Fitness

Fitness & Nutrition Hand in Hand

After countless reminders from your family doctor to exercise, you made up your mind to join a gym and follow a workout regime. However, after a while, you end up waking up tired and sore the next morning, demotivated to continue exercising. Some of us would have gone through this, but is there any way that we can help ourselves and prevent this from happening?

Opting for a suitable diet that includes superfoods to optimize your energy can have a huge positive impact on our fitness level. Keeping watch on our daily diet will go a long way to keep us on the fitness track.

It is important that we choose foods with nutrients that can enhance performance and recovery. Consuming nutrient-dense foods will help us have more energy, stay healthy and recover more quickly from workouts. We should select a diet rich in antioxidants, minerals, protein, good carbohydrates and good fats, and superfoods are exactly the type of foods that contain such nutrients. Keeping to such a diet will help you build muscle, supply you with energy, decrease post workout inflammation, and boost workout recovery.

The following superfoods can be eaten pre- or post-workout, providing nutrients for workout performance or workout recovery.

Protein

An essential nutrient that you should focus on in order to strengthen your fitness level. Opt for high-protein superfoods as protein is critical for repairing and building muscles and body cells especially during post-workout, when your muscles are stressed out after strenuous exercise.

Incorporating foods such as quinoa and sacha inchi seeds into your post-workout meals can bring a positive effect on your muscle growth. You should also focus on distributing your protein intake evenly throughout the day for maximum muscle stimulus.

As amino acid acts as the base for protein synthesis and cell development, it is of utmost importance to ensure it is included in your daily diet. We should focus on superfoods that come with all the nine essential amino acids (e.g. quinoa, millet), or what we call as complete protein, to maximize muscle protein synthesis and recovery. Our plant protein powder is another helpful addition to your workout diet.

High-Quality Carbs

Good quality carbs help to increase muscle retention and growth. When mixed with protein, they produce a synergistic effect in terms of protein synthesis and aids in the prevention of protein breakdown. Complex or good carbs should be emphasized when choosing your carbs -these can be found in whole grains such as quinoa, millet, oats, or fruits and vegetables. Such carbs will keep you feeling full longer and fuel you throughout the day. Additionally, these whole foods usually contain vitamins and minerals that your body needs for physical activities and immunity. In addition, choosing low glycemic-index or low-GI carbs like whole grains for a sustained and slower release of energy will also keep you energized and active all day long.

Unrefined Carbohydrates

Good quality carbohydrates help to increase muscle retention and growth. When mixed with protein, they produce a synergistic effect in terms of protein synthesis and aid in the prevention of protein breakdown. Unrefined carbohydrates (whole-grain) such as quinoa, brown rice and millet is ideal as it keeps you full longer and provide a steady source of energy throughout the day. Additionally, unrefined carbohydrates also contain vitamins and minerals that your body needs for physical activities.

Dietary Fibers

Food that contains high fiber content will fend off hunger pangs longer and provide the energy needed to keep you active. Instead of eating sugar-laden cereals made from refined carbohydrates, try oats, quinoa or other whole-grain food (e.g. muesli porridge, etc). You may also add in other high protein food such as milk, yogurt, chopped nuts or chia seeds for additional boost of benefits.

Good Fats

Including healthy fats into your diet plan is crucial to fuel your body with sustained energy and shut off unnecessary appetites that lead to over-eating. Always choose healthy fats like omega-3 which will not only act as fuel for your strenuous activities, but also function as an anti-inflammatory agent against workout inflammation, while allowing the building of strong muscles and bones.

Maintain Adequate Supply of Electrolytes

When we exercise, our body will lose electrolytes when we breathe and sweat. Electrolytes are essential minerals like sodium, potassium, chloride, calcium, magnesium, phosphate, and bicarbonate that are crucial for nerve/muscle function, hydration, and pH balance. It is important to ensure that our body’s electrolytes are well maintained (electrolytes are like “rapid fuel”). Your body needs electrolytes after intense or prolonged workouts (over an hour) to replace what’s lost in sweat, helping prevent cramps, fatigue, and restore fluid balance; however, for shorter workouts, water is usually enough, and a balanced diet (especially a whole food diet) covers daily needs. Nutrient-dense foods such as unrefined whole grains (e.g. wholemeal bread, quinoa, brown rice, oats), fruits and vegetables are sources that are packed with essential minerals and should be part of your daily whole-food diet.