By Eric Minkwitz

It’s a fact: People who regularly participate in intense athletics need more micro- and macronutrients than sedentary people. In the RealJock article Superfoods for superior fitness, we detailed nine powerful foods that can help meet the specialized needs of active individuals and athletes.

Superfoods for athletes can be broken down into three broad categories, each serving an individual function for the active individual:

Antioxidants: Help prevent free radical damage

1. green tea
2. blueberries and other dark berries
3. spinach and other dark green leafy vegetables

Builders: Synthesize amino acids, enhance immune function, ensure hormone production, and repair muscle tissue after long workouts and competitions

1. Whole eggs
2. Cold water fish such as salmon, tuna, and mackerel
3. walnuts

Sustainers: Produce long-term energy and stabilize blood glucose levels

1. Brown rice
2. Oats (and wheat germ, barley, bulgar, rye)
3. Legumes such as red kidney beans, and lentils

TIMING AND SYNERGIZING MICRONUTRIENTS
But eating these foods is only half the battle; when you eat them and in what combination you eat them can dramatically affect the value of those foods to your body. Pratt and Matthews, authors of “Superfoods Rx”, were among the first in the medical community to encourage daily food synergy in our diets to promote powerful interactions among those nutrients that are vital to health (1). Their studies of the Okinawans and other communities who practiced synergistic eating in their diets found that these communities had the lowest levels of cancer and heart disease in the world.

By properly timing your consumption of different superfoods around your sleep, workout and workday patterns, you can better reap the rewards from their micro- and macronutrients and enjoy better health and athletic performance.

A DAY IN THE LIFE OF GOOD EATING
The menu below offers an eating plan that synergistically combines superfoods, maximizes the value of every bite you eat and helps power you get through tough workouts and recovery to build muscle more quickly. Use it as the general tool and tailor it to your individual schedule and daily caloric intake goals.

7 am: Wake up and breakfast

• Consume eight ounces of warm water to stimulate the digestive system
• Oatmeal with two egg whites, wheat germ, walnuts, mixed berries and soy milk.

Why? Upon waking, muscle and liver glycogen levels are at their lowest. This meal will provide you with fiber, protein and slow-release, low-glycemic carbs to help prepare you for your workday. Make sure to hold off on the coffee, because drinking it on an empty stomach can produce a hypoglycemic effect.

10 am: Morning snack

• One cup of green tea, white tea or yerba mate
• One apple
• One cup mixed nuts

Why? A mid-morning cup of green tea increases your metabolic rate without over-caffeinating your system. Apples and nuts are nutrient- and fiber-rich foods.

12:30 pm: Lunch

• Grilled salmon
• Brown rice or couscous with cranberries and pine nuts
• Spinach salad with strawberries, peppers, citrus, olive oil and balsamic dressing

Why? Salmon is loaded with heart-healthy omega-3s and protein. Spinach and citrus are high in phytonutrients, antioxidants, and other trace minerals. Whole grains will provide you with B-vitamins and complex carbs so you can function at a high level for the remainder of the day.

4 pm: Pre-workout snack

• One cup cottage cheese
• One cup oats and wheat germ
• One cup mixed fruit: bananas, oranges and berries
• One cup soy nuts
• One cup green tea, white tea or yerba mate

Why? Your pre-workout snack needs to be loaded with power-packed foods. Do not reach for a manufactured protein bar, many of which are simply glorified candy bars. Instead, mix high-quality carbs and protein in a two-to-one ratio.

6 pm: Workout

7:30 pm: Dinner

• Grilled tuna
• Grilled peppers, asparagus and onions
• Three-bean salad with kidney, black and garbanzo beans
• One slice 12-grain bread

Why? The first 60 minutes following your workout represent an anabolic window in which you have the potential to build more muscle tissue if you provide your body with ample nutrients. To achieve this growth, your muscle glycogen levels need to be replenished, and high-quality protein will stimulate muscle-protein synthesis. A four-to-one carb-to-protein ratio will help promote this.

10 pm: Late-night snack

Whole fruit sorbet and one cup nuts or natural peanut butter on one slice 12-grain bread

Resources
1. Pratt S. and Matthews K. Superfoods Rx. Harper Collins. NY, NY. 2004

Eric Minkwitz is a former professional football player for the Hamburg Blue Devils and the founder of Mink Training Systems, a sports performance clinic specializing in physical training, joint rehab, and nutrition for athletes. As a freelance writer, Minkwitz has written analytical reports on the pharmaceuticals and nutritional supplement industries, as well as a range of articles in the areas of sports-specific training and rehab, nutrition, and training theory and practice.

Robocub wrote:

I agree this article is great, but I have major problem. You article replies on working out at the end of a work day in the evening. I always workout in the morning because I can't workout in the evening, it just doesn't fit my schedule. So how can this article be augmented to fit a morning workout?

May 18 8:33 PM

CalTrask2JimStark wrote:

thanks so much for the info... you guys really keep me going !

bryant

Dec 10 12:58 AM

ciaogente wrote:

Hello Eric Minkwitz,

First, I want to thank you for writing this very insightful article. I have a very low metabolism and find myself over-doing it sometimes in the gym while starving myself to stay in shape and lose the love-handles - the bane of me. To this end, I try to have a big breakfast and eat small meals (ie apples, pears, slice of wheat bread) throughout the morning and afternoon until dinner. Your formula for eating described in your article is very appealing, as you can eat throughout the day, but in a more effective way. I especially like putting green tea into the diet during early morning and early evening, as a scientist, I am aware that green tea helps metabolize fats and boosts metabolism, and thus this is something i will do more often.

I do have a question though. This formula could get a little boring. One of the great things about food is variet and I am wondering is there a resource that describes substitutions? For example, for dinner, instead of grilled tuna, are there alternatives? What about red meat and chicken? How can we mix it up, because variety would make this diet much more feasible?

Thanks for writing a very insightful article and for hearing me out.

Tony

Nov 30 7:27 PM

perfect wrote:

thanks for all...

Nov 30 12:36 PM