Nutrition Facts

Showing posts with label Inflammation. Show all posts

Tuesday, December 1, 2015

How To Boost Your Immune System (All Year Long!)

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We've all had those days where you can just feel a cold coming on. Eyes watering, nose running, coughing, sneezing, and feeling headache, you head over to the nearest grocery store to pick up some orange juice, soup and medicine. If you're an athlete, you might even think, "I wonder if I can still go to practice...?" or "I'll just wait for this cold medicine to kick in before I go running..."

Being sick can not only force you to take days off from school or work, but can also put a kink in your training schedule if your cold or flu lingers for days...or even weeks. If you push too hard while you're sick, you can risk even worse illness or injury.

Sometimes, you can't control getting sick, and popping vitamin C capsules probably won't help you kick a cold once you have it, but you can promote a healthier immune system throughout the year by consistently fueling your body with the foods it needs - use these 5 guidelines for more info:

1. Avoid under-eating or over-exercising

It is easy for athletes to get caught up in a training schedule, neglecting those rest days and proper nutrition. If you're not meeting your calorie needs and every single one of your workouts get your heart working at its max, your stress hormones will increase and you're going to be at risk for over-training, injury, and a weakened immune system.

Any good training program will have rest days built in - they're there for a reason. Make your hard days hard, your easy days easy, and make sure your weight is consistent. If you start to lose more than 1 lb. per week or you're feeling weak or easily fatigued, you may not be eating enough calories to support your training. Weight loss goals are met during the off-season, so if you're trying to meet your weight loss goals during training, you may not be getting enough calories in to push your body on those hard training days.

Not sure how many calories you need to eat to support your training or weight loss/gain goals? Call the Sanford Sports Science Institute at 605-312-7870 to schedule an appointment to get your Resting Energy Expenditure tested.

2. Get enough sleep

A recent study showed that people with shorter sleep duration (under 6 hours per night) had an increased susceptibility to the common cold. Sleep should be an integral part of any athlete's training schedule. While you sleep, you give your muscles a chance to rest and rebuild.

If your sleeping pattern is erratic or you're not getting at least 7-8 hours of sleep each night, you're not giving your body the rest it needs to recover. Your stress hormone cortisol increases, which can delay recovery after exercise. There is also an increase in ghrelin and decrease in leptin, two hormones that affect your hunger - in this case, by making you feel hungrier than normal. In addition, when you're sleep deprived, your immune system doesn't work as hard to fight off illness.

The combination of delayed recovery, increased hunger (which can lead to overeating and weight gain) and decreased immune system functioning can be bad news for athletes during training. Make sure you're making sleep a priority - your sleep schedule should be considered just as important as your training schedule and your nutrition.

3. Eat 5 or more servings of vegetables and fruits per day

...and we're not talking about potatoes, corn, or peas. You should be eating a serving of vegetables and/or fruits at each meal and snack, and the more color you have on your plate, the more immune-boosting vitamins and minerals you're getting in your diet.

Some colorful foods you should be eating include: carrots, green leafy vegetables like spinach and kale, berries like strawberries and blueberries, citrus fruits such as oranges and grapefruit, bell peppers, sweet potatoes, winter squash and apples. Eating more fruits and vegetables increases your supply of inflammation-fighting, immune-boosting vitamins and minerals, so the more you eat, the better your body can recover after exercise or hard training.

4. Jump-start recovery after exercise

After high intensity or long duration (>90 minute) workouts, athletes should eat a post-workout snack with 2:1 to 3:1 ratio of carbs to protein to refuel muscle glycogen (energy) and help promote muscle healing and growth. By doing this, your body can start to recover right away so you can start your next workout refueled and feeling energized.

Good examples of this snack are chocolate milk, Greek yogurt with berries and granola, a banana with peanut butter, a peanut butter and jelly, rice with chicken and vegetables, a smoothie, etc. Make sure to eat periodically throughout the day (don't skip meals) to make sure your body has the building blocks it needs to build muscle and store carbohydrates away as glycogen to use in your next workout.

5. Give your gut some attention

You may have heard that 50-70% of your immunity comes from your stomach, so making sure your gut is healthy is vital to boosting your immune function. Check out a previous blog post on promoting good gut health for some more ideas, and include more of these foods in your diet:

Probiotics (good gut bacteria)

Yogurt or kefir with live and active cultures, probiotic supplements, kimchi, sauerkraut

Prebiotics (promote the health of good gut bacteria)

Asparagus, garlic, leeks, onions, beans, whole grains, potatoes

If you want to know more about boosting your immune system through food, call the Sanford Sports Science Institute to make a one-on-one appointment with the sports nutritionist: 605-312-7878.

The Athlete's Guide to Reading a Nutrition Facts Label

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Do you read the nutrition facts label on the back of food items?

Knowing how to read a nutrition facts label is important for everyone, especially athletes who want to gain a competitive edge by fueling their bodies with the best foods possible.

Many packaged foods will have some sort of advertising on the front that often makes the food sound healthy or to appeal to the increasing number of health-conscious shoppers...but did you know those front of the package statements can often be very misleading?

For instance, you may have read a story in the news this week about a lawsuit against General Mills for falsely advertising or being misleading in their labeling of "Cheerios Protein".

The nutrition facts label of the higher protein cereal lists a larger serving size, and contains a significant amount of added sugar compared to the regular cereal. Consumers may think they're buying a healthy product by buying the cereal advertised as having more protein, because protein is touted to help keep us fuller for longer and build muscle...but honestly, the protein-enhanced product isn't worth the extra added sugar. You're better off having your cereal with a protein-rich cup of milk or having a side of eggs or yogurt.

This blog is to help guide you in making healthier choices at the grocery store by reading the nutrition facts label and knowing what to look for.

The nutrition facts label will let you know: The Serving Size, Calories, Total Fat, Saturated fat, Trans fat, Cholesterol, Sodium, Total carbohydrate, Dietary fiber, Sugars, Protein, Vitamins and minerals for the serving size indicated.

So in the example label below, 1 cup (228 g) of this food contains 250 calories, 12 grams of total fat, 30 mg of cholesterol, etc.

The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics Sample Nutrition Facts Label

1. Start with the serving size

The "Serving Size" tells you the amount of food you get per serving, and all the nutrition facts listed are for that amount of food.

So, as mentioned above, there are 250 calories in 1 cup of this food. The next thing you should notice is that right below the "serving size," it lists that there are 2 servings per container. If you eat the whole container, you have to multiply all the nutrition facts by 2 (or whatever the amount of servings per container are). If you eat 1.5 cups, you would multiply the nutrition facts by 1.5, and so on. This is a good time to notice what your usual portion is versus what the serving size is for that food.

2. What all the percentages mean...

The % Daily Values (DV) listed are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. This means if the label says the food has 10% DV for fat, the serving of that food is 10% of the fat in the diet of a person eating 2,000 calories a day.

These percentages aren't always relevant to athletes who often have higher energy and nutrient needs or have different macronutrient intakes based on their individual goals. Focus less on these percentages and really understand what the actual amounts are, which nutrients you should limit and which you should

3. Look at the calories, fat, and sodium

If you multiply the portion you usually eat by the serving size indicated - how many calories, grams of fat and milligrams of sodium are in your typical serving?

Calories aren't always the most important indicator of whether a snack is healthy or not, BUT this number can be important for determining serving size, depending on your goals. If you're trying to lose weight, you might compare two similar products and see which one has less calories for the same serving. If you are choosing a snack, calories are important because you don't want to eat a product that has a full-sized meal amount of calories at snack time. If you're trying to put on weight, you might want to choose the product that has more calories per serving.

Reduce the amounts of these foods:

Trans fats - Not all fats are created equally, so it is important to choose products that have no trans fats, which are often found in processed, packaged baked goods and snack foods. These fats can promote inflammation, which is bad news for athletes who should be focusing on reducing inflammation for faster recovery.

Sodium - The recommended daily amount of sodium (salt) is under 2000 mg per day, but many athletes spend a good amount of their day sweating out salt. Focus on choosing unprocessed foods that are low in sodium most of the time, but if you notice a food you regularly eat is higher in sodium, make sure to pay attention to the serving size. Canned vegetables and soups, bread and snack foods are some of the higher sodium foods, so make sure to read the label.

4. Increase fiber, vitamins and minerals

Dietary fiber is found in complex carbohydrates, like whole grains, vegetables and fruits. These foods help keep athletes control body weight, regulate blood sugar, and maintain body weight. Include more of these foods in your diet. Athletes should focus on getting at least 25 grams of fiber per day.

Foods that include more vitamins and minerals will help promote good health and lower inflammation that helps athletes recover more quickly and stay healthy throughout the year.

5. Check out that ingredient list

I'm sure you've heard people say you "shouldn't eat anything you can't pronounce," but it might be worth it to focus your attention on choosing foods that, in general, have fewer ingredients. If you're choosing a pre-packaged product, it may have a preservative or ingredient that makes it more shelf-stable that you may not be able to pronounce/recognize...but that doesn't necessarily mean the food is unhealthy. The ingredients are listed in descending order by weight, which means the food contains the largest amount of the food listed first and the least amount of the ingredient listed last on the label.

My tips for using the ingredient list to your advantage:

Choosing a whole grain product/bread

The first ingredient of the bread/cereal/whole grain product you choose should be whole wheat flour or whole grain flour. The package may even be labeled "100% whole grain bread" - this is the bread that contains more fiber, vitamins and minerals than the white/processed breads.

Avoiding partially hydrogenated oils

If you spy the words "partially hydrogenated" on your food label, that indicates that the food item contains trans fats, which are those unhealthy inflammation-promoting fats that can raise your cholesterol. Avoid this ingredient, which is often found in baked goods, chips/snack foods, coffee creamer, margarine, fried foods (donuts, french fries), and canned cinnamon rolls/biscuits. Even if a product claims it has "No trans fat!" it can still have a small amount - check the label to make sure you're choosing foods without this ingredient. Athletes need to be focusing on reducing inflammation, and this ingredient isn't going to help you meet your goals.

Limit added sugars

This article isn't here to tell you that all sugar is bad, but if you're buying a food that you eat daily (yogurt, cereal, granola, snack bars, bread, crackers), you need to be aware that sugars are often added to enhance taste or color of the product (even if you wouldn't expect the food to contain sugar and even if the food doesn't taste sweet).

The sugars listed on the nutrition facts label can indicate naturally-occurring sugars (lactose in milk or yogurt, sugar found in fruit juices), in addition to added sugars (sucrose, high fructose corn syrup, honey, brown sugar, etc). You might even find sugar in things you wouldn't think have sugar, like peanut butter!

Look for added sugars by noticing where "sugar" is listed in the ingredients list - is it the first or second ingredient? Try to find a comparable product where sugar is listed later. With yogurts, you can usually choose the "plain" variety and add your own sweetener - the ingredients should just be "milk and added cultures."

Adding berries, cinnamon and a touch of honey is a good way to sweeten plain yogurt.

It may take a bit longer at first to start reading labels, but after a while, you will know which brands and products to put in your cart.

Make an appointment with the Sanford sports nutritionist to discuss how to individualize your diet to meet your goals. Call 605-312-7878.

Fighting Inflammation, The Healthy Way

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In sports nutrition we talk about inflammation a lot. In fact, even in the clinical setting, we talk about inflammation. We talk about it because it promotes negative outcomes. It's associated with cancer, diabetes, heart disease and other conditions as well as sports injury, becoming ill (e.g. flu) and lack of ability to recover optimally. Therefore, we put emphasis in our practice to educate athletes on how to fight inflammation. Its important to understand though, that inflammation is an important process for an athlete as it is naturally created due to activity. However, we want to fight it in a healthy manner. Research shows that fighting sports related inflammation with drugs such as Aleve, Ibuprofen or other anti-inflammatories, may prevent the natural healing process muscle and even increase inflammation.

Here are some things you can do to help fight inflammation the healthy way:

Sleep well! For a college athlete recommendations are about 8-10 hours per day. If you did not meet this quota at night, consider taking a nap in the middle of the day. Lack of sleep prevents healing and promotes inflammation.
Avoid or limit alcohol. Alcohol promotes inflammation and also decreases deep sleep (as mentioned above, sleep is important).
Avoid or limit fried fatty foods (pizza, fried chicken, fries, etc.) and concentrated sweets (Pop Tarts, soda, cookies, cake, milkshake, candy, etc.) as they promote inflammation.
Hydrate. Mainly with water. Fluids are important to help deliver nutrients to different parts of the body, including nutrients to fight inflammation. Moreover, dehydration decreases your immune function, which could cause you to get ill (=inflammation).
Eating plenty of fruits and vegetables. Fruits and vegetables are rich with antioxidants and phytochemicals that help fight inflammation. When you get injured, the first thing most people do is put ice. Think of fruits and vegetables as your ice inside the body. Very powerful anti-inflammatory.
Omega 3's, the fat located mainly in fish (salmon, tuna, mackerel, etc.) as well as some nuts and seeds (flaxseeds, chia seeds, walnuts, etc.) are a great source of anti-inflammatories. It is recommended to have at least 8 oz of fish per week. In certain cases, a supplement could be considered (please consult with a medical professional before taking any supplement).
Vitamin D aka the sun vitamin has been shown to be quite the immune booster. Vitamin D can be found in fortified products such as orange juice, dairy, soy foods as well as fish. Supplements can also be considered (please consult with a medical professional before taking any supplement).
Vitamin C, Vitamin A and Zinc. These micro-nutrients have been shown to boost our immune system and help with healing.
Eating enough calories. Calories are a measurement of energy. If we do not eat enough calories, we will not have enough energy to fight inflammation or recover optimally from exercise.
Keeping your stomach healthy. Positive bacteria is important to keep a healthy gut. A healthy gut can help maintain healthy immune function. By eating a balanced diet, containing pre and probiotics with a good variety of whole grains, dairy (yogurt), fruits, vegetables, legumes and lean meats, you can help sustain a healthy gut.
Rest. We all know the importance of recovery for performance. Overtraining and overreaching have a lot to do with chronic inflammation. Make sure you take rest seriously, as you would your training.

This winter, "let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food" to help you fight inflammation and keep a healthy immune system. Here is a great handout by NCAA Sport Science Institute of how to promote immune function.