Nutrition

A Balanced Diet

The key to nourishment and preparing for your sport.

Processing the good from foods

Today's lifestyle in Ireland is counter productive to ensuring a balanced diet. Recent surveys and studies confirm this. This is partly due to the regular and excessive intake of energy rich but nutrient poor foods. By this we mean that there may be plenty of calories (energy) in a food but that its content of vitamins, minerals and trace elements may be very low. Processed foods are typical of energy rich but nutrient poor foods - the nutrients are simply processed out of the foods and we are left with mainly sugars without their natural nutrients attached. For example, an apple is rich in vitamins and minerals as well as carbohydrates but processed apple juice (made from concentrated apple juice) is low in vitamins and minerals while high in simple sugars.

Fats are good for you

The balance of fats in our diet seems to weigh in favour of saturated fats with little of the essential fatty acids ingested. Fats in our typical western diet tend to be either saturated or to some degree hydrogenated. These types of fat are not associated with good health and should be avoided. Look at Table 2 below for foods that are high in saturated fats and for foods that are good substitutes.

Table 2. Foods that are high in saturated fats and some excellent alternatives.
Some foods high in SATURATED fats:
Bacon, pork sausages, hamburgers, butter, palm oil, cream, animal fats, (lamb, beef..), whole milk products including cheese.

Some excellent alternatives:
Lean white meats such as turkey, chicken. Fish such as cod, mackerel, sardines, trout, salmon.

Each day ensure that you have:

5 servings of quality Protein from any of poultry, fish, dry beans, eggs, nuts..
5 servings of vegetables (choose a variety of vegetables in a day)
4 servings of fruit (choose a variety of fruits in a day)
6-11 servings from cereal, bread, rice, pasta

In summary having a balance of protein and carbohydrates is important for the player. Beware of restrictive diets such as those that promote just protein as the main energy source. These will not supply enough fuel to replace the used carbohydrates during training and playing.

Key Points - A Balanced Diet

Consume a wide variety of unprocessed foods during the day
Ensure that you eat fish at least 4 times per week - get to like fish, it provides both protein and healthy fatty acids
Ensure that you consume a balance of protein, fats and carbohydrates at each meal
During the day eat at least every 3 hours if in intense training