Ever found yourself wracked with overwhelm, guilt or worry when you listened to one of those wellness podcasts that told you you need to be fasting, living off fibre and not snacking between meals? You think about whether you could navigate the early morning swim session fasted and withhold breakfast until mid-morning, perhaps finish the late night turbo after dinner and last on water until you refuel at tomorrow’s breakfast…maybe you could go without any snacks on the Sunday ride, it’s just a zone 2 after all right…?
While basic principles of good nutrition – such as eating a balanced diet rich in whole foods – apply to everyone, athletes have specific needs that must be met to optimise performance, recovery, and overall health. A lot of the stuff that’s out there right now might have some health benefits, but not if you’re pushing yourself to the limit in training twice daily. And that doesn’t mean that you’re losing out on health benefits if you can’t follow through on this advice either! A lot of this is advised and studied on populations who are not reaping all the amazing benefits you are from your naturally healthier active athletic lifestyle.
Some Gen Pop Advisories…
Intermittent Fasting
Intermittent fasting has gained popularity in general wellness circles for its potential benefits, including weight loss and improved metabolic health. However, for athletes, especially those in endurance sports, this approach can be problematic. Endurance training requires a steady supply of energy, often in the form of carbohydrates, to fuel long training sessions. Intermittent fasting can lead to depleted glycogen stores, increased fatigue, and impaired recovery. Add to this the need to fuel your normal every day life at work and with your family too and trying to follow a limited feeding window is a recipe for disaster.
The good news is that a lot of the original evidence for intermittent fasting came from animal studies and you’re likely reaping the benefits of steadying your blood glucose through exercise and focusing on a generally healthy diet anyway.
Low Carb Diets
Those little white dots have become more and more common on the triceps of both athletes and non-athletes across the world, constantly measuring the ups and downs of your blood glucose. What has become apparent for many in the general population, is in fact very obvious: When you eat carbohydrates, your blood sugar goes up. Now, one reason these devices have perhaps become so successful is that they are providing real time, visual insights into these blood sugar rises and helping people to understand that constant extreme highs and lows are damaging to long term insulin sensitivity. This has lead to various dietary recommendations including low carbohydrate diets.
Carbohydrates are the primary fuel for high-intensity exercise, and limiting them can reduce an athlete’s ability to train at higher intensities. There is some evidence supporting approaches like fasted morning low intensity cardio and of course we know some people do better on fat when doing longer training sessions and races, but generally speaking, carbohydrates are going to be our friend when it comes to intensity. This doesn’t mean we have free rein to ignore the evidence that points to the long term damaging consequences of unmanaged blood sugar, but one perk of being so sporty is that you\re actually managing these better than you think with your regular training sessions and generally higher activity levels.
Micronutrient Supplements and Training Adaptations
Vitamin D, omega 3, vitamin C…the list is endless for the supplements being recommended through medical and wellness professionals these days. Generally speaking, the only one I really see as a failsafe “everyone probably benefits from it” is vitamin D. That said, considering supplementation as an athlete is a completely different kettle of fish: You’re asking more from your body, which means you’re stressing the systems more. Things like your immunity might struggle more and we know there’s evidence to suggest that extreme endurance activity (like the training diaries of the average high level age grouper for example!), means you’re at higher risk of illness and injury and that you might benefit from certain supplementations more.
On the flip side of that, antioxidant supplements, such as Vitamin C, are often touted for their health benefits. However, their role in athletic performance and training is more complex. Some research suggests that high doses of antioxidants might impair training adaptations. The body’s response to exercise-induced oxidative stress is part of the adaptation process, leading to increased endurance and strength. By blunting this response with supplements, athletes might inadvertently hamper these beneficial adaptations.
Stuff that works for everyone.
It goes without saying, that for both the general population and athletes, a diet rich in real, whole foods is foundational for good health. Whole foods provide a diverse range of nutrients essential for maintaining a robust immune system, optimal gut health, and overall well-being. Foods high in fiber, such as fruits, vegetables, and whole grains, are particularly important for gut health, which in turn can impact everything from nutrient absorption to inflammation levels. All of this is vital to create a healthy human and while you identify as an athlete first, you are in fact at a basic level A HUMAN BEING. So you need to nourish that first.
That said…
While a diet centered around whole foods is ideal, there are times when more processed foods can play a beneficial role in an athlete’s diet. For the general population, the times when low GI carbohydrates are going to beneficial is going to be fairly limited and the advice is going to be that these can be enjoyed as part of a balanced diet, but that they hold no nutritional benefits.
However, for an athlete, fast-digesting carbohydrates, often found in processed foods, are crucial during and after training sessions for rapid energy replenishment and glycogen recovery. It can also be challenging to find foods that deliver the high calorie hit of energy you need when you’re out on a long training ride or run, that you can easily digest and actually have a taste for! Similarly, ultra processed protein products like protein shakes and bars can be convenient and effective for meeting the increased protein needs of athletes, especially immediately after training when whole food options might not be practical.
You’re human first, athlete second.
Don’t forget that. The real, whole food approach is the only universal nutrition strategy that all the evidence always points to when it comes to “which diet is best”. You can’t get away from eating your veggies I’m afraid! But don’t feel pressured into trying strategies aimed at gen pop which simply aren’t going to work for you as an athlete. Embrace the benefits of all the food groups, pay attention to hunger and fullness but also learn what you need to fuel your body and your training with too.
If you want more help finding the balance between being a human bean and an athlete, book your free, no obligation intro call here.