10 top foods for recovery

April 23, 2014June 28, 2015Leave a comment

You may feel that you have worked out to the max during your sessions burning 100s of calories, so does it really matter if you have some crisps, chocolate, a danish pastry or chips? Time and time again, research shows that the answer is “yes”. Replacing calories isn’t the only objective of recovery.

Between each workout, game or race the body needs to adapt to the physiological stress that has just been applied, so that it can recover and become fitter, stronger and faster. Whether you are a triathlete, a gym addict, or your child is playing in a weekend rugby tournament, optimum recovery nutrition can help you to perform better in the short and long term.

There are many ‘recovery drinks’ and powders marketed for refuelling after exercise. While

Real Food

these have their place, they are not necessarily the best option. It can be argued that real food is the best fuel for recovery, providing everything that a recovery drink can, as well as all the vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, phytochemicals etc that simply cannot be bottled or made in to a powder.

What’s happening during recovery?

refuelling of muscle and carbohydrate stores
replacing fluids and electrolytes lost in sweat
manufacturing new muscle protein and blood cells
allowing immune system to manage damage caused by exercise

What are the recovery ‘rules’?

multiple daily exercise sessions – if less than 24 hours until next session e.g. professional athletes, weekend rugby tournament, compulsive gym exercisers: recovery nutrition after your session ASAP, ideally within an hour. If next session starts within an hour, recovery drinks or anything low fibre and low fat to help with faster digestion (lasagne not a good option!)

more than 24 hours between exercise sessions – generally no need to eat soon after exercise, try to have your next usual meal. consisting of some protein and carbohydrate. If trying to gain muscle, then you can add a recovery snack to fuel this catabolic process. If trying to lose weight and hungry after training, be careful not to increase overall daily calorie intake. Have something light to eat e.g. yogurt.

Why carbs & protein are important

Immediately post exercise, good recovery nutrition will consist of protein & carbohydrate. Aim for 1g carbohydrate per kg of body weight, and approximately 25g protein (a chicken breast is about 25-30g, a mug full of rice is about 70g carbohydrate). Unfortunately, eating lots of extra protein does not make bigger muscles.

Carbs and protein work together: carbs help to shuttle protein in to the muscles, and protein helps to stimulate faster muscle glycogen replacement. Low fat helps the food to be absorbed more quickly, as does low fibre (so don’t be too concerned about choosing ‘healthy’ whole grain carbs like whole wheat bread). Fruit & veg can be included in the next meal to provide antioxidants.

If you don’t feel like eating food or don’t have the time or facilities, then recovery drinks or shop bought milkshakes can be useful. Here is a more in-depth look at some of the most popular commercial recovery drinks. If you are trying to lose weight, then watch the calories……..don’t increase overall calories through the day.

10 snack foods for fast recovery:

330ml Milkshake – e.g. Yazoo, Frijj, For Goodness Shakes

Homemade recovery smoothie

Large skinny latte & handful of nuts

Bagel with peanut butter

Breakfast cereal with milk e.g Cornflakes, Rice Krispies, Cheerios

2 Eggs on 2 white toast

Sandwich/roll/wrap/pitta: filled with chicken, fish or eggs

Jacket potato with cottage cheese/tin of tuna/Baked Beans

Yogurt & Banana

Homemade Seriously Healthy Flapjacks

Oats: 10 ways to add oomph!

February 6, 2014April 13, 20161 Comment

Oats are a staple in this house with 4 out of five of us having them for breakfast, and daily batches of Seriously Healthy Flapjacks and Oaty Biscuits.

What’s so good about oats?

Oats are very filling, high in soluble fibre, provide slow release energy, keep the blood sugar levels steady for concentration at school/work, calcium and protein from the milk, and fibre and antioxidants from the raisins/berries/banana. And for those of us getting on a bit, oats contain ‘beta glucan’ which is clinically proven to be one of the great cholesterol lowering foods. If you want a low Glycaemic Index oat, go for the chunky ones, as the finely ground ‘instant’ oats e.g. Oats So Simple are actually digested quite quickly, giving you less of the longer term sustained energy release.

Jazzing it up!

Please sir can I’ve some more? Yak, no thanks!!

Porridge can be a bit, well, dull and have a bit of a ‘gruel’ image. My clients sometimes pull a yuck face if I suggest oats for breakfast. But keep an open mind and try something new! There are a million and one ways to jazz up your breakfast oats to make them tasty and delicious…..

It’s an alchemy of three parts:

the oats: There is a wide variety of oat chunkiness. Finely ground e.g. Ready Brek for ultra smooth, to jumbo and chewy like Flahavins. Slow cook them in a saucepan on the stove, zapp in the microwave in 90 seconds, or just add a smidge of hot water to the chunkies (how I like it).
Water or milk? The debate is on among porridge devotees on the perfect ratio of milk to water. Each to their own………I’m a water only fan, my husband is 50:50 milk to water, youngest daughter Evie likes the oats cooked in water only, with cold milk added (?!) You don’t have to stick to cow’s milk, try almond, rice, oat, soy, or Koko for a change. All of these have added calcium and vitamin D, so you’re not missing out on these essential vitamins!
The Fun Part: jazz your bowl up with a menagerie of ingredients which can be combined to provide endless possibilities! Peanut or cashew nut butter, raisins, coconut, cinnamon, banana puree, honey, maple syrup, grated apple, toasted pumpkin or sunflower seeds, cashew nuts, berries, yogurt. The list is endless……….

10 ways to add OOOMPH to oats:

Power Smoothie – blend a handful of oats, 200ml milk, dollop of yogurt*, frozen berries and honey
Smoothie
Puree banana – roughly mash a ripe banana, put in a cup with enough water to almost cover the banana, microwave for 90 seconds, and voila, a lovely smooth puree to add to you porridge. The more ripe the banana the smoother and sweeter!
Berries – fresh berries can be expensive, so I use supermarket frozen basics range (£1.20for a bag that lasts about a week). Quickly defrost a cup full in the microwave and add to chunky oats with a big dollop of Total yogurt.
Summer Oats – this is soooo good and a refreshing alternative to hot oats. Prepare the night before so that all the lovely flavours develop and are soaked up by the oats. Good for taking to work if you’ve no time first thing in the morning to eat breakfast.
add a dollop of high protein yogurt* to bump up the protein, keeping you full up for longer, and to make it really creamy!
Homemade Flapjacks – eat them as the are, or one of my clients takes two to work, crumbles them in a cup with hot milk for a warming breakfast at her desk.
smooth (Ready Brek) – for the non-chunky lovers out there, Ready Brek can be good as it is made from oats, and has the added benefit of vitamins and mineral e.g. lots of iron
Vary the milk – there is such a wide variety these days…..almond, rice, Koko. All have added calcium and vitamin D, so you’re not losing out!
Honey/maple syrup/agave nectar – there’s nothing wrong with adding a bit of sweetness, especially if it means kids gobbling up a bowl of oats.
Dollop of peanut butter – adding good fats and protein, add a tablespoon before cooking so that it melts and you can stir it through.

Summer Oats

Benefits of greek yogurt! – double the protein of other yogurts (10g/100g) e.g. Total, Danone, Liberte (not greek ‘style’)

6 tips for portion control

December 9, 2013August 12, 2014Leave a comment

I have written a lot about the types of foods to include for improving health and well being, but if you are watching your weight, how much you eat can be just as important as what you eat. Even if you have eat the healthiest foods ever, over do portion sizes, and you may see this in an inability to lose weight, and even weight gain. Below is a diagram of ideal proportions, but this could be a tiny or a massive plate!

Ideal proportions, but how much is a ‘portion’?

So what does a portion actually look like?

Fish or meat: size of the palm of your hand, or about 5-6 meatballs

pasta, rice, potato: a clenched fist

bread: one slice

cheese: a small matchbox

vegetables: about a cup

nuts: a small handful, or about 8 almonds

Some foods come ready prepared in their portion size eg. 2 eggs, a banana, an apple, or 2 satsumas

6 tips for portion control:

Don’t cook more than you need of carbohydrate and protein foods. Even if you have been controlled with your first portion, if there are leftovers, you will be tempted by seconds. By all means, cook extra vegetables. If you are still hungry, have more veg!
Cook lots of veg!
Use whole grain carbohydrates eg. brown rice, oats, whole meal pasta – these are higher in fibre which should help you to feel full up for longer, so you will feel more satisfied with a smaller portion. They also keep your blood sugar levels steady, so a) preventing cravings for sugary snacks later on, and b) blunting insulin release (insulin promotes fat storage).
Make sure that you have a portion of protein with each meal eg. tuna, chicken, salmon, beef, eggs, lentils – protein induces a feeling of fullness, so making you less likely to feel the need to snack later on. Your body also uses up more energy processing protein foods.
Protein with each meal
Use a smaller plate – this will make the amount of food you are having appear to be more
Don’t eat straight out of a carton or packet – this makes it almost impossible to keep to one portion. Take a handful of nuts from a bag and then put the bag out of sight.
Focus on what you are eating – try not to eat in front of your computer or television. This can result in you unconsciously eating more than you intend to.

For those without weight worries, or with high calorie needs, you can stick to the same principles of proportions (1/4 carbs, 1/4 protein, 1/2 veg) but in larger portions sizes…..

For high calorie needs, bigger portions.

Game Day – food & family logistics

November 4, 2013November 4, 2013Leave a comment

For an 80 minute game of rugby, there is an awful lot of palaver that goes on before and after (also during, with all that throwing a ball around and wot not)

Yesterday’s kick off was 2pm, but from 10am until we return home at 6.30pm we are rugby, rugby, rugby. We live in Kingston (London suburban heaven/hell), so Sunday traffic to the stadium in Reading along the M3 and M4 can be horrendous. Particularly if there are roadworks, especially enraging when there is nobody actually working on them. Thousands of cones on a perfectly good road, thousands of cars, and no PEOPLE WORKING!!

Our aim is to get Dec to the game on time and in a calm state, so we always leave a lot of extra time to get there. Yesterday we left at 11am, and got to the Mad Stad at 12.15. The London Irish squad had a team meeting at 12.30, followed by their warm up on the pitch. Myself, Beth (6), Evie (4) and Conor (1), have to find entertainment for the 2 hours until kick off, so thank goodness for the Digger Club……..there is face painting (amazing!), bouncy castling, and hugs from Digger, the club mascot. Digger is an 8 foot hairy dog dressed in London Irish kit, who kids either love or are completely freaked out by. Conor is of the latter. There’s also live diddly dee music, and when I can avoid the ~~moans~~ children’s requests for food no longer, we head upstairs to the room reserved for players’ families. This is brilliant as the children are ‘confined’ and can tear about the place and eat their packed lunch with out bothering other supporters.

I’ve learnt that I should always go prepared with plenty of food and snacks for the afternoon. It’s a long day from leaving the house, to getting home at 6.30pm, so I seem to spend most of the morning on food preparation. Rather than depending on McDonalds on the way home, I made lentil & tomato sauce (the soup recipe with less stock) and added it to some pasta tubes with some cheese sprinkled on top. I’ll fire that in the microwave for two minutes for dinner when we get through the door after the game.

For Dec, match day food before a game should focus on easily digestible carbohydrate which will fuel the muscles. He starts the morning with a bowl of porridge with banana puree, milk and sugar, a few hours later it’s a bagel with peanut butter and jam, and just before we leave he has a bowl of pasta with a smidge of carbonara sauce. As the game gets closer, high fibre and high fat foods should be kept to a minimum as theses take longer to digest. White foods (pasta, bread, bagels etc.) are perfect for loading up the muscles with carbohydrate to fuel the warm up and game ahead. Here’s some more info on pre-match food

For me and the kids, food for during the game is typical packed lunch fodder.

sandwiches: wholemeal bread, tuna & sweetcorn or peanut butter & jam
bananas, apples, pears
homemade Seriously Healthy Flapjacks
yogurts (and spoons, remember the spoons!!)
mini packs of Smarties from the Trick or Treat sweetie stash

For the children, the actual rugby game is pretty dull, so they are more than happy to play with their friends and hide under the tables stuffing biscuits from the tea and coffee table in to their gobs (they think I don’t notice, but I do….Mummy sees EVERYTHING). I’m delighted if I can have a cup of coffee with Conor quietly sitting on my lap, but he’s usually intent on trying to fling himself over the seating boundary on to the concrete below. This is probably why I am not the person to ask for any sort of match analysis as I rarely get the chance to focus on the game (that’s my excuse for still being clueless).

Conor: England, Ireland or Arsenal????

We have a fair bit of waiting around after the game. A major part of the recovery process is refuelling and repairing the muscles within an hour of finishing, so the boys sit down to a good balanced meal. Here’s more info on why and how nutrition is used for recovery of the body, ready for the next week of training.

Unfortunately, we lost the game against Northampton 14-19, but it is always fab to catch up with friends and family (2 engagements, 2 pregnancies, and 1 new baby). Bob and Shauna Casey’s little man Ollie came to his first game…….will he be declaring for England or Ireland in twenty years time I wonder? Dec is having this very dilemma with our wee Conor: England, Ireland or the Mighty Arsenal????

Healthy Snacks – eat more!

October 26, 2013June 2, 20151 Comment

Research shows that people who eat healthy snacks between meals consume fewer calories overall. This may be because they prevent themselves becoming ravenously hungry, therefore are less likely to overeat. When you feel like you are starving, you are also more likely to go for the unhealthy stuff.

Choosing snacks wisely helps you to nourish your body, maintain concentration, mood & energy levels, keep your metabolic rate up, and eliminate sugar cravings. The key is to be prepared. Have the ingredients in your cupboard or fridge, and if you are out and about, whether at work, shopping or at the park, prepare before hand and bring with you! Don’t be caught out with nothing but chocolate bars, sweets and crisps to choose from at the corner shop.

Here are some top snacks. The ideal combination is some carbs, protein and healthy fats. These are also good for post workout recovery:

Apple & handful almond, not a whole bag
2 Rice cakes with hummus
High protein fruit yoghurt eg. Danio (Danone), Total (Fage)
Homemade Cocoa Bars
Hummus with carrot sticks
Skinny latte
½ wholemeal pitta with ham and tomato
Homemade cocoa bar
small bar of chocolate e.g. Green & Black and cup of milky coffee
4 apricots, spread with peanut butter, dunked in to toasted pumpkin seeds
slices of apple spread with low fat cream cheese/peanut butter & raisins
piece of fruit with cheese strings
Homemade Seriously Healthy Flapjack

Mud, Muscles and vitamin D

October 14, 2013October 14, 2013Leave a comment

The days are closing in as autumn and winter approach. For many athletes, this means moving workouts and training sessions indoors. Even when training outside during the colder months, the low sun, cloud cover, and wearing clothes prevent our bodies from converting sunlight to vitamin D.

Fran was unlikely to get his vitamin D dose from the sunshine today

At the London Irish training ground in Sunbury, rain or shine, rugby and fitness training takes place out on the pitches. Muddy, wet, and cold may not be pleasant, but it prepares everyone for real game day conditions. I’m all for a bit of mess, until I get a muddy mountain of washing dumped in the laundry basket at the end of the day. In winter it’s not just shorts, T-shirts and socks, but tracksuit bottoms, tops, Skins and jackets. Would it be unreasonable for me to politely suggest a laundry room at the new training ground at Hazelwood?! So to my point…..when covered with clothes (and mud!) any small amount of vitamin D provided by the sun in winter, won’t reach the skin.

For those training near the equator, sunlight and vitamin D aren’t such a problem

The importance of sunlight and sports performance has been known for centuries, but it is only recently that the science behind the physical benefits have been investigated. We are still in the early days of discovering the tiny details of how vitamin D affects muscles. Other benefits of vitamin D have already been established e.g. for the prevention of diabetes, heart disease and some cancers.

Scientific studies are slowly piecing together how vitamin D affects muscle. This is what we know so far about vitamin D and involvement with muscle:

muscle contraction – calcium and phosphate are essential for the muscle fibres to move, and vitamin D may help this mechanism to work. Vitamin D may also be important for the actual parts of the muscle that make the contraction work (actin and myosin)
muscle repair – after exercise, there will be damage to the tiny muscle fibres. Vitamin D may help to repair this damage
muscle building – vitamin D stimulates new muscle, and the blood vessels feeding the muscles

In real life?

Although studied at a cellular level, there aren’t many studies yet on vitamin D and how levels in young, healthy athletes affects performance. However, in elderly people, low vitamin D has been shown to result in poorer muscle function and muscle loss.

Should I supplement?

Vitamin D spray

There are very few good food sources of vitamin D, it comes mostly from the sun. Some foods, like breakfast cereals have vitamin D added, and if you take a multivitamin it may contain some vitamin D.

I advise to take a daily supplement of vitamin D during the winter months (October – May). Unless otherwise advised by your doctor, up to 1000IU per day is safe for adults. It comes in tablet, drops or spray form.

If you aren’t sure how much vitamin D you are getting, I can perform a nutritional analysis of your current diet and the supplements you are taking, and advise you on improving your diet. You can get in touch using the contact form.

Information from Nutri-facts

Coconut Oil – is it really that AMAZING!?

September 27, 2013August 12, 20141 Comment

You may have noticed that over the last few years coconut oil has made an appearance on supermarket shelves, in health food shops and is sold by sports nutrition companies. It first arrived in our house 2 years ago, when my husband returned from rugby training with a tub of this magical stuff, with the instructions that we should use it to cook with.

At the time, I recall having a toddler and a new baby to look after, so it didn’t get much more than a raised eyebrow from me. Over the years London Irish rugby nutritionists have promoted a range of dubious products. I have learnt that, if it is not going to do any actual harm, then the route to a happy marriage is to just say “yes dear, that’s nice”, and wait for the next fad to come along.

But Coconut Oil doesn’t seem to be a passing fad. Is there any truth behind the health claims of weight loss, reduced heart disease, and improved athletic performance?

In a (coco) nut shell, maybe.

How is coconut oil different to other fats?

Coconut oil is very high in saturated fat, which is traditionally vilified for it’s artery clogging effects. However, 60% of the saturated fats in coconut oil are MCTs (medium chain triglycerides)

Why are MCTs different?:

May have a neutral (or positive) effect on blood cholesterol
Can be used by the body as a quick fuel source – MCTs are transported directly to the liver, where they are more likely to be burned as fuel, as opposed to other types of oils, which typically get stored as fat in the body.
May raise metabolism slightly and make you feel more full up
High concentration of lauric acid, which may have antiviral and antifungal properties.

What the studies show:

Weight loss

An overall consensus has not yet been reached regarding MCTs and weight loss.

There are studies showing that pharmaceutical grade 100% MCT oil may reduce body fat by increasing metabolic rate. Coconut oil is only about 60% MCT, so it’s not good science to say that coconut oil will have the same results. To get any small weight loss benefit, large amounts of the oil were used. Unfortunately, large amounts of coconut oil can cause stomach upsets and nausea, so in real life, it is unlikely that people could comply with this.

Heart Disease

The research on MCT saturated fats is constantly evolving, years ago all saturated fats were thought to be bad for our hearts. However, we now know that there are different types of saturated fats that affect our bodies in different ways. Some studies suggest that MCT saturated fat might lower risk factors for heart disease by increasing levels of good cholesterol.

There is a study looking at Polynesians, which found that this population of islanders have a very high consumption of coconuts and a low incidence of cardiovascular disease. Hence, the claims that coconut oil is very beneficial for the heart. However, Polynesians have many other lifestyle factors which improve heart health (low intake of sugar and salt, good intake of fiber, plant sterols, and omega-3 fatty acids from fish). They also had an active lifestyle and used little tobacco.

Athletes

The evidence for using MCTs as an ‘ergogenic’ supplement, to prolong endurance or improve performance, is pretty much non-existent. Because MCTs in coconut oil are metabolised by the liver to produce energy, it seems reasonable to assume that this is good for providing energy for exercise. However, in real-life research on athletes, there does not seem to be this positive effect. In fact, in a study of cyclists, after taking coconut oil their performance was actually reduced, probably due to the stomach cramps they experienced.

Alzheimer’s Disease

According to the Alzheimer’s Association, “a few people have reported that coconut oil helped with Alzheimer’s, but there’s never been any clinical testing of coconut oil for Alzheimer’s, and there’s no scientific evidence that it helps.” The same is true of 100% MCT oil.

My advice:

On balance, coconut oil can be included as part of your healthy diet. If you like the flavour that coconut oil provides in cooking, go ahead and use it—but in moderation. Use Virgin Coconut Oil, as it has not been chemically bleached and retains nutrients that are lost during the refining process.

There may be some truth in the weight loss claims, however, it’s worth stressing that coconut oil is very high in calories, so substitute it in your diet for other things. Unless you are aiming to gain weight, don’t simply add large amounts to your current intake.

As ever, ensure that you have a balanced, healthy diet with vegetables, whole grains, protein foods, essential fats etc. before depending on coconut oil to provide you with an answer for your health issues.

Here are a selection available in the UK and online:

Sainsbury’s – £6.00/300ml

Tesco – £6.00/260ml

Holland & Barrett – £16.55/500ml

MyProtein – £9.99/460g

Sarah Danaher – NHS and private practice Dietitian

Category: sport