EAT FOR HEALTH

Good nutrition is extremely valuable not only to complement your training program and maximize benefits gained from exercise but also for your general health and well-being. The benefits of good nutrition can be found in physical and mental health because a healthy diet provides energy, promotes good sleep and gives the body what it needs to stay healthy.

Healthy Diet Tips

• Use a variety of oils for cooking. EXTRA VIRGIN OLIVE OIL is considered one of the healthiest oil options.
• Choose low and reduced fat milk and cheese.
• Limit sometimes food such as cake, potato chips and lollies.
• Eat fish at least twice a week.
• Eat red meat at least twice a week.
• Snack on unsalted nuts and fresh fruit and vegetables.

Recommend Sizes and Serving Sizes

Did you know the Australian Government has clear and easy to read guidelines of what you should eat.  These guidelines can be found here.

They recommends serves  depending on a person’s gender, age and activity level. Below is a table which displays a summary of the recommended daily number of serves per food group.

The Australian Dietary Guideline discusses serves and outlines what an approximate serve for each food group is.  Some examples of serving sizes are included in the table below.

Recipe Modifications

Most recipes can be modified to allow for healthy eating.  The Dieticians Association in Australia and the Diabetes Centre of South Australia recommend the below food modifications.

Meat, Chicken, Fish and Eggs

• Use lean meat and trim fat off before cooking
• Remove the skin off chicken
• Eat more fish
• Grill or roast meats on a rack without adding fat or barbecue meat on a grill so the fat drips away
• Add legumes to increase protein

Dairy

• Preferably use low-fat dairy products, particularly when they are the major ingredient
• Limit portion sizes

Fats and Oils

• Avoid fats and oils
• Use low-fat cooking methods where possible eg steaming, blanching (in water), stir frying, pan frying with minimal oil/spray oil, grilling, or roasting/baking on a rack are all healthy cooking methods
• Use non-stick or baking paper
• Use a polyunsaturated or monounsaturated oil (e.g. canola or olive oil) and spray lightly to stop food sticking when cooking

Others

• Switch white to grain for carbohydrates – e.g. bread, rice, pasta
• Add extra vegetables to dishes
• Replace salt with herbs or spices for flavour

Water

Water makes up 40-60% of the body weight and the most important nutrient in the body.

The table below taken from the Australian Government National Health and Medical Research Council’s Nutrient Reference Values for Australia and New Zealand, details one’s daily water requirements, dependent on age and gender.

The body is limited to 1L of fluid absorption per hour in the stomach. This means that fluid intake must be regular and plentiful to prevent dehydration. The body’s thirst response lags behind the need for fluid, so thirst cannot be relied on for needing to drink. If it is, you are already dehydrated!

Fluid replacement during exercise is important and should be at a rate of 250mls every 15minutes as well as being hydrated before and after exercise.