Top Foods for your Sports Diet

It can be difficult to select the right foods for your sports diet. Especially when you're training hard, juggling exercise with family, work, and social activities.

You may feel frustrated you have no time to eat the proverbial "three square meals" every day.

Photo courtesy of WordRidden

Nevertheless, you can maintain a healthful diet. The trick is to eat a variety of wholesome, low fat foods. The following list includes foods that you can easily find in a convenience store, sandwich shop or salad bar, or can keep stocked at home.

These nourishing choices for your sports diet invest in your health within a moderate to low calorie range. Because no single food is nutritionally complete, you need to choose a variety of foods to get a balance of vitamins, minerals, carbohydrates and proteins necessary for top performance and good health.

Milk, Yogurt, low fat or skim or soy
For calcium, protein, riboflavin, vitamin D
Plan to eat low fat, calcium-rich dairy or soy products 3 to 4 times daily to protect bones, reduce risk of developing high blood pressure, and possibly enhance fat loss.

Carrots, Winter Squash
For beta carotene (the precursor to vitamin A)
Munch on baby carrots for snacks. For simplicity, enjoy winter squash pre-cooked (frozen) or pre-cut (fresh).

Peppers, green, red, yellow
For vitamins A, C, phytochemicals
Half a pepper provides a day's supply of vitamin C. Add to salads and pizza; snack on raw peppers.

Tomatoes, fresh, sauce, or juice
For vitamins A, C, phytochemicals
Boost intake by adding sliced tomatoes to sandwiches. Choose foods with tomatoes (pizza, pasta, soup).

Broccoli, Spinach (and other greens)
For vitamins A, C, phytochemicals, fiber
One stalk (cooked) broccoli offers all the vitamin C you need for a day. Stock your freezer for your sports diet with broccoli and spinach— easy to prepare; nutritionally similar to fresh. Add fresh spinach to salads for more nutrients than offered by pale lettuces.

Baked Potato, Sweet Potato
For vitamin C, carbohydrates, potassium; vitamin A in sweet potato
Eat the potato skin for fiber. Top potato with a little lite sour cream, or mash with milk to add moistness with less fat than butter.

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Bananas
For vitamin C, carbohydrates, potassium
Prevent over-ripening by storing bananas in the refrigerator. The skin blackens but the fruit is fine. Frozen chunks taste like ice cream, a great snack.

Cantaloupe, Kiwi, Berries
For vitamins A, C, phytochemicals
Enjoy these fruits as snacks or a fruit salad with low fat cottage cheese, perfect for breakfast or lunch.

Chicken, Turkey
For protein
Thigh and leg meat has more iron and zinc than does breast meat, but also a little more fat. Avoid the skin, the fattiest part.

Lean Beef
For protein, iron, zinc
Beef is among the best sources of iron and zinc. Avoid fatty meats, i.e., choose a lean roast beef sandwich or a lean burger.

Tuna fish, Salmon, canned or fresh
For protein, omega-3 fish oil
The oil in any fish is health protective. Limit your intake of fried fish. Mix tuna with low fat mayonnaise, if possible.

Peanut Butter, Nuts and Nut Butters
For vitamin E, protein, fiber
Although peanut butter and nuts are high in fat, their fat protects against heart disease. Enjoy peanut butter in sandwiches or with fruit (apples, bananas). Snack on nuts and trail mix.

Bran and Whole Grain Cereals, enriched
For fiber, carbohydrates, B-vitamins, iron
Bran is excellent for fiber (to help prevent constipation). Select "fortified" and "enriched" cereals for the most iron. Drink orange juice with cereal to enhance iron absorption.

Bagels, whole wheat, pumpernickel, rye, whole grain
For fiber, carbohydrates, B-vitamins
Bagels are preferable to donuts or high fat muffins. Spread with lite cream cheese or peanut butter; add more carbs with jam.

Breads, Rolls, preferably whole grain
For carbohydrates, fiber, B-vitamins
Hearty, whole grain breads (rye, whole wheat, multi-grain) are preferable to breads made with refined white flour. Limit butter, margarine, mayonnaise on breads, rolls, sandwiches in your sports diet.

Pizza, thick crust with vegetable toppings
For calcium, protein, vitamin A, carbohydrates
Of popular fast foods, pizza with thick crust, single cheese, and vegetable toppings (not pepperoni or sausage) is preferable to burgers. If the pizza is oily, blot off the grease with a napkin.

Popcorn, air popped
For carbohydrates, fiber
A whole grain, low fat snack in your sports diet that is preferable to greasy chips. Be cautious of even "lite" popcorn brands; they can be half fat.

Copyright: Nancy Clark, MS, RD, CSSD
Nancy Clark's new Sports Nutrition Guidebook (2008), Food Guide for Marathoners, and Cyclist’s Food Guide are available at her website www.nancyclarkrd.com.

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