The Quackery of Diets (our LENS philosophy)

NUTRITION (the right hand wall)

In today's western world there is way too much quackery selling dietary hacks.  Unless diagnosed with a condition that forces a controlled diet you need not follow 'a diet'.  Diet is simply a name.  Like fuel is for  powering transport - there is unleaded, diesel, gas, rocket fuel! Diet could be anything.  It is simply edible fuel. 

In this blog I use the word 'diet' to refer to the day to day fuelling or meals and 'nutrition' to refer to training specific fuelling such as snacks for the bike and recovery.  The aim here is to illustrate how simple it is to recognise what is natural and good for you and what isn't.  A healthy diet is broad and individual.  This is the only diet we promote.

Amount to Eat and Drink

To keep the amount of food and drink we consume simple and measurable, think about calorie balance.  If you consume more calories than you burn, you store fat and over time will normally gain weight.  

Likewise, if you burn off more calories than you consume through exercise and training, you will loose fat. Over time you could also loose muscle and strength.  

What to Eat to and Drink

Choosing food and drink which is close to source (e.g. hasn’t travelled or changed much from the original form) and minimising ones that are not, will increase the quality of the calories ingested.  Fresher foods have less time to break down and contain more goodness.  For us in the UK a salmon from Scotland is healthier than a salmon from China.  And far healthier for our ocean and planet too. 

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A balance of fats, carbohydrates, proteins, vitamins and minerals is vitally important for all healthy humans, let alone athletes.  Recognising the macronutrients that make up food and drink makes keeping a balanced diet more achievable.  For example, a plate consisting of colourful vegetables, leaves, some lean meat or oily fish and rice could be recognised as a good balanced mix of macronutrients.  Likewise, a roast dinner or pie, potatoes and veg or a nice lasagne could also show a good balance of macronutrients too.  In the first world, we are lucky enough to have plenty of choice.  We can afford to enjoy food and drink and make informed choices.  

Don't like kale? Don’t eat kale! Valuing the diet like currency is a simple healthy eating tip.  How much health to humans and the planet is this food worth?  

For example, Joe (not a real person) knows he needs 500kcal for his meal.  He could opt for a healthy sandwich made with home made bread, local ham with salad and some fruit for afterwards (500kcal) OR he could get a happy meal (500kcal).  The value of the calories in the healthy option is much greater because it contains all the things Joe needs and is better for the planet.  

Diet and nutrition could be anything but it is how it fuels the body that counts.  To put the above analogy into context: Joe has £500 for a bike to race on.  He could buy specific bike for the job OR he could buy a Penny Farthing.  The value of the race specific bike for Joe is greater, he will go faster and further and have fun.  The Penny Farthing is wasted money (calories) for someone who wants to race triathlon.

Being Realistic

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This blog is designed to inform, not set out 'the diet' -  I hope I still make sense - There will be times when a sugary snack like ice-cream, fast food, a beer or a few glasses of wine is desirable.  For a healthy diet this would be classed as excessing.  A little bit might be good for the diet but the little is usually too little so we have a big bit (A few glasses of wine instead of that one small glass that could be a benefit for example).  It is okay to have an unhealthy treat normally consisting of lots of calories and not much goodness.  

Aiming for a healthy diet but sometimes excessing is simply realistic.  Food and drink should be enjoyed. Excess is okay.  Excessively excessing isn’t.  

Nutrition

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By adjusting the timing of ingestion it is possible to better meet the demands the body is faced with and can add value to the diet.  Eating carbohydrate during training will be good fuel (dates, oats, bananas for example) - gels during will work but are they good for humans or the planet? No!  Higher protein after training will help recovery (eggs, milk, cheese are a few).  Carbohydrate generally helps other macronutrients to absorb so egg on toast (egg for protein and toast for carbohydrate) post-workout could be better than just egg.  Healthy fats will line the belly and increase the feeling of fullness.  Some vitamins and minerals require dietary fat to absorb into the body so leafy greens and a mix of vegetables with a cottage pie could be a great part of a healthy diet.  Likewise, other vitamins and minerals require water to absorb so maintaining hydration throughout the day is more than just thirst.

Supplementing 

UK Anti Doping (UKAD) has a lot of information giving reason to not supplement.  Supplements, of course, are processed and far from natural form regardless of how amazing the label makes them out to be.  It is not an environmentally friendly way to eat or drink. As a coach I am here to inform, not tell.  Some people must supplement.  I would question the expert who prescribes the supplementing and never self diagnose. I would always check on informedsport to make sure the supplement is batch tested and has no chance of containing a banned substance.  If supplementation is necessary be informed by a qualified dietitian (who I could refer you too in this case).  Otherwise, if you need more B12, eat a salmon.

The beautiful part of informed diet and nutrition is we can use a healthy diet to increase health and performance.  Food and drink can be enjoyed.  Supplements should not be necessary.

To read more on how we feel nutrition supports life in general and forms an important part of endurance training in my LENS blog.

Nutrition: keep it simple, keep it clean.

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