Advice for the Athletic Diet at Her Active Life

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Advice for the Athletic Diet

Posted February 18, 2008 at 06:00 PM by Katie Drummond

Section: Her Fitness, Athletics, Her Health, Her Nutrition, Healthy Eating, Supplements, Weight Control

Woman Dining If you enjoy an active lifestyle, but feel in the dark about how much to eat, and whether or not you need supplements like iron, calcium or B12 to boost your diet, read on. Registered nutritionist Nancy Clark answers the queries of one young woman regarding the right way for an athlete to fuel their busy lifestyle – without piles of supplements.

Dear Nancy,

I am a 24 year old grad student who runs 6 miles a day. I take many, many vitamins each day, and am wondering if this is all a big hoax. I follow what books and doctors have told me along the way and am just trying to maintain my health. The pills are not only a hassle to take but are also expensive – around $2.50 a day.

Do I really need all of these?

I try to eat well and exercise. A typical day looks like this:

I inevitably end up grazing in the afternoon and evening on goldfish crackers, cookies, trail mix, hot cocoa and candy bars. Every night without fail, I succumb to some sort of chocolate bar or frozen yogurt. Or both.

Writing all this down makes me feel like I eat too much...Help!

-Jessica

Dear Jessica,

You spend $75 per month on nutrients you could easily eat at meals. Here’s my assessment:

At 5’4”, 120 lbs., and running 6 miles a day, your body requires (believe it or not) about 2,400 calories. In about 1,500 wholesome calories, you can consume the nutrients you need. In 2,400 calories, you have the opportunity to consume even more nutrients and can eliminate the pills.

To your detriment, your skimpy meals account for only 1,400 calories. No wonder you graze a lot; you are hungry! To abate the snacking (and cravings for sweets), experiment with eating about 600 calories of wholesome food at four meals a day: breakfast, first lunch, second lunch and dinner. Why just snack at 10:00 or 3:00 when you are hungry enough to eat a whole meal? By changing your endless grazing into an early lunch, then a second lunch, you’ll boost your intake of the same vitamins/minerals you now take as a supplement.
Granola Bar
My question for you is: Why do you think you need to take so many pills? My guess is you want to boost your energy. Assuming that, look instead at your eating patterns - not vitamin deficiencies - as contributing to the low energy that results from under-eating in the active part of your day. If you fuel your body better during the day, you’ll eat less (dessert) at night, and will reduce the need for supplements.

Here are some thoughts about the supplements you are taking:

• If you want to take a daily multivitamin for health insurance, that’s your choice. But first read food labels. Your Luna Bar snack is a vitamin pill in itself! No need to duplicate.

• No need to take Super-B complex; you already get 100% of the B-vitamins in the Luna Bar (and/or the multi-vitamin). While B-vitamins help convert food into energy, I’ll bet your lack of energy is due to lack of fuel, not vitamins. Note: women of childbearing age should have a strong intake of the B-vitamin folic acid; it helps protect against certain birth defects. It is in fortified foods like your instant oatmeal and energy bar.

• The 3 Citracal + D tablets offers the recommended daily intake of calcium (1,000 mg) plus vitamin D. You can get that same amount by enjoying a low fat calcium-rich food at 3 of your 4 daily meals.

• Magnesium is already in the Luna Bar, to say nothing of foods like peanut butter, nuts, greens (and dark chocolate). Could you add almonds to your oatmeal and enjoy a peanut butter sandwich for your second lunch?

• More research is needed to determine if Glucosamine-Chondroitin tabs will slow joint degeneration. Stay tuned.

• CLA is not the answer for fat loss. To lose fat, fuel more by day, and then eat less dessert at night. CLA is also not the answer for building muscles; lifting weights does that!

• Do you really think one single nutrient (E) can make your nails and skin better? Your body needs the whole package of nutrients supplied by a variety of wholesome foods. You can get vitamin E from almonds, peanut butter, olive oil, soy milk, avocado—and your Luna Bar.

• Cinnamon tabs might help stabilize blood glucose, but exercise does a far better job. If you have swings in blood sugar, I’ll bet you have run out of fuel. More breakfast and lunch is the solution, not cinnamon tablets. Alternatively, you could put cinnamon in your oatmeal.

To get the vitamins and minerals your body needs, eat quality food; it is the best source of nourishment for active people. To date, every major medical organization recommends protecting your health with fruits, vegetables, whole grains, low fat and plant proteins - not pills. If you want help enhancing your intake of powerhouse foods, go to www.SCANdpg.org and use the referral network to find a board certified specialist in sports dietetics. The cost of the personal consult will be far less than the $1,000 per year you spend on pills!

Nancy Clark, MS, RD, CSSD (Board Certified Specialist in Sports Dietetics) offers private consultations to casual and competitive athletes in her practice at Healthworks, the premier fitness center in Chestnut Hill MA (617-383-6100). Her Sports Nutrition Guidebook, Food Guide for Marathoners, and Cyclist’s Food Guide are available via www.nancyclarkrd.com.

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Tags: active lifestyle, athlete calorie needs, athlete nutrition, athlete supplements, daily calorie needs, diet asessment, healthy eating, nancy clark, sports nutrition, taking supplements, vitamins

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11 Responses to “Advice for the Athletic Diet” (Leave a reply)

Dan from Charleston SC said:

I agree with a lot of that, but there are some very similar supplements that I take. I don’t run but lift weights and protein, creatine, and cla do have a staple in my diet.

I see benefits from them all!

Very interesting though… good post.
February 19, 2008 at 12:27 PM
dr. in weight loss pill said:

Nice post, my concern is why this person bought so many vitamins? Multivitamins in tablet or capsule form is not 100% safe. Maybe it would be better if you buy one kind of vitamin and forget the others. Try to find natural appetite suppressants such as apple or white kidney
February 21, 2008 at 10:34 AM
Benefits of Dieting said:

Wow, you ran/run 6 miles a day? I wouldn’t worry too much about what you eat if you’re staying in shape from running so much!
February 25, 2008 at 09:53 PM
blue cros health from California said:

Great blog I hope we can work to build a better health care system as we are in a major crisis and health insurance is a major aspect to many.
April 3, 2008 at 04:43 PM
the vitamin shoppe store said:

i agree. thanks for this post. very informative and helpful. thanks!
May 6, 2008 at 04:49 AM
search engine optimization company from around said:

For most athletes, the increased energy should come from the vegetable group and the bread, cereal, rice, and pasta group. Foods in these two groups contain a lot of starch, which is an excellent source of food energy.
May 23, 2008 at 07:47 AM
Detox said:

Naturist products can and will improve your system depending on what effect you want, but the main thing that you have to remember: always choose natural products. This is not always possible, but try as hard as you can.
July 15, 2008 at 10:51 AM
www.Mycapitalonecard.com from USA said:

Awesome! I’m just getting into working out more and nutrition is an important part of getting results from that. This is a good article and I’m going to bookmark this for the future.
August 22, 2008 at 04:00 PM
golf camps said:

Nutrition is very important at our golf camp even though our campers only stay for a few weeks with us.
August 27, 2008 at 03:46 PM
How to Lose Pounds said:

This is a great example of the need for proper nutrition when your involved in a exercise program. Nutrition is very important part of any fat loss program.
September 11, 2008 at 06:12 PM
Health Insurance from New York said:

I’m really impressed with your article, that was exactly what I was looking for.. it was certainly a great read for me, I’ll be looking forward for more of your articles cause that’s one of the best I’ve read recently. Keep up the good work :)
Thank you,
Health Insurance
September 17, 2008 at 04:53 PM

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