Top Nutrition Tips for Optimum Performance by Adele Wolstenhulme
1- Eat regularly to ensure a steady intake of nutrients to support energy levels. Just as a car needs to be regularly refuelled, so does your body. Eat breakfast,lunch and supper at regular intervals every day.
2- Introduce snacks mid morning and mid afternoon to avoid those familiar slumps in energy and performance. Ensure they are packed with nutrients, so choose fruit, nuts, seeds, or raw vegetables with dips such as hummus.
3- Avoid refined foods such as white bread, pasta and rice and all forms of sugar. Eating these foods is akin to throwing a piece of paper onto a fire and expecting it to provide a long‐term source of energy, when actually you need coal or a log to burn slowly and steadily. The body works in the same way— you need to choose longer lasting sources of “fuel”.
4- Choose wholefoods, which are called “whole” because they still have all their nutrients intact and therefore break down more slowly in your body, providing the steady source of energy lacking in refined foods. Nature offers you maximum support through unprocessed foods that are specially designed to keep you functioning to help you perform at your best. Good choices include brown rice, wholemeal pasta, wholegrain bread and flour, as well as fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds and pulses.
5- Eat plenty of essential fats to keep every cell in your body fluid and functioning efficiently – a great way to ensure optimum performance from the cellular level outwards! Omega 3 and 6 fats are found in nuts, seeds and oily fish such as mackerel, trout, salmon, sardines, herrings as well as fresh tuna and anchovies.
6- Avoid stimulants by reducing your coffee and alcohol intake. These give a false high that your body then has to struggle to manage—recognise that energy “slump”, quickly followed by the desire for another fix? Just as over revving your car negatively impacts the engine’s performance over time, stimulants will be undermining your ability to perform to your best in the medium to long‐term.
7- Choose the right protein sources low in saturated fat but high in nutrients to support you. Chicken, turkey, fish and game such as venison, ostrich, pheasant, hare and rabbit are all lower in saturated fat than factory farmed red meat. Don’t forget to eat plenty of plant protein too: beans, peas, pulses, lentils and quinoa contain valuable added fibre to support a healthy digestive tract.
8- Avoid processed foods, which can be full of “empty calories” with little nutrient value and high in sugar, salt and saturated fat. Your body has to work hard to metabolise these foods and can end up using more vitamins and minerals than it gains! If there are additives on the packet, choose something else.
9- Stay hydrated which has been shown to increase mental and physical performance. Aim to drink the equivalent of four 500ml bottles of water per day. Herbal teas of all kinds count towards this total, but alcohol and coffee do not!
10- Take a break to enjoy your food and take the time to reflect on what you have achieved so far in your day, and plan what you want to work on next. By eating in a calm, relaxed environment you allow your body time to digest and benefit from the nutrients you have chosen. In the meantime your mind can take a moment to refocus on how to help you perform to your maximum.
Download – Nutrition tips for optimum performance (pdf)
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