The Secret Food Intolerance Slowing You Down

The Secret Food Intolerance Slowing You Down

An undiagnosed reaction to your pre-race meal could be hurting your athletic performance. Here's how to pinpoint—and fix—the issue.

Trudging up the Colorado Rockies, Aliza Lapierre knew something was wrong. An elite ultra runner, she was used to stomach troubles. But this was different.

“I was sluggish, I wasn’t recovering—even though I was properly trained—and food wasn’t staying in my system,” she says of her experience during the multi-day Trans Rockies Run a few years ago. Even worse, hives broke out over her legs, arms and stomach every time she ran. “How do you itch so many itches when you are running?”
 

Lapierre, now 34, had dutifully fuelled her run with gluten-laden sandwiches, muesli bars, and pasta—without knowing she had a gluten intolerance.

“A food intolerance can be seriously debilitating for an athlete,” says Sarah Weber, RD, LD, a performance dietician. Around 20 percent of adults have food intolerances, versus just one to four percent who have food allergies.

 

While food allergies are an immediate, potentially life-threatening immune response to food proteins, intolerances trigger more subtle symptoms that may take hours or days to appear—symptoms athletes may be tempted to dismiss as nerves such as “bloating, gas, constipation, diarrhoea,” says Weber. And while gluten has become somewhat of a celebrity intolerance, spawning its own genre of packaged products, it’s hardly the only one. Athletes have found they’re intolerant of everything from coconuts to sesame seeds and bananas.
 

Unfortunately, needing a bathroom break is the least of an intolerant athlete’s concerns. Battling a sensitivity issue increases inflammation, which can result in achy joints, a loss of energy, migraines, and the feeling of simply “overdoing it.”

 

Our immune systems let loose a special type of white blood cell when we eat foods we can't tolerate. The cells are meant to attack the food, but they wind up causing chronic inflammation in the process. 

“Like soldiers on the front line, they help battle the source of inflammation but cause collateral damage affecting the endothelial—thin inner lining—of the arteries,” says sports dietician, Bob Seebohar. “They constrict and deliver less oxygen and nutrient-rich blood to and from working muscles.” Inflammation can even trigger breathing issues, he says.

Experts have found some foods carry a higher risk of intolerance than others. “An athlete’s diet is often high in FODMAPs, a family of short-chain carbohydrates which are inherently problematic for us to digest,” says digestive disorder specialist Tamara Duker Freuman. ”They also draw water into the bowel, causing diarrhoea.”
 

FODMAPs are increasingly blamed for causing irritable bowel syndrome, and include a long list of foods that athletes typically eat, including fructose, wheat, milk, and even broccoli. Fructose in particular, Duker Freuman says, is packed into energy gels and electrolyte beverages, and about 30 percent of Caucasians have difficulty digesting it.

Yet intolerances can also be random. Take lamb, for instance. Through process of elimination, four-time Olympic triathlete Simon Whitfield found a love of the red meat caused outbreaks of gastro and hives for a short stint during his career. “Diet is crucial to an athlete, but it’s not just what you eat, but how what you eat affects you,” says the two-time Olympic medalist. “But as an athlete you don’t get that training, or at least I didn’t.”
 

Things have changed. A growing list of professionals are looking into the role of food intolerances in athletic performance and they’re trying to make diagnoses easier and more concrete than the process of elimination.

Blood tests that look for white blood cell reactions to foods, such as the ALCAT test, have become popular, though they have their share of critics citing a lack of scientific evidence for their diagnostic validity. But that hasn’t stopped athletes from paying up to $1,148 out of pocket for blood testing. “When you’re an elite athlete, a three to five per cent increase in performance means a lot,” said Samy Puccio, vice president of ALCAT, which provides food intolerance testing favoured by the NBL, NFL, NBA, and NHL.
 

For the rest of us, the promise of removing inflammation and feeling our best is enough to warrant investigation into our diets. Particularly as we get older; a combination of “age, stressors–both physical and emotional—genetics and other factors can lead to a ‘leaky gut’,” says Weber. The ‘looser’ gut wall lets through partially digested food proteins, which may be the root cause of reactions and inflammation.

The good news: Once intolerances are identified and removed, the body can bounce back. “Some cells lining the digestive tract replace in around three days,” says Weber. But full improvement requires healing your guts. “It can take months and even longer to regain a fully intact digestive and immune system.”
 

Though intolerances don’t affect everyone, ALCAT’s Puccio believes in the future, we should “expect performance plans where athletes get tested for food intolerances and have their performance quantified, measured and tracked.”

Suspect something in your diet is holding you back? You could fork over $399 and up for an ALCAT test. But perhaps the best, least expensive place to start is to keep a food log. It may not be as scientific, but it can still be effective. “Write down the symptoms you feel after every meal, then narrow down what’s provoking you,” says Weber. “Piece apart” the meal and eat one food at a time, isolating the suspected bandit. Working with a dietician to conduct an elimination diet will ensure you keep it balanced.
 

“If you find your performance lacking, your energy levels have changed, or you’ve got new symptoms,” Puccio says, “maybe it’s time to ask what’s holding you back from getting to that next level.”

Article Source: http://www.outsideonline.com/fitness/bodywork/performance-plate/How-Food-Intolerances-Hurt-Athletes.html
Photo Source: www.robertharding.com

Guys keep your body balanced and remember that its not what you eat that matters but its all about how you eat!!

 

Energy and the Distance Runner

Energy and the Distance Runner

 

Distance runners need sustained energy to get them through their enduring workouts. To improve performance and properly fuel the distance runner, an appropriate diet must be analyzed and followed. This article uses Nancy Clark’s Sports Nutrition Guidebook to illustrate the importance for hydration, carbohydrates, and protein in the athletes’ diet before, during, and after exercise. Here are some guidelines to maximize energy and performance when training or competing for a distance event.
 

How important is hydration for performance when running long distances?

Water is an important part of exercise. A lack of water can result in decreased energy and poor performance. Sweat losses during exercise must be replaced to avoid dehydration. It is recommended to take a large swig or two of water or sports drink every 15 to 20 minutes during exercise. Sports drinks can be particularly effective because “carbohydrate helps maintain normal blood glucose levels so you are able to enjoy sustained energy.” Distance runners who run or workout for an hour or more should “try to balance their water and energy output with enough fluid to match (their) sweat losses and enough carbohydrate to provide energy and maintain normal blood sugar level.”
 

 

What are carbohydrates?

Carbohydrates are broken down into simple and complex carbs. Simple carbohydrates are composed of monosaccharides (single sugar units) or disaccharides (double sugar units). Complex carbohydrates, however, are chains of simple carbohydrates, or single sugar units. An athlete’s “body eventually converts all monosaccharides and disaccharides to glucose, which travels in the blood (blood glucose) to fuel your muscles and brain.” Athletes need carbohydrates to fuel their muscles, especially since carbohydrates are burned during vigorous exercise.
 

What is protein?

Proteins are composed of amino acids, which “your body needs to build tissue, hence their nickname ‘building blocks’. There are 21 of these amino acids, and every protein in your body is made up of some combination of them”. These building blocks are important for athletes because they aid in muscle repair. Our body produces some amino acids naturally, called non-essential amino acids. However, the remaining amino acids, called essential amino acids, come from our diet.

Complete proteins are made up of all the essential amino acids. However, an incomplete protein is missing one or more essential amino acids. Therefore, incomplete proteins can be paired together to form complete proteins. Such pairings are complementary. An example of complementary proteins is rice and beans. Separately, the two foods are incomplete, but when eaten together, the food items contain all essential amino acids to form an adequate protein.
 

I enjoy running long distances, but some days I find myself fatiguing earlier. How can my diet give me more energy?

Fueling up before a long run will keep your blood sugar normal, thus eliminating dizziness or exhaustion. It will also keep you from getting hungry mid-workout. A pre-workout snack can give you a mental boost. The carbs you eat far in advance will be stored as glycogen, which gives your muscles energy. However, the carbs you consume an hour before you workout goes through your bloodstream, giving you proper blood sugar for mental energy.

Runners “significantly increase (their) stamina by consuming about 100-250 calories of carbohydrate per hour while performing endurance exercise, after the first hour. The carbohydrate in the muscle is used during exercise. The carbohydrate in the liver gets released into the bloodstream to maintain a normal blood glucose level and feed the brain (as well as the muscles). These limited carbohydrate stores influence how long you can enjoy exercising. When your glycogen stores get too low, you hit the wall- that is, you feel overwhelmingly fatigued and yearn to quit.” A carbohydrate is a carbohydrate, so you will still get energy no matter what form it is in! Bring energy bars or gels, sports drinks, juice, or hard candy with you for an extra boost.
 

What and when should I eat before a long distance run?

Eating before exercise can be challenging for long distance runners, who often face “digestive problems” and “abdominal distress.” This can be eliminated by experimenting with the proper foods, number of calories consumed, and the amount of time before exercise. Every runner is different, so it is best to figure out what works best for your body. The goal is to eat a snack an hour or two before or a meal three to four hours before your run. Make sure the snack or meal contains plenty of carbohydrate for energy. Some protein should also be included in the meal before your run, since protein is essential for muscle repair. The American Dietetic Association suggests that your pre-run meal should be low in fat and fiber to avoid an upset stomach.

Clark suggests either consuming a 100-200 calorie snack as tolerated 20 to 60 minutes before exercise or waking up early to eat a larger meal, even if that means going back to sleep for a few hours. This way your blood sugar levels will be normal because you will have re-fueled your liver glycogen, which depletes overnight.
 

Is it recommended to eat a meal after exhausting exercise?

During a hard workout, your muscles are constantly breaking down. To stop this breakdown and repair the muscles, the distance runner should plan to eat a meal with carbohydrate, protein, and plenty of fluids as soon after the workout and as comfortable for the athlete’s stomach as possible. It is important to replace sweat losses with enough fluid and electrolytes, such as sodium and potassium. “Carbohydrates combined with a little protein create an even better muscle refueling and building response, and it reduces cortisol, a hormone that breaks down muscle.” Further, “including generous amounts of carbohydrate in the recovery diet enhances glycogen replacement. Having amino acids (from protein) readily available enhances the process of building and repairing muscles and reduces muscle soreness.”
 

Summary

The basic guidelines for fueling before exercise:
-Do not eat anything rich. Toast, crackers, and bananas are good examples of foods that will settle well.
-Carbohydrate-based meals and snacks will ensure proper blood sugar maintenance and will help fuel your muscles during your run.
-Minimal fat and fiber meals/snacks to avoid upset stomach.
-Small amount of protein for muscle repair.
-Enough time for digestion: the more calories consumed, the more time you need to digest. The more intense your exercise, the more time you need to digest because your muscles require more blood during intense exercise, which means your stomach will not have enough blood flow for proper digestion.
-Drink enough water.
-Eat familiar foods before a race/competition.

The basic guidelines for fueling during and after exercise: 
-Stay hydrated during exercise.
-Replace fluids and electrolytes lost during exercise.
-Consume carbohydrates and protein as soon as possible after exercise to stop muscle breakdown, to repair muscles that were broken down, and to limit muscle soreness.

 

Article Source: http://www.sportsmd.com/sports-nutrition/endurance-athletes/energy-distance-runner/

Photo Source: www.roberthardings.com

 

So guys get your energy drinks and nutrition now.

 

 

Why Do So Many Runners Get Injured?

Why Do So Many Runners Get Injured?

Hey Everyone! So, are you ready for an awful and shocking truth? 70% of all runners will be injured this year. 7 out of 10. That’s nearly three fourths of all runners, including triathletes. 3/4ths! And for many of those folks, the injury they experience will be devastating and frustrating beyond words. The statistics are crazy and shocking, and also sad. It honestly doesn’t have to be that way.

WHY do so many runners get injured? There are many reasons, but let’s start with the simple fact that running is just plain HARD on your body. For example, have you ever stopped to think that when you run ONE mile, you do the equivalent of approximately 1500 one-leg-squat jumps? That’s just ONE mile. Working against the forces of gravity and ground reaction, your body had better be resilient, strong and mobile enough to hold up as the miles add up. And most bodies aren’t. Especially those just starting out hoping to use running to lose weight or get fit.

Through no fault of your own, triathletes and runners have not been told the full story of what it takes to stay healthy and become faster too. The marketing machine surrounding shoe sales and races (get your latest cool colors or latch onto the latest fad: minimalist anyone?) diverts the average runner’s attention. Add that together with uninformed trainers and coaches who don’t know any better, and what you have is what you have.

So what’s the real story? And most importantly, what can YOU do about it?

In a nutshell, movement quality is the story, that’s what.  (Keep reading, trust me, you need to know this!)

How your body moves and functions is the alpha and the omega of your ultimate athletic potential. Movement quality is the difference between an athlete who rocks it year after year, able to perform at peak potential vs. an athlete stuck in plateaus of sub-par performance or, worse, deals with vicious cycles of injury.

As gait analysis experts, we can use our knowledge of this incredibly powerful tool to provide a clear way to explain what you need to know, what you need to examine, and why you need to fix your imbalances.

Most people think gait analysis is:
a) only about how you walk or run

b) only about your feet and your shoes

c) something you get done in a running shoe store

Many think gait analysis is all about–and ONLY about–someone looking at you as you walk or run while evaluating your feet and your shoes.

How many of you have done the following? A clerk in your local running store watches you jog, and suggests a pair of shoes that are more stable, or more neutral, or more cushioned, or are the type that “forces” you to land midfoot. Voila! Your biomechanical problems are solved. This is what most people know–and have come to accept–as gait analysis.

We are here to tell you that a shoe store gait analysis is about as far from the real deal as you can get. In fact, true gait analysis is not a generic exercise, but is a scientifically-based and technically precise process. It is highly individualized, and reveals much about how you will hold up to training and, ultimately, perform.

When conducting a gait analysis, the feet are only one small piece of your biomechanical puzzle.

What happens at the feet is merely a part of a holistic, whole body, integrated MOVEMENT pattern. Running, like most other whole body activities (such as swimming or playing many field sports), is essentially a unique way of moving. When we analyze a client statically, dynamically, and then running on the treadmill during a gait analysis, it serves to provide a unique, personal movement “map.” That “map” reveals the programming of everything happening within the body–from kinesthetic awareness and habit, to individual levels of mobility, stability, flexibility, and functional strength. The analysis of all of these different elements taken together is what creates a complete picture of a person’s gait.

In essence, what we do isn’t “gait” analysis at all, it is true “movement” analysis. Gait analysis uncovers precisely how YOUR body is moving.

Every activity, even standing still, represents a unique movement pattern. That pattern is bred from your habits and lifestyle, as well as your body’s mobility, stability, flexibility and strength. Every action you take–running stride, pedal stroke, swim stroke, etc.– represents a unique movement pattern. If your movement patterns include compensations (and they likely do), we can pinpoint the areas in the body where these losses of efficiency, or compensation, originate.

Where athletes get into trouble is when major compensation, which often leads to true dysfunction, continues for extended periods of time.

What typically happens is this….

Compensations in the body lead to imbalances and instability around joints. The larger prime movers (hamstrings, glutes, quads, etc.) are often forced to help create stability or on the flip side, become less active, and end up contributing less than their fair share of the work in moving us around.

The smaller/tiny stabilizers are forced to step in (compensate) and do the work of the larger, more powerful prime movers. The stabilizers are taxed day in and day out, mile after mile. Over time they end up, in a word, fried. Shredded. The wear and tear on the stabilizers greatly compromises recovery and your ability to train consistently.

In short, this scenario is an injury waiting to happen. We see it over and over again.

Discovering the inefficiencies and compensation unique to YOU is the power of what true gait analysis can reveal. Once uncovered, you can then begin to address inefficient and costly “energy leaks” that rob you of power and free speed (*the speed you get without having to pay a “price” to get it!).

We can’t say it enough–improper, unbalanced movement limits your ultimate potential and puts you at an exponentially-increased risk of injury.

In short, gait analysis is about YOU, and your personal and very unique way of moving. Unless the underlying causes of your dysfunctional movement patterns are addressed, your patterns won’t change, and, thus, the risk of injury won’t improve. Gait analysis is about looking at your entire body as a holistic organism–a single amazing unit.

It goes far beyond an untrained eye watching you jog in a pair of sneakers.

So guys are you now ready to reduce injury with Gait Analysis.

Article Source: http://pursuitathleticperformance.com/2015/why-do-so-many-runners-get-injured/

Photo Source: http://www.robertharding.com/