• Question: What kind of food is best for your body ?

    Asked by 264sprg52 to Andrew, Dan, Emilia, Helen, Katy, LauraAnne, Stephanie on 7 Nov 2016. This question was also asked by Nicole Medina.
    • Photo: Helen Hanstock

      Helen Hanstock answered on 7 Nov 2016:

      This is such a hard question to answer! There is no one food that is the answer to everything!

      A good athletes diet would contain:

      Some lean meat or fish, which contains protein. Also eggs and beans.
      Some healthy fats such as from oily fish, avocados, nuts or olives/olive oil.
      Some complex carbohydrates such as wholegrain cereals, bread, pasta or rice, maybe sometimes potatoes too.
      Some dairy products for calcium, vitamin D. Yoghurt contains good bacteria too!
      Lots of vegetables and fruit to get a variety of vitamins and minerals. Green veg are important for iron and nitrates.

      If it comes out of a factory then it’s probably best avoided or only eaten occasionally as a treat. E.g. chocolate, sweets, crisps, fizzy drinks, ready meals, processed meats, white bread.

      Bottom line – variety is the spice of life! Just make sure you are eating about the right number of calories so as not to gain or lose weight, and avoid processed food as much as you can.

    • Photo: Katy Griggs

      Katy Griggs answered on 8 Nov 2016:

      As an athlete and depending on what sport you compete in you may need different quantities of the macronutrients (i.e. carbohydrate, fat, protein). For example for power lifters they require more protein in their diet whilst endurance athletes would need more carbohydrate.

    • Photo: LauraAnne Furlong

      LauraAnne Furlong answered on 9 Nov 2016:

      that really depends on what type of exercise you are doing. The best diet for the everyday person has a mix of everything and not much of anything, everything in moderation. You would have a mix of fruit, vegetables, meat/protein, carbohydrates (pasta, rice, potatoes etc.), dairy and some good fats (like you get in avocado). A marathon runner however will need to eat more carbohydrate to build up their energy stores to exercise for long distances, hence they eat a lot of pasta type foods, whereas a weightlifter will eat a lot more protein-rich food, like steak and fish. They would both try to have a balanced diet with lots of fruit and veg in it though.

    • Photo: Emilia McAllister-Jepps

      Emilia McAllister-Jepps answered on 13 Nov 2016:

      This is a very broad question, and the answer would be different for each individual. But one common theme for all good diets is balance. Athletes need to ensure that they are getting enough of each food group to sustain their training. Across all sports consuming at least 8 portions of fruit and vegetables per day would be a must, and the amount of protein and carbohydrate would vary depending on the type of sport you were training for.

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