How to Increase Performance with Food!
You don’t have to be an elite athlete in order to look for ways to make your athletic performance better. The point of physical activity is to challenge yourself, after all. You have to beat the time of your last race, your last triathlon or even just your last walk around the block. At any level, being an athlete means that you are constantly seeking ways to improve. Here are some foods to incorporate into your diet that may actually help your athletic performance! Forget the supplements and eat these real foods!
Beets
The color of this food should get the alarm bells ringing in your mind that these things are GOOD for you. Beets are excellent for your circulatory system. Beetroot is through by researchers to reduce oxygen consumption and decrease the amount of time it takes you to reach the point of exhaustion during a physical activity. You can juice beets to use during training while you work towards your goals or you can just include them in your diet regularly. They are great for you, so go for it!
Maca
What is maca? Well, it’s a Peruvian herb. You can find it, most likely, as a powder. It helps to give your energy and stamina a boost because it has a lot of iron in it. This helps oxygen get to your cells. It also has calcium, which helps with nerve and muscle function. Lastly, it’s packed full of amino acids which are part of the building blocks for a healthy body, but are really great to help your body produce energy and help your muscles recover from a hard workout. So, go ahead and add that powder to your post-workout smoothie or mix it in with nut butter.
Salmon
Salmon is really, really good for you on a lot of levels. For athletes, however, the omega-3 fatty acids it contains help with inflammation. It’s also really great for muscle tone and strength! What’s not to like about salmon?
Turmeric
Again with the anti-inflammatories! Turmeric is great for reducing inflammation and to prevent damage to your muscles during exercise. It’s even been shown in some studies to help with arthritis in joints. Just throw this spice in with some of your cooking or add it to your juicer!
Full Fat Yogurt
Forget the low fat or fat free stuff. If you’re training then you need the fat. What’s great about yogurt is that they are full of good bacteria for your gut and this can help you to feel better all around. Keep that immune system strong so you aren’t side tracked before your big race or day at the gym with illness!
If you have any other questions about nutrition, talk to your chiropractor!
Used under Creative Commons Licensing courtesy of Green Mountain Girls Farm