NUTRITION - A Common Sense Look
Start with a good base - Nutrition!
“Eat meat and vegetables, nuts and seeds, some fruit, little starch and no sugar. Keep intake to levels that will support exercise but not body fat.” Greg Glassman.
Macronutrients – The big stuff – Carbohydrates, Proteins and Fats
Micronutrients – They may be small but really important – Vitamins & Minerals
Just a quick note…
Nothing that I am writing here is new. I have sourced most of my information from the resources I have accessed over the years since starting my own health and CrossFit journey as well as from my own general life experience as a Nurse and being involved in the Fitness Industry in more recent times. I am not an expert in the area of nutrition but I believe that everybody can learn the basics of nutrition and then apply it to their own situation in life and build a happy, sustainable and realistic relationship with food & improve their overall health. I have referenced my resources and encourage everyone to continue to ask questions and learn as much as you can to help improve your knowledge when it comes to nutrition. There is no one size fits all simple solution as far as I have seen – just a dedication to improve your health for the long term. I believe it’s a journey for us all which requires your own trial and error – which is why I won’t be recommending a specific “diet”.
One thing I will say is that as much as you can – eat fresh whole food produce and get in the kitchen – if you do that you are already winning!!
IMPORTANT - If you have complex health issues or needs you should always seek advice with qualified practitioners.
Cheers - Eve 😊.
This week we are getting straight into the big stuff and focusing on the good old Carbs!!
Carbohydrates
What are they?
Carbohydrates are the most common source of energy used by the body. At it’s most basic, the body breaks carbohydrates down into glucose which the body then uses for energy.
Why do we need them?
Carbohydrates are used by the body for energy production especially for the brain, muscles and other body organs and tissues. The body can also get energy from protein and fats BUT it is a more readily available source of energy which is especially important when we need it to fuel activity such as exercise – especially higher intensity exercise such as CrossFit. Any excess glucose that we have that the body doesn’t need gets stored in the liver or muscles as glycogen or converted to and stored as fat in our bodies.
How much should I have?
Haha – the million dollar question!! There is SOOOOOO much conjecture about how much carbohydrate should be consumed in a person’s diet – I really don’t want to go there so I will answer this question with another question…. “Where are you relative to where you want to be?”
So in other words – are you fit & lean and healthy – or are you carrying extra weight and have some health issues?
Where you are at will really determine the amount of carbohydrates you need to consume. If you are an athlete who trains at a high volume you would probably need to consume a lot more carbohydrate than someone who is relatively sedentary and is carrying a few or a fair few extra kilos.
In my reading (YES - I actually googled this one) the “advice” of how much carbohydrate a person should eat is somewhere between 35-60% of your daily calories in carbohydrate – this is extremely broad in my opinion which I’m sure is why people get so confused.
Within CrossFit circles a lot of athletes follow the “Zone” diet and more recently “Flexible Nutrition”. These are both methods of weighing and measuring macronutrients to ensure all bases are covered and that you get your individual requirements based on your needs – the general prescription of carbohydrate in these methods is around 40% of daily caloric intake. I won’t go into these here but in my video I will be weighing and measuring carbohydrates to give you a visual picture. I’m not going to recommend a diet/lifestyle/plan to suit everybody - This is where the assistance of a Dietician can help you with specific individual needs.
What is a Carbohydrate?
Examples – I am going to split them into two groups:
1 - Whole Food Carbohydrates – In their natural state
Sweet Potatoes, Potatoes, Pumpkin, Green leafy vegetables (Spinach, Kale, Lettuce etc.), Cauliflower, Broccoli, Carrots, Cucumber, Capsicum – pretty much every vegetable, legumes, whole grains/seeds etc.
2 - Processed Carbohydrates – have been through some form of processing
Pasta, Rice, Bread, Flours, Sugars, Cereals, Cakes, Pastries etc.
These are just examples not an exhaustive list. What I want you to think about when looking at these foods is – what can I eat that will give me the best value for my health? As E.C Synkowski say’s in her excellent series of lectures on simple nutrition is “Bang for your Buck.”
What she means is what foods can I eat that will give my body the best fuel it needs – so giving me macronutrients – in this case Carbohydrate AS WELL AS the best amount of micronutrients I can get. I want to go for nutrient dense foods such as whole foods as they still have all the micronutrients in them – the processed foods not so much because as soon as they are processed they have nutrient loss. Check out my video on our Facebook page and the private group for some examples of carbohydrates where I will also talk about how much carbohydrate you get from certain foods as well as other micronutrients.
If you have any questions - please post a message in the private Facebook group or send me an email - adamandeve@bluelakecrossfit.com.au and I will get back to you asap.
Protein
What is Protein?
Proteins are amino acids that are essential for many functions in our bodies. They are the building blocks of our body tissue and can also be used as a fuel source.
Why do we need it?
Protein is most commonly known for helping us build and repair our muscles. They are also used for biochemical reactions, cell function & structure, fixing and replicating DNA and a multitude of other things.
How much should I have?
As for Carbohydrates – the required amount of protein that an individual needs is still a subject of debate. From the sources I have read the "advice" is to consume somewhere between 1 to 2 g/kg of body weight for an active person. Individual requirements differ for each person due to the following factors: Body weight, physical activity levels, the presence of illness or injury, pregnancy & breastfeeding, childhood growth and development and the list goes on. One thing that can be agreed on if you don’t consume enough energy through your diet – the body will use protein from muscle mass to get it’s energy which leads to muscle wasting. If you don’t consume enough protein to serve your body’s needs muscles will also waste as it breaks down the muscle proteins for more vital cell processes.
On the other side of the coin you can also consume too much protein which starts to get a bit more complicated. Just think that like Carbohydrate – Protein has 4 Calories for every gram consumed so at the end of the day we just want to be consuming what our body requires.
So this comes back to “Where are you relative to where you want to be?
Are you a highly active person training for a specific sporting goal? Are you a relatively sedentary person just looking to improve overall health? Are you trying to lose weight? Are you recovering from illness or injury? No matter what your goal is – it is really important that you are consuming enough protein to suit your requirements otherwise your body won’t be functioning at it’s best.
What foods do I get it from?
The most well known protein sources are from animal based food products such as meat, eggs & fish as well as products made from milk, and soy. Other sources of protein include legumes, nuts, seeds and fruits as well as whole grains and cereals although these tend to be limited in some amino acids compared to other protein sources so aren’t considered a complete protein source.
What is a complete protein source? This is a source that gives you all the nine essential amino acids that the body needs. Well known complete protein sources are meat, fish, eggs, milk products, quinoa or soybean as well as some other plant products. I am not going to get into the Animal protein VS Plant Protein debate here as I don’t want hate mail – let’s just say that if you consume enough variety of either animal proteins or plant proteins or a mix of both – you should be able to get the protein requirements your body needs – when in doubt you can always refer to a dietician who can give you more specific individual advice.
Check out my video for some examples of proteins where I will also talk about how much protein you get from certain protein sources as well as other macro & micronutrients.
If you have any questions - please post a message in the private Facebook group or send me an email - adamandeve@bluelakecrossfit.com.au and I will get back to you asap.
References:
Simple Nutrition Part 1 to 5 by E.C. Synkowski – CrossFit Journal – Videos, Level 1 Certificate Course – Supporting Content, Nutrition
Body Works - Physics & Chemistry for Nurses by Paul Strube
CrossFit Level 1 Training Guide
Internet Source: Wikipedia – Protein (nutrient)