thousands of processes are required to happen quickly and seamlessly, or that is the hope. Every muscle and process needs to move at an increased rate including respiration, blood transmission and heart acceleration.To make all these processes work at their most optimum levels, your body needs an increased supply of enzymes. Your body makes enzymes but if you increase your intake of enzymes, you give your body additional support and a boost by decreasing the need to make enzymes and increasing support to the heightened need of all body processes. The result is increased strength, the rate of muscle building, endurance and stamina while decreasing recovery time and the incidence of injury. In effect you increase the rate of all your body processes. Enzymes are active and living chemicals though, and they are required to stay alive to do their job. Because they are living the are very sensitive, especially to light and heat. Foods that are still alive are the only type of foods that can provide your body with living, active enzymes. Food powders, those that have been traditionally cooked, processed or refined in any don't have any enzymes. So again it is important to include lots of foods that are still alive like fresh fruits, veggies, raw nuts, raw nut butters, sprouted grains, raw oats into your diet to provide your body with a good supply of enzymes.

Most of us have gaps in our nutrition but at an activie individual it is so much more important to have optimum nutriton because you are placing greater demand and therefore stress on every area of your body. This is Part 1 of Eating for Optimum Performance and in Part 2 we will continue to explore the foundations of the athletes diet. 

For Individualized Optimum Performance Nutriton Planning and Consulting contact Candice Marley of Align Holistic Health & Well being, LLC. 

Align Holistic Health & Well being, LLC

A Place Where Health is Transformed

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720-277-9124