Most athletes I meet think they know a whole lot about nutrition, and they generally do know more than the average Joe or Jane, but the majority still have a good deal of misinformation about healthy eating—including what actually is healthy!
Here’s what I mean:
Diet soda: it may seem like the perfect way to save calories and slash your sugar intake but studies show that diet drinkers actually weigh more than regular soda drinkers. For diet soft-drink drinkers, the risk of becoming overweight or obese tied to a 2 can a day habit is 57% compared to 46% for regular soda drinkers. Diet soda may throw off your natural appetite regulation, causing you to eat more sweets. It may also trick you into thinking it’s OK to indulge in high calorie foods because you’ve “saved” by choosing diet soda, and it provides zero nutrition.
Verdict: skip it.
Pretzels: the label may shout ‘fat free’ and seem like a better alternative to chips, but they’re made with refined white flour stripped of its vitamins and antioxidants. They’re also dense so they pack a ton of carb calories for a very small amount and they’re not filling. Think of it this way - one 15 oz bag contains the equivalent of 24 slices of white bread.
Verdict: they’re not a bad pre-exercise snack when you need a low fiber carb source that will digest quickly to give you some readily available fuel, but in general, it’s best to opt for whole grain choices.
Spinach wraps: I’m talking about the wrap itself here. It looks green and good for you but spinach powder is only a scant ingredient. These wraps are typically made from refined white flour and the green hue primarily comes from food colorings (Blue No. 1 and Yellow No. 5.). In other words you can’t rely on the immune boosting vitamins A and C found in fresh spinach and it’s much higher in calories. One cup of cooked spinach provides 65 calories, 105 less than a spinach wrap, which doesn’t count as a veggie serving.
Verdict: stick with whole grain bread, pitas and wraps, including 100% whole wheat, corn, oat and multigrain.
Blueberry scone: even a trans fat free wild blueberry scone packs over 400 calories and over 50% of the maximum amount of artery-clogging saturated fat intake for an entire day. They also don’t count as a serving of fruit and they’re devoid of dietary fiber.
Verdict: it’s better than skipping a meal but if you can, choose a whole grain bagel or English muffin with peanut butter and sliced fruit or all-fruit spread instead.
Vitamin water: yes it has vitamins, but at up to 200 calories per bottle (50 per serving with 4 servings per jug), just one of these a day can cause a 20 pound weight gain in a year’s time if the calories aren’t burned off.
Verdict: if you can afford the calories it may be OK, but vitamin waters aren’t designed to replace sports drinks since most don’t contain electrolytes, and it is possible to ‘overdose’ on vitamins—too much vitamin C for example can lead to diarrhea and even kidney stones and excess B6 can cause nerve damage.
Bottom line: that old saying, ‘All that glitters isn’t gold’ really holds true with food as well, especially for athletes!