Best Food For Sports Performance

With so much information on nutrition, it is difficult to know what is the best food for sports performance. For optimal performance, it is important to keep your energy levels up and view your food as fuel. The key here is preparation; plan healthy meals and snacks in advance to fit in with your training schedule.

At PledgeSports, we have dedicated a lot of time and research to bring you the expert advice you need to lead a healthy lifestyle.

Maria Donlon is a nutritional consultant, yoga teacher and the founder of LifeCleanse. Based on South William Street in Dublin 2, LifeCleanse offers individually tailored detox and nutrition plans, yoga classes and Urban Retreats. Visit LifeCleanse.ie for free recipes and practical tips to help you be as healthy, happy and strong as you can be. You can also follow LifeCleanse on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Fuelling Your Body For Optimal Performance

A perfect snack to keep your energy up is a small handful of raw unsalted nuts, like almonds or walnuts. These are really easy to take with you and can be eaten almost anywhere.

As well as being great for energy on the go nuts are a good source of protein, omega 3 fatty acids and fibre. If you don’t like nuts or have an allergy or intolerance, seeds like pumpkin or sunflower also make good healthy snacks.

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Chia seeds are ideal pre-training fuel as they are packed full of antioxidants as well as omega 3 fatty acids, fibre, protein, calcium, magnesium and phosphorus. They are such a great energy source that the Aztecs used to eat them before going into battle.

Compliment your training with healthy nutrient rich meals to build your strength and stamina and help with recovery between sessions.

It is during this recovery, rather than when you train, that muscles get stronger as tiny microscopic tears that occur as a normal part of training are repaired and as a result, muscles are strengthened.

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Amino acids, which are the building blocks of protein are what carry out this rebuilding. There are nine essential amino acids, considered essential because our bodies don’t produce them so we need to get these from food. Eating a protein rich meal after training is a great way to aid this process.

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Quinoa is considered a complete protein, meaning that it provides all nine of these essential amino acids in a balanced ratio. It is also a really versatile grain which can literally be eaten for breakfast lunch or dinner.

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