In this blog I go through some of the popular Nutrition Related questions I receive:
What foods are good for muscle soreness (post workout, etc.)?
The evidence is fairly limited on what foods or nutrients are effective in helping with soreness after exercise. But there are some recommendations you can try to help with recovery. Antioxidants are substances found in food that help protect cells from damage. Muscle soreness is because of small tears in the muscle from being overloaded. When your body repairs this damage, then you get stronger. So antioxidants may help with limiting the damage and speeding up the repair of muscle fibers. Good sources of antioxidants are berries (especially blueberries), tart cherries, pomegranates, green tea, beets, grape juice, kale, red bell peppers, and spinach.
Other recommended nutrients for muscle soreness Omega-3 fatty acids (found in seafood), caffeine (in coffee or tea), taurine, glutamine, and allicin (in garlic). Additionally, make sure to drink lots of water to replace what is lost during exercise.
While not a food, active recovery can help reduce soreness better than inactive recovery. Gentle walks and a full body stretching will make you feel much better than hitting the couch for a few days. And of course getting enough sleep, which is the main time our body repairs and regenerates itself.
What foods do you recommend eating before and after a workout?
There are three types of nutrients that provide the body with energy: carbohydrates, protein, and fat. Our bodies rely mainly on carbohydrates for fuel, while protein helps to build and repair muscles. So when we are burning lots of energy with intense physical activity, it is important to “pre-fuel” and “re-fuel” with enough carbohydrates and protein. A good rule of thumb is to eat a snack 1-3 hours before exercising and another snack within 15-30 minutes after exercising. If you time it right, your usual meal can count as one (or both) of these fueling opportunities. Good food choices for everyday physical activities are usually some combination of fruit and whole grains for carbohydrates and dairy, nuts or lean meat for protein.
Hydration is an important part of fueling your body during activity. Be sure to drink plenty of fluids before, during and after exercise, especially if you are sweating a lot. For most people, skip the sports drinks and drink plain old water to save unnecessary calories and sugar. However, if you are sweating a lot, outside in hot temperatures or exercising for more than an hour, sports drinks can help replace electrolytes (mainly sodium and potassium) that are lost through sweat to prevent dehydration and cramping.
3 meals a day or smaller meals?
Whether three meals or multiple smaller meals is better depends mainly on the person. So choose what works best for your schedule and hunger cues. One word of caution with the smaller meals – make sure they truly are smaller. A lot of people get tripped up by eating the same amount as a “normal” meal and end up eating more calories over the course of the day.
What foods should we eat to have more energy throughout the day?
There are lots of things that can impact energy levels beyond just food. Sleep habits, how physically active we are, and general mood and stress levels can all affect energy. But there are some things you can do with what you eat and drink that can help. Everyone’s first thought when tired is more caffeine. And caffeine is quite effective at stimulating our nervous system and perking us up. But having too much caffeine can have drawbacks as well. Drinking caffeine too late in the day can disrupt your sleeping. And over time, you build up a tolerance to caffeine, which means you need more and more to have the same effect. So counterintuitively, I would say cutting back on caffeine is actually more helpful over the long run. If you can taper down (cold turkey can work, but expect withdrawal headaches and irritability!) to just 1 or 2 cups of coffee in the morning and no caffeine after lunch, you’ll end up sleeping better and feel more naturally energized.
Sugar also falls into this category! If you use sugar as a pick-me-up, try to cut back and power through the change until your body adapts. Try having more high-fiber carbohydrates (whole grains, nuts, fruits, and veggies) and protein (Greek yogurt, string cheese, nuts and seeds) instead of sugary snacks or drinks. These digest more slowly and prevent sugar highs and eventual crashes. Drinking enough water is also really important for energy levels. Being dehydrated can make your thinking fuzzy, sap your energy, and cause headaches.
What can I eat to speed up my metabolism?
Metabolism is affected by many things other than just the food we eat. Sleep habits, how physically active we are, body composition, and genetics all play a role in our metabolic rate. About 65% of your metabolism is spent keeping your body alive – fueling your heart beating, your lungs breathing, your brain and liver functioning, and all your cells alive and well at complete rest. But there are a few things you can do to support a higher metabolism. The remaining 35% is a little more variable and includes any energy spent on physical activity or other body movement and energy spent digesting food, so enhancing these can boost your metabolism.
Protein foods take a lot more energy (20-35% of calories) to digest and use for body processes than carbohydrates (5-15% of calories) or fat (4% of calories). This means that if you eat 100 calories of protein, you’ll burn 20-35 calories just digesting it, compared to 5-15 calories for carbohydrates or just 4 calories for fat. The recommended range of protein in a healthy person’s diet is 10-35% of calories, so by switching out some carbohydrates and fat for protein, you may burn a small, but possibly significant, number of extra calories without any work. Spicy foods (hot peppers, mustard, wasabi) have a similar effect on increasing the number of calories burned digesting food.
But the most impactful thing you do for your metabolism is physical activity, particularly muscle-strengthening exercises, and generally being less sedentary. Muscle tissue burns more calories than fat tissue. So the more muscles you have, the higher your metabolism. Exercise (jogging, lifting weights, group classes, etc.) and making an effort to move more throughout the day (standing at work, housecleaning, etc.) all add up to increase your metabolism, too.
Do you have any other pressing Questions? Ask me on Instagram @NutritionCoachMohammad