Ask the Sports Nutritionist

Reading Labels Within the “Total Carbohydrate” section of a nutrition label, you’ll find Total Carbohydrates, Dietary Fiber (sometimes further defined as soluble & insoluble), and Sugars. Pay attention to the total fiber per serving (no need to log soluble vs. insoluble) – your goal is 30+ per day. Of note, when you subtract the total fiber and sugar from the...
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Pita Chips Do you sometimes crave chips or pita chips?  It seems like buying a bag of pita chips is a healthy alternative to regular potato chips……they are a better choice, but with many of them being made from enriched flour why not avoid them and make your own. They are so easy to...
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Be on the look out for products that include high fructose corn syrup.  Not only is it high in calories, but it doesn’t trigger the body to feel full. Products that use sugar instead of high fructose corn syrup are actually better for this reason….think of that next time you’re sipping a soda.
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Whole Grains Whole grains and whole grain products contain some valuable antioxidants that aren’t found in fruits and vegetables.  They also contain B vitamins as well as Vitamin E, Magnesium, Iron, and Fibre. So how do you get them?  Using whole wheat flour in your recipes is one way.  You can also look for...
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Agave Nectar and Stevia There are a lot of great ways to sweeten things up, and two that I’d like to mention are Agave Nectar and Stevia. Agave is often advertised as a safe and nutritious alternative that can be consumed by anyone, especially diabetics, without the potential side-effects suffered from consuming sugar cane,...
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Whole Foods We’re of an age where the foods available to us are becoming more and more instant, in that they are broken down so that we can cook them, prepare them, and consume them as fast as possible.  Although there is a nice surge of Organic and Whole foods being the popular choice,...
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Oatmeal: Good, Better, and Best In my opinion, there is absolutely no better breakfast than Oatmeal.  Now the word “Oatmeal” is a pretty broad term….what I mean by Oatmeal is going to take a bit of a description. First of all, there are 4 main varieties of Oatmeal: Instant Packaged Oatmeal - Not at...
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Hey man, it’s hot out there….Stay Hydrated When you’re out there cycling hard in the sun, there is no better taste in the world then that of pure water.  Here are three things to keep in mind so that you make sure you are well hydrated during the ride: Two to three hours prior...
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What is fueling your ride? There is a lot of emphasis on what cyclists use as their “pre-ride snack”…..but many studies show that the food going into your body the couple hours prior to exercise does not “fuel” your activity. These studies show that it takes 24 to 48hrs for muscle fuel (glycogen) to...
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What can Hemp Hearts do for you? Now don’t go thinking this stuff has anything to do with it’s most famous counterpart….Hemp Hearts are totally where it’s at for good protein and good nutrition.  They are a great for your health and they taste pretty good as well.  They have sort of a sunflower...
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Are Energy Gels for you? A lot of cyclists are now using energy gels (GU, Clif Shot and Shot Bloks, Honey Stinger)….but do you know why? Well, the main reason of course is to gain some energy (hence the name).  These products are designed to help your performance by replenishing glucose during hard workouts....
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Add lots of cruciferous vegetables (kale, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, spinach, and more)  to your diet.  Do it. These phytonutrients have been shown to do amazing things for your body including the stimulation of enzymes that help the liver remove carcinogens and other toxins.  They’ve also been shown to deactivate the metabolite that promotes tumor...
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