Onsite Nutrition

Protein - Part 1

2010-08-12T19:00:00.000-07:00

All about our favourite macronutrient: PROTEIN

When it comes to sport nutrition, many people ask about protein. In comments from my online research survey, and in emails I receive from readers of this blog, I am often asked “How much protein do I need daily?” “How much protein should I get when I’m training?” “How can I get protein when climbing outdoors?” “I’m vegetarian/vegan, how can I make sure I get enough protein?” The next couple of blog posts are therefore dedicated to answering your questions about our favourite macronutrient – PROTEIN.

What protein does and does not do in our body

The protein we eat can be used in the body to build tissues such as muscle and connective tissue. Protein is also the base of enzymes and hormones, which control all reactions in our body, including what goes in and out of our cells. Proteins also help identify which cells are a part of our body and which are intruders, like bacteria and viruses. Protein can also be used as a fuel to give our body energy.

It is important to realize that not all of the protein we eat is used to make the proteins in our body. About 50-60% of the protein we eat from food is actually converted to carbohydrate. Our body needs much more carbohydrate then it does fat or protein. So any excess protein we may eat through food or supplement does not necessarily go to our muscles, tissues or enzymes – it can be converted to carbohydrate, or sometimes even fat!

What foods give me protein?

When we think of protein, we often think of meat. But you may be surprised to know that some grains, vegetables and fruit also give us a little protein – they contribute about 40% of the protein in our diet!

If we look at the serving sizes in Eating Well with Canada’s Food Guide, we can estimate:

- One serving of vegetables and fruit gives about 1 or 2 g protein

- One serving of grains gives about 3 g protein

- One serving of milk and alternatives gives about 8 g protein

- One serving of meat and alternatives gives about 20 g protein

How much protein do I need in one day?

The amount of protein you need every day depends on your activity level, weight, and age:

· Exercising can increase the breakdown of protein in the body so that it can be used for energy. However, our bodies tend to adapt to this with regular training. So as our training progresses, our body learns to spare some of its protein.

· The more you weigh, the more tissues you have to maintain, and so the more protein you need. Take note that as an adult, maintaining our tissues only requires a small amount of protein to account for protein losses that occur naturally every day.

· Children and adolescents are growing like crazy! During growth, more new tissues are created every day, which demands more protein to support the structure of a youth’s changing body. This means children and adolescents need more protein per kilogram body weight then their older counterparts. But, considering body weight differences between adults and youth, this does not always work out to larger portions for youth.

It is obvious that protein does a lot in our body, but even when we’re training hard, we really don’t need that much. Despite the fact that many athletes report an intake of over 2.0 g of protein per kilogram body weight per day, adults only need 0.8-1.0 g/kg protein on non-training days. For an adult climber cranking hard in the gym or on the rock, only 1.2 g/kg protein per day is needed, to a maximum of 1.7 g/kg protein per day in the early stages of training.

What do protein needs look like in terms of food?

For someone who weighs 160 lbs (73 kg), on a non-training day all they would need is 60 to 70 grams of protein. Did you know that 2 slices of whole wheat bread and 1 cup of milk already give you 15 g of protein??

Take a look at the tables below. From these tables, it’s easy to see how the average North American eats more protein in a day then needed. Protein adds up rather quickly and it is possible to achieve needs when both training indoors and outdoors – all it takes is planning appropriate meals and snacks!

Non training day*
0.8-1.0 g/kg/d
Weight: 110 lbs = 50 kg		Weight: 160 lbs = 73 kg
40 – 50 g protein/d		60 – 70 g protein/d
Foods	Protein	Foods	Protein
1 slice whole wheat bread	3 g	2 slices whole wheat bread	6 g
2 Tbsp jam	0 g	2 Tbsp jam	0 g
1 cup milk	9 g	1 cup milk	9 g
1 apple	0 g	1 apple	0 g

½ whole wheat pita	3 g	½ whole wheat pita	3 g
Banana	1 g	50 g cheddar cheese	14 g
Lettuce	0 g	Lettuce	0 g
¼ cup chicken strips	12 g	¼ cup chicken strips	12 g
8 baby carrot sticks	1 g	8 baby carrot sticks	1 g
water	0 g	water	0 g

2 slices cheese, meat and vegetable pizza	11 g	2 slices cheese, meat and vegetable pizza	11 g
1 cup garden salad	1 g	1 cup garden salad	1 g
¾ cup yogurt	8 g	¾ cup yogurt	8 g
½ cup pears	0 g	½ cup pears	0 g
Total protein	49 g	Total protein	65 g
*This is NOT a meal plan, but an example of how protein-containing foods can fit into every day meals and add up to meet protein needs. This example may not meet all nutrition needs for everyone, so should not be seen as a meal plan.

Training day (outdoors example)*
1.2-1.5 g/kg/d
Weight: 110 lbs = 50 kg		Weight: 160 lbs = 73 kg
60 – 75 g protein/d		88 – 110 g protein/d
Foods	Protein	Foods	Protein
1 cup oatmeal	6 g	1 cup oatmeal	6 g
3 Tbsp skim milk powder	9 g	3 Tbsp skim milk powder	9 g
1 apple	0 g	1 apple	0 g

1 Banana	1 g	1 Banana	1 g
1 whole wheat tortilla	4 g	1 whole wheat tortilla	4 g
1 Tbsp peanut butter	9 g	2 Tbsp peanut butter	18 g

2 slices whole wheat bread	6 g	2 slices whole wheat bread	6 g
50 g cheddar cheese	14 g	50 g cheddar cheese	14 g
½ avocado	2 g	½ avocado	2 g

¼ cup trail mix	5 g	¼ cup trail mix	5 g
100 g yogurt cup	3 g	100 g yogurt cup	3 g

1 cup pasta	7 g	1 cup pasta	7 g
½ cup pasta sauce	2 g	½ cup pasta sauce	2 g
¼ 60 g-can tuna	7 g	½ 60 g-can tuna	14 g
1 cup carrots, zucchini, bell pepper	1 g	1 cup carrots, zucchini, bell pepper	1 g
Total protein	76 g	Total protein	92 g
*This is NOT a meal plan, but an example of how protein-containing foods can fit into every day meals and add up to meet protein needs. This example may not meet all nutrition needs for everyone, so should not be seen as a meal plan.

Protein needs summary

· Protein in the body is used to build tissues, to work as enzymes and hormones, and to provide fuel for energy.

· Not all the protein we eat is used for muscle, and more then 50% of the protein we eat can be converted to carbohydrate for energy.

· The best food sources of protein are meats, beans, legumes, nuts and seeds, but milk and alternatives, grain products and even vegetables and fruit contribute a significant amount of protein to the diet.

· We only need a small amount of protein per day, even when training at high intensity. This need can easily be met through food.

References:

Burke, L., Deakin, V. Clinical Sports Nutrition, Chp 4: Protein and amino acid needs for training and bulking up. 3rd ED., 2006. McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd.

Canadian Nutrient File, accessed via the Internet at http://webprod.hc-sc.gc.ca/cnf-fce/index-eng.jsp

Stay tuned!

To follow in our protein series, a post about protein supplements, and protein in vegetarian regimes.

What should I eat BEFORE, DURING, and AFTER training or competition??

2010-03-21T16:27:00.000-07:00

Last year, I sent out a research survey to rock climbing gyms all across North America. I added one question to that survey to help me with topics for this blog. The question was “If you could ask a nutrition professional anything, what would you ask?” I got a lot of great questions, and found out most climbers want to know, what should I eat before, during and after climbing.

From that survey, I also found out that a lot of climbers are cross-training with weight training, running, yoga and biking.

This blog post is for every type of sports, exercise, or climbing enthusiast. No matter what you’re training for, how you’re training, or when you’re training, one of the most useful topics in sport nutrition is WHAT to eat WHEN.

Below are links to 2 tables I created (in pdf format) summarizing all the information. I suggest you download these tables to follow along with the written post. One of the tables lists numbers – grams of carbohydrate and millilitres of fluids recommended per kilogram body weight. These amounts are known in research for intense training, and were calculated looking mostly at endurance athletes. If you were to calculate these for yourself, without the help of a Sports Dietitian, you may think the amounts recommended are impractical for your training. I don’t want you to get caught up in these calculations – I simply provided them to you as a reference. However, the WHAT and WHEN to eat are still practical for every level of training, competitive or recreational.

LINK 1: Before During After Table

LINK 2: Before During After Meal Ideas

What and when to eat BEFORE training or competition

As we go through what to eat before, during and after training or competition, we’re not just talking about FOOD. We’re also talking about FLUIDS, which play a pivotal role in performance.

Your nutrition goals before starting your training session or competition are:

1. Prevent thirst.

2. Maximize your muscle and liver carbohydrate stores.

Drinking FLUID hours before helps prevent dehydration during your training or competition. This is very important; just a little dehydration causes poor performance (##insert hyperlink here). If you’re the type of person who is too busy, or forgets to drink fluids throughout the day, then make a conscience effort to start drinking fluids at least 4 hours before your session. Drink fluids slowly with food or a salty snack – this helps keep fluid in the body so that you’re not spending your time running to the bathroom!

In terms of FOOD, when you arrive at your training session or competition, you shouldn’t be hungry nor should you have undigested food in your stomach. Just like hydration, if you’re in for an intense training session, your nutrition plan starts 4 to 8 hours before! This is to make sure your muscles are fueled so that they can work at intense levels for longer periods of time.

Eat carbohydrate-rich foods 3 to 4 hours before exercise – this increases the level of energy stored in your muscles and liver. By having a full meal with carbohydrate-rich foods 3 to 4 hours before your session, you will help increase your endurance.

-- To learn more about carbohydrates and how they work in the body, see the previous blog post --

As time before your training session gets shorter, have smaller meals and snacks, but still rich in carbohydrates to keep your blood sugar up – this is important to prevent fatigue during exercise. With less then 2 hours before your training session, have some crackers and cheese, pita and hummus, or a peanut butter and jam sandwich with some vegetable sticks. These snacks are generally lower in fat and fibre, high in carbohydrate and moderate in protein.

Fat, fibre and high amounts of protein empty from the stomach slowly so tend to leave a heavy feeling in the stomach when training. Carbohydrate empties from your stomach more quickly. The carbohydrate snacks mentioned above allow you to arrive at your session energized without a heavy feeling in your stomach.

Review

r Carbohydrate is the most important for giving your muscles energy.

r Arriving hydrated and fueled increases performance and endurance.

r Your nutrition plan starts as early as 8 hours before training

o If training in the MORNING, this means what you eat and drink the night before counts

o If training in the AFTERNOON OR EVENING, this means what you eat and drink from the moment you wake up counts.

r Choose carbohydrate rich foods lower in fat, fibre and moderate in protein close to training time.

Putting it into practice:

If your training or competition is in the MORNING:

Night before: High carb dinner + extra fluid. Example, pasta with chickpea marinara sauce + ¾ cup yogurt + ½ cup fruit + water, tea or 100% fruit juice.

Morning of: Eat light breakfast/large snack + extra fluid. Example, low fibre breakfast cereal + ½ cup fruit + milk, water, tea or 100% fruit juice.

If your training or competition is in the EVENING:

Morning of: Eat a carbohydrate rich breakfast. Example, pancakes with yogurt or cottage cheese + ½ cup fruit + water, tea or 100% fruit juice.

Afternoon of: Eat a carbohydrate-rich lunch. Example, turkey sandwich + crackers and cheese + ½ cup vegetable sticks + milk, water, tea or 100% fruit juice.

Evening of: Have a large or small snack at dinner before training or competition. Example, granola bar and juice box with extra water or toast with jam and peanut butter.

What and when to eat DURING training or competition

Your nutrition goals during your training session or competition are:

1. Stay hydrated.

2. Maintain blood sugar levels so you don’t fatigue.

Make sure you frequently drink FLUIDS. Staying hydrated is the most important factor for maintaining performance during training or competition. Don’t wait until you are thirsty. Physical activity delays thirst. If you are thirsty, you are already dehydrated.

The amount of fluid you need largely varies on your training climate and intensity; if it is hotter and you are working harder, then you will need more fluids. As a benchmark, aim to drink fluid at least every 10 to 20 minutes during training or competition, ½ cup to 1 cup of fluid.

You do not need any extra FOOD if you are training or competing for less then 60 minutes. For the first hour of training, hydrating with water is all you need.

After one hour, have a carbohydrate source to keep blood sugars up. This improves performance, and prevents you and your muscles from fatiguing. Thirty to 70 g of carbohydrate per hour is suggested when training for longer sessions. This can be taken in the form of a sport drink, sport gel, or carbohydrate-rich foods such as fig bars, dried fruit, date squares or crackers.

Take small amounts of carbohydrate every 10 to 20 minutes. Taking a large portion of carbohydrate at the end of one hour is not as effective as eating smaller portions frequently throughout the hour. You can do this easily by pairing it with your fluid intake: drink ½ cup to 1 cup of sport drink every 10 to 20 minutes OR use the same amount of water to wash down some raisins, a fig bar or a cracker.

If your training or competition lasts longer then 3 to 4 hours, consider taking a short break to get in a small or large snack. At any point before, during, or after your training/competition, you don’t want to go more then 3 to 4 hours without refueling your body with food.

Review:

r If you are thirsty, you are already dehydrated.

r Aim to drink some fluids every 10 to 20 minutes during training and competition.

r After 60 minutes of training, your muscles fatigue and need refueling. Every 10 to 20 minutes, take a source of carbohydrate, either in the form of sport drink, or snack food.

r Avoid going 3 to 4 hours without a large snack or meal.

Putting it into practice:

If you are training for less then 60 minutes: All you need is water. Drink frequently, every 10 to 20 minutes. Keep your water bottle or hydration pack with you at all times.

If you are training for more then 60 minutes: You need some carbohydrate, every 10 to 20 minutes. Switch from water to a sport drink, or have some dried fruit, crackers, or a sport gel when you take your water every 10 to 20 minutes.

If you are training for more then 3 to 4 hours: Take a break to refuel with a small to large snack. If training in a gym, bring a cooler packed with your favourite snacks and light meals. If outdoors, pack granola bars, fruit, crackers, jam packets, nuts and seeds, or return to camp and make a sandwich with some veggie sticks or soup with bread.

What and when to eat AFTER training or competition

Eating after training or competition is to recover from the intense exercise. Recovery nutrition allows you to train at a higher level without risk of illness, injury or overtraining. Getting recovery foods after your training session allows your body to recover quicker. This reduces the rest time your body needs between sessions and improves the quality of your next session. Therefore, recovery nutrition is even more important if you plan on training hard again in the next 24 hours.

Your nutrition goals after your training session or competition are:

1. Start recovery immediately.

2. Take carbohydrate to refuel muscle and liver stores.

3. Take a little protein to repair muscle.

Intense training actually causes damage to the body. Intense training causes tiny tears in muscle protein fibres. This damage is a good thing, because recovering from it makes you and your muscles stronger. When you don’t recover, such as when you overtrain, don’t take rest days, and avoid getting in the proper recovery foods, the damage builds up and can lead to overuse injuries.

The best recovery happens just 15 to 30 minutes after your training! Right after exercise, the muscle cells have used up all their carbohydrate stores and are very sensitive to refueling and repairing. If you feed your muscles a little carbohydrate and protein at this time, you will maximize your recovery.

Once again, carbohydrate is the most important for muscle recovery. Eating carbohydrate allows your muscles to restock their energy stores, and can support muscle protein synthesis (muscle strengthening and building).

Protein is also important for maximizing your post-training recovery. Right after exercise (15 to 30 minutes) your muscles are most receptive to absorbing the building blocks of their protein fibres. Eating protein allows for more muscle building and repairing. Recent research shows that only a little bit of protein is needed to do this – it seems that no more then 20 grams of protein after intense training is needed to maximize muscle protein synthesis. You can get at least 20 grams of protein by eating:

- ½ cup cottage cheese + 1 hard cooked egg

- 1 cup of milk + ¼ cup nuts

- Fruit smoothie made with ¾ cup yogurt + 2 Tbsp peanut butter

- 60 g cheddar cheese on toast

- Tuna wrap with 1 can of tuna

- Club sandwich with 75 g of turkey or chicken breast

Having any of these foods post-training will help your muscles recover.

-- To learn more about protein and how it works in the body, see the previous blog post --

By 2 hours after your training session, you need to have a full meal. Make sure this meal is balanced with both carbohydrate and protein sources. Carbohydrates should come from an abundance of vegetables or fruit and some grain products, such as breads, pastas, couscous, rice, oatmeal, etc. Foods that contain both carbohydrate and protein are milk, cheeses, yogurt, beans, lentils, chickpeas, seeds, etc. Meats such as turkey, chicken, beef and fish have very little carbohydrate but are good sources of protein. A balanced meal is 50% vegetables and fruit, 25% grains, 25% meat or meat alternative.

Review:

r Take advantage of the 15 to 30 minutes after your training session and by eating recovery foods. Most important is carbohydrate, but a little protein is needed for muscle recovery.

r Only about 20 grams of protein is needed right after training to optimize your muscle recovery. You can easily get this through food.

Putting it into practice:

15 to 30 minutes after training or competition: Have at least a small recovery snack that provides both carbohydrate and protein. Pack these snacks in your gym bag or keep some stored at the gym. For at the crag, make sure you pack some in your rope bag or crash pad when at the crag.

2 hours after training or competition: Have a full balanced meal. Make sure this has carbohydrate in the form of grains, cereals and vegetables and fruit, and protein in the form of meat, fish, poultry, tofu, soy, beans, lentils or chickpeas.

Summary

There’s a lot of information here to take in. Remember at least these few key messages:

r Don’t go more then 3 to 4 hours without refueling your body.

r Carbohydrate food and fluid sources are important before, during and after training or competition.

r If you’re training for only 60 minutes, all you need is water, but make sure you are drinking water frequently.

r If you’re training more then 60 minutes, you need small but frequent amounts of carbohydrate foods or fluids.

r Take carbohydrate-rich and protein-rich snacks within the 15 to 30 minutes after training.

r Only 20 grams of protein is needed after training, but is important for muscle strengthening and building.

r Balanced meals including vegetables and fruit are important for health and recovery.

Finally, I will leave you with one last but very important rule:

Don’t try anything new the day it counts!

Whether it’s competition day, or whether it’s your last day in Squamish and you want to send that five-star project, don’t try any new food! It has happened to many athletes – on the day that it counts, they see another athlete drinking an energy drink, or they are offered some spicy creamy dish they have never heard of before. If you have never tried a food or drink before, then don’t try it on the day it counts. You don’t know how well you tolerate that food or drink, and you may spend the rest of the day in the bathroom!

References

Joint Position Paper: Nutrition and Athletic Performance (2008). Dietitians of Canada, American College of Sports Medicine, American Dietetic Association.

Position Stand: Exercise and Fluid Replacement (2007). American College of Sports Medicine.

Tang, J. E. & Phillips, S. M. (2009). Maximizing muscle protein anabolism: the role of protein quality. Current Opinion in Clinical Nutrition and Metabolic Care. 12:66-71.

Mansfield, B. (2009). Nutrition and Athletic Performance (presentation slides). www.peakperformance.on.ca.

Macronutrients

2010-02-27T12:39:00.000-08:00

Carbohydrates, protein and fat – what are they, why do I need them, and what foods are they in?

When we talk about food and sports nutrition, we often talk about the 3 macronutrients: carbohydrate, protein and fat. All of these are important for our health and for athletic performance. The goal of this blog post is to make you understand why our bodies need these macronutrients, and what foods are good sources of each macronutrient.

Macronutrients – what are they?

Macronutrients are the main components that make up food. They are carbohydrate, protein and fat. All three of these macronutrients provide calories, meaning they all give your body the energy it needs to keep working, whether that is sitting at a desk or climbing pitch after pitch all day.

Each macronutrient also gives you more then just energy. The macronutrients come in many different forms that also have special functions in the body that can benefit your climbing training and performance.

Carbohydrates – your body’s favourite source of energy

Even though all macronutrients give your body energy, your body prefers carbohydrate to the others for energy. You’re body needs lots of fuel when you are training at high volumes and high intensity. Just as a car runs better on a full tank of premium gasoline, your body performs better when you are fully fuelled with healthful carbohydrate foods.

What are carbohydrates?

Carbohydrates are sugar molecules and chains of sugar molecules. Sugar, starch and fibre are all different types of carbohydrate. Although fibre does not give your body energy (it provides almost no calories), it is important for your digestive system, helps regulate cholesterol, has a role in preventing certain diseases (such as cancer), and is used by bacteria in your gut to give you vitamins.

Why do I need carbohydrates?

All the cells in the body – from brain to muscle to immune system cells – prefer carbohydrate for energy. Without the energy from carbohydrates, your brain may not be able to focus as well, your immune system may not be able to fight off colds and flu, and your muscles will not have enough energy to train or compete for long hours or at high levels. Symptoms of low energy levels due to not getting enough energy through food are:

· Poor strength

· Poor endurance

· Fatigue

· Injury

· Illness

· Longer recovery time needed after training

· Poor bone growth, menstrual problems and muscle loss in severe cases

When we eat carbohydrate foods, the carbohydrate is broken down in our body, and then put back together and stored in a form our body can use. The body stores carbohydrate in the muscles and liver, but muscles store the most. The stored carbohydrate is released during training to allow the muscles to work and to maintain blood sugar levels and delay fatigue. Therefore, if you don’t eat carbohydrate foods, you will have low stores of carbohydrate in your liver and muscles – you will not be able to train as long or as hard.

You need carbohydrates because:

· They are your body’s preferred source of energy.

· Your muscles store a lot for training and competition.

· Your muscles use a lot during training and competition.

· Carbohydrates fuel your brain to help your focus and mental attitude (especially important in the sport of rock climbing).

· Not getting enough carbohydrate increases your risk of illness and injury.

What foods are good sources of carbohydrate?

Carbohydrates come from foods such as vegetables, fruit, milk products and grain products. Following Canada’s Food Guide, these are the first 3 food groups. The best sources of carbohydrates are generally grain products such as breads, crackers, cereals, rices and pastas. Vegetables such as potatoes, sweet potatoes, corn and squash are starchy and contain a lot of carbohydrate. Meat alternatives such as beans, lentils and chickpeas are also great sources of carbohydrate.

Protein – repairing your muscle after intense training

What is protein?

Proteins are made up of chains of smaller molecules called amino acids. There are both plant and animal sources of protein, made up of different combinations of the amino acids. Whether your protein comes from plant or animal sources, all can be beneficial for athletic performance.

Why do I need protein?

Although protein can provide your body with energy, it is better used for giving you a sense of fullness after meals and repairing muscle after intense training.

Protein takes longer to empty from the stomach, and therefore sits in the stomach longer then carbohydrate. This can be useful for a person who is trying to maintain a certain body weight – spreading out protein intake throughout the day by having a little bit of protein at each meal will help a person feel full for longer after meals. A “little bit” of protein is only one serving – only 75 g or ½ cup of meat or ¾ cup of beans, lentils, tofu, etc. For an athlete, a large amount of protein just before training will sit in the stomach and may cause nausea or unpleasant fullness during training.

When we train and exert our muscles, we are actually causing small tears in the muscle. These tears are not bad because when they are repaired, the muscle grows bigger and stronger. For the muscle to repair, it needs both carbohydrate and protein. When we eat protein foods, the protein is broken down into its amino acids. The amino acids travel to the torn muscle fibres, and help repair them while the carbohydrate slows down further breakdown of the muscle fibres. This recovery of the muscle by team carbohydrate and protein is what strengthens the muscle after exercise.

You need protein because:

· Protein helps keep you feeling full for longer, which may help on long outdoor trips when meals may be spread apart.

· Protein along with carbohydrate rebuilds and repairs muscles after intense training.

· Without protein and carbohydrate after training, muscles may not fully recover, and next day training may be impaired.

What foods are good sources of protein?

There are both animal and plant sources of protein. Following Canada’s Food Guide, the last 2 food groups, milk and alternatives and meat and alternatives provide the most good quality protein. Some breads and pastas also contribute protein.

Animal sources:

· Beef

· Poultry

· Fish

· Eggs

· Cheese, milk, yogurt

Plant sources:

· Chickpeas

· Beans

· Lentils

· Soybeans, tofu

· Peanuts, almonds, nut butters

· Seeds

Fat – important for the normal functioning of your body and reducing risk of injury

What is fat?

Fat as a macronutrient is a group of more complex molecules. Generally, fats are made up of long chains of carbons that house a lot of energy. The number of carbons in the chain and the types of links between the carbons make up the different types of fats. These types can be variations of saturated, polyunsaturated, monounsaturated, trans, omega-3, omega-6, etc.

Why do I need fat?

Fats have a lot of functions in the body. When most people think of fat, they think of its storage form – the type of fat that is stored in the body under the skin. But fats in food are very important. All the cell membranes in our body are made up of fat – they protect the cell and help regulate what gets in and out. This also helps cells in the body communicate, especially cells in the nervous system. Fat molecules in our food carry and allow us to absorb important vitamins such as vitamins A, D, E and K. Special fats, such as omega-3 fats also lower inflammation in the body – this not only decreases risk of heart disease, but also lowers risk of injury related to inflammation.

Remember how when we train, small tears form in the muscle? Although this damage helps us build stronger muscle, it also causes some inflammation. With overtraining (which happens when we put repeated burns on the same problem) this causes extra damage and leads to overuse injuries (those sore pulleys and tendons that never seem to heal). Having some healthful omega-3 fats in the diet help to prevent this extra damage, and therefore help us recover better, and prevent injury.

You need fat because:

· All your cells in your body are wrapped in an envelop of fat molecules.

· Fat molecules help your cells in your body communicate.

· Important vitamins are found in the fat portion of foods. These vitamins need that fat to help them be transported into your body.

· Omega-3 fats reduce inflammation, which helps you recover from training, and reduce the risk of injury.

What foods are good sources of healthful fats?

Because fats give us more energy then the other macronutrients (are higher in calories) we generally don’t need a lot of added fats in our diet. So we need to make sure that the foods we are choosing are good sources of healthful fats.

Healthful fats contain lower levels of saturated and industry-produced trans fats, and higher levels of polyunsaturated, monounsaturated and omega-3 fats. Cold-water fatty fish are great sources of healthful omega-3 fats. If you are able to eat fish, aim for 2 to 3 meals with fish per week.

Good sources of healthful fats:

· Fatty fish (cold water)

· Flaxseed (must be ground up)

· Walnuts

· Canola and olive oils

· Omega-3 enriched products, such as enriched eggs, milk and margarine

Cold-water fatty fish to have 2-3 times per week:

· Mackerel

· Chunk light tuna

· Salmon

· Atlantic herring

· Lake trout

· Sardines

Summary:

· Carbohydrate is the most important macronutrient for athletic performance.

· Your body prefers carbohydrate to other macronutrients for fuel.

· Vegetables, fruit, milk and alternatives and meat alternatives are great sources of carbohydrates.

· Protein stays in your stomach longer (is digested slower) so keeps you fuller for longer.

· Protein right after a training sessions helps build and repair muscle, so that muscles grow stronger and you perform better in your next training session. Get this protein from food from milk and alternatives or meat and alternatives.

· Fats are important! Your body needs them to absorb and transport certain vitamins, and your cells need them to communicate with the rest of you body.

· Choose foods that are lower in saturated and industry-produced trans fats. Regularly have sources of healthful fats such as cold-water fish, canola and olive oils, and nuts and seeds. These are low in saturated fat and sources of omega-3 fats that help reduce inflammation and therefore risk of injury.

Conclusion

All of the macronutrients are important for your health and for your performance. How much you need of each depends on your gender, body weight, how often you train, at what intensity, medical history, etc. It’s important to get a variety of each macronutrient through food, and to choose healthful choices. For more information and to help you figure out your exact needs and how these can fit into your everyday life, find a Sports Dietitian close to you. In Canada, you can find one here:

· Coaching Association of Canada

· Dietitian’s of Canada

Carbohydrate

Protein

Fat

Your body’s favourite source of energy

Repairing your muscle after intense training

Important for the normal functioning of your body and reducing risk of injury

· Whole wheat, whole grain or enriched breads, crackers, cereals and pastas

· Rice

· Buckwheat

· Vegetables such as potatoes, sweet potatoes, corn and squash

· Meat alternatives such as beans, lentils and chickpeas

Animal sources:

· Lean cuts of beef

· Chicken and turkey

· Cold-water fish

· Eggs

· Cheese, milk, yogurt

Plant sources:

· Chickpeas

· Beans

· Lentils

· Soybeans, tofu

· Peanuts, almonds, nut butters

· Seeds

· Ground up flaxseed

· Walnuts

· Canola and olive oils

· Omega-3 enriched products, such as enriched eggs, milk and margarine

· Mackerel

· Chunk light tuna

· Salmon

· Atlantic herring

· Lake trout

· Sardines

Stay tuned!

The next blog post will be up shortly discussing what to eat before, during, and after training, sending or competition!

Mini Nutrition Guide

2009-09-10T15:17:00.000-07:00

Mini Nutrition Guide to Albarracín Spain

As mentioned in the last posting, here is the mini nutrition guide for the Albarracín Spain climbing area. Here you will find information on shopping, food culture, and food and meal ideas when climbing in this area.

Because I like to use photos and tables to make the information easier to read, the mini guide has been made into a pdf format. You can download it for free by CLICKING HERE.

Comments and questions are welcome at onsitenutrition@gmail.com.

Thanks!

Krystal

Mini Nutrition Guides

2009-08-21T11:40:00.000-07:00

Mini Nutrition Guides for the Traveling Climber

Just this spring, I spent 68 days traveling, climbing, and taking in the food culture throughout Europe. I figured, while I was there, that I take notes on the food and culture that may help a traveling climber’s nutrition when abroad.

A recent research survey I did showed that on climbing trips, we climbers tend to choose less foods from all the food groups. Instead of consuming available whole foods, which are packed with vitamins, minerals, and energy, we rely mostly on trail mix and protein bars for energy and nutrition. This shows that our nutrition on climbing trips is lacking.

When we’re outdoors and active all day, our nutrition can help make our climbing day more successful, no matter what our level. Knowing what foods are available at our favourite outdoor crags might help us make better food choices, and improve our nutrition on trips.

A future goal of mine is to one day offer detailed nutrition guides to popular climbing destinations world wide. But, for now, this is my novice attempt. On my recent 68-day long trip, I visited and compiled information for Albarracín Spain, Magic Woods Switzerland, and Fontainebleau France. In the blog posts to come, you will find mini nutrition guides for these places that will include information on local foods and eating (gastronomy), eating out tips, supermarket and farmer’s markets, currency, language, stove fuels, potable water sources and camping recipes.

Although I take a sport nutrition approach to these mini nutrition guides, I also want to emphasize the love of food!! Trying new foods is also a part of experiencing the culture of the areas we visit. I hope for you to get the most out of your travels.

Because this is my first attempt, I would like to hear back from you. Tell me what about these guides are useful, and what sucks. I welcome any constructive criticism on these guides so that in the future, I can make them better. Plus, the more criticism I get, the more reason for me to return to these European climbing spots (and what a shame that would be, lol).

The country specific posts are to come. First, some general traveling tips.

Enjoy!

General Nutrition Traveling Tips

Checklist for the traveling climber

Here’s a list of food prep-related items to pack (Table 1):

Table 1. Traveling checklist.

r Camping pots
r Camping stove	A multi-fuel stove is ideal. Some countries use different fuels, or certain fuels may be more economical.
r Extra fuel bottles	Make sure they are empty when in transit.
r Can opener
r Lighters or strike-anywhere matches
r Bowl	Can be used to mix ingredients and eat from.
r Spork or Foon	Any form of spoon-fork hybrid.
r A good knife and sharpener
r Your favourite spices	Pack these in small containers or plastic bags.
r Flaxseed	Only a few teaspoons per day are needed to help maintain bowel movements.
r Enough dry food for 2 meals	This is so that when you arrive at your destination, you have a meal ready. You may arrive when the stores are closed.
r About $200 cash	In case you arrive and banks are closed.
r Dromedary bag and water bottles	Empty if traveling by plane.
r Gatorade or juice powder	These may be hard to find at some destinations.
r Favourite sports/cereal/granola bars	These may not be available at some destinations.
r Ziploc or other plastic bags	Good for packing leftovers and storing food from ripped store packaging.
r Towels	To wash, dry, and handle hot pots.
r Mug
r Mini cutting board
r Garbage bag
r Hand sanitizer or wet naps
r Bottle opener	For sampling local beer and wines J

Nutrition During Travel

Whether by plane, train or automobile, the pressurized cabins and the air conditioning can dehydrate you. Dehydration en route can give you headaches, tiredness, and poor bowel movements. Stay hydrated by drinking at least 1 cup of fluid every hour. Water, juice, sport drinks, tea, and coffee all count. This may make you pee more, but this encourages you to get up and stretch. Moving and stretching is especially more important on long trips, when your muscles can become cramped or stiff.

If traveling by plane, remember to bring an EMPTY water bottle, and fill it once you’ve passed through security checks. Any bottle containing liquids will be thrown out at the security check.

Check to see if your flights offer a meal service, or if your trains have a cafeteria on board. You may want to pack your own snacks and meals on long traveling days. You will be getting better nutrition packing food yourself when choosing foods from all the food groups. Packing your own food also ensures that the food available to you won’t make you sick.

Tips for Safe Food so you don’t get sick

Some people may not tolerate foreign food well. Follow these tips if you are concerned about getting sick from food.

If concerned about water:

· Use bottled water for drinking, mixing sport drinks, rinsing cooking equipment, and brushing teeth. Be aware that this may become costly.

· You can boil water for 10 minutes, or purchase a water filter.

· Be aware of ice cubes and ice drinks. These may not be made from boiled or filtered water.

Inspect food products before purchase:

· Make sure food and drink seals are unbroken before consuming contents.

· Dents in cans may weaken the seal.

· Avoid fruit with damaged skin.

When eating out:

· Meals should be sold to you either steaming hot or refrigerated. Avoid lukewarm foods.

· Avoid food sold by street vendors. Public food is less safe when not kept at the right temperature, when raw and prepared foods are mixed, and when served without utensils.

Foods that are less likely to make you sick:

· Foods that have been thoroughly cooked (steaming hot).

· Raw foods that have been washed in safe water.

· Foods that can be peeled.

Foods most likely to make you sick:

· Pre-prepared salads, rare meats, hamburger meat, cream fillings, fish.

The easiest way to prevent food borne illness:

· Wash your hands before preparing food!

Organize your food

Eating foods from all the food groups gives us the energy, nutrients, vitamins and minerals needed to stay healthy and climb hard all trip long. When you return to your campsite from the grocery store, separate your food into bags based on the following food groups (Table 2).

Table 2. Food groups, what they do for us, and examples.
Vegetables and Fruit	Starch	Milk and Alternatives	Meat and Alternatives
· Vitamins and minerals from these help prevent sickness and may help against oxidative stress. · Their fibre keeps the intestines healthy and our BMs regular.	· Huge source of energy for our muscles and our mind. · Helps muscle recovery. · Enriched varieties give us needed vitamins and minerals.	· Source of calcium for our skeleton. · Source of good quality protein for muscle recovery. · Liquid varieties help us hydrate.	· Long lasting energy. · Increases satiety. · Good source of protein for muscle recovery. · Give us minerals that are important for all athletes.
Zucchini, squash, carrots, cauliflower, bananas, grapes, strawberries	Potatoes, corn, pasta, rice, couscous, cereals, flour, bread	Cow’s milk, soymilk, yogurt, cheeses, puddings	Ham, eggs, chicken, lentils, chickpeas, tofu, navy beans, kidney beans

If you organize your food into four different bags (one for each food group), then you just need to make sure you choose foods from each bag every day. This is an easy start to making sure you are getting balanced nutrition while you are away.

Good resource for worldly climbers:

Survival Around the World, Australian Institute of Sport, 2004

Nutrition Research Survey Results

2009-04-29T09:32:00.000-07:00

Results from my nutrition research survey!

The first set of results is in! Thank you to all who participated in my nutrition research survey on rock climbers. I have been very busy compiling the first set of data, and have summarized it here for you to see! Much more statistical analysis is going to be done over the summer months so that this study can be published.

For now, here is a broad summary of my main preliminary results:

Why did I do this research survey?

In 2008, I published the very first rock climbing nutrition case study (link). In that study, I showed that rock climbers might have different issues in regards to food and nutrition, then other athletes.
In other sports, common issues that influence what foods athletes chose are pressures in the sport to have a certain body type or size, the belief that achieving a certain body weight or composition improves performance, purposely avoiding drinking fluids, and difficulties choosing or finding food when traveling. These issues may be based on false beliefs and may harm the athlete’s health.
As rock climbers, we know that our environment changes when we go climbing and camping to different outdoor areas – some foods available in Hueco may be different from those in Squamish. Plus, what foods we choose outdoors, and how we prepare them, may be different when on a climbing trip compared to when we are at home, or training on indoor walls.
As of now, nutrition issues are known for other sports, but not for rock climbing. By looking at what foods we choose, and why, we can find out the issues. This will help us create solutions so that we can eat like champs, both indoors and outdoors. This is important to help maintain our health so that we can climb at the best of our ability and enjoy our sport for years to come.

What was the purpose of this study?

The main purpose was to determine issues that affect nutrition in rock climbers. In other words: What are some reasons for why climbers may not be getting all the foods they need, to stay healthy and climb hard?
I also wanted to find out if the issues are different when living at home, compared to when on a climbing trip.
To clarify, this study was NOT to find the “magic climbing diet” – diets fail and they don’t always promote health. This study was designed to determine practical food and nutrition tips to help climbers at all levels of ability; even high-level climbers can benefit from nutrition information to improve their health so that they can climb at that level for longer. Keep in mind, no diet will automatically make you the best climber in the world, but choosing certain foods will help your muscles recover better, will keep your energy up over long climbing days, will help prevent injury, and will keep your body in tip top shape, so that you can climb for many years to come! This is all good for your performance and your health, regardless of how hard you climb.

The bottom line: no magic food or magic diet will be found here.

What did I find?

What foods climbers choose, and why they choose those foods, is different from indoors to outdoors.

What foods do climbers choose?

When on a climbing trip, climbers choose certain foods less often. These are: vegetables and fruit (fresh, canned or dried), starchy foods (grains, bread, pastas, rice), milk or alternatives (milk, cheese, yogurt), meat and added fats (oils, mayo, crèmes).
When outdoors, climbers choose more often some form of trail mix or granola, and…(this is my favourite stat of the study)…choose more alcohol!
Outdoors, we climbers also tend to stick to common staples such as oatmeal, apples and bananas. We also rely more on protein bars, instead of increasing the amount of vegetable or canned sources of meat, which are also convenient and don’t spoil.

Why do we choose the foods we do?

People choose certain foods for all sorts of reasons: price, mood, taste, convenience, for body weight, for natural content of the food, how the food affects our health, etc.
When living at home and training indoors, we climbers appear to choose food firstly based on reasons for health. It is next most important to us the natural content of the food, then price, then convenience.
Outdoors, the reasons we choose foods are ranked spoilage as the most important, then convenience, health, and price.
One interesting result is that choosing foods for body weight control was NOT important to us climbers. Good job us! Choosing foods for body weight, shape, or size is a common issue in other sports, and can lead to dangerous behaviours that hurt the athlete. Body shape, weight, and size don’t necessarily say anything about a person’s health. Focusing on HEALTH for food choice is much more important so that we can enjoy lots of different types of foods while enjoying our sport.

So what are the food and nutrition issues in rock climbing?

This study showed that when we go climbing and camping outdoors, a few issues arise that affect our food and nutrition:

Outdoors…

1. We choose vegetables and fruit less often. Vegetables and fruit are packed with vitamins and minerals, and other good things. Vitamin and mineral requirements are higher in athletes.
2. We choose fewer carbohydrate foods and may not be getting enough energy. Not getting enough carbohydrate suggests not getting enough calories overall – in this study, it seemed that most climbers did not eat frequent snacks during days when climbing outdoors. When we don’t consume enough calories, it hurts our performance, and can cancel out benefits of training.
3. We choose less milk and milk alternatives. We all know that milk is good for our bones. On top of not getting enough calcium and vitamin D, combined with low food energy intake and a slight body build, there is increased risk of bone stress fracture.
4. We choose fewer food items that are high in protein. We rely more on protein supplements, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. But, food sources of protein have other benefits, and can be a better source of iron. Low iron intake (even before deficiency) can cause fatigue and poor performance in athletes.
5. Spoilage and convenience of food influences our food choices most when outdoors. At home, HEALTH is the most important factor for us when it comes to what foods we eat. Health is still important to us climbers outdoors, but becomes relatively less important considering our environment. So what we climbers want is healthful food that also keeps well, and is easy to prepare.

Practical Information

Based on what I have found in this research study, there are a few practical tips I can give. Stay tuned! As I continue to do more analysis of the results, I’m sure to have more!

1. Bring more snacks to the crag! Trail mix is an obvious snack choice. Try adding different and more food items to it: dried mango, corn nuts, pumpkin seeds, dry cereal, croutons, dried vegetables, chocolate chunks, shaved coconut, oats, honey, etc. A snack can also be a can of tuna (you can get flavoured kinds too), a PB&J sandwich, edamame beans, crackers, pretzels, granola or protein bars, vegetable sticks, fruit, etc.

2. Consider non-perishable milk and alternatives. You can now get milk (or soymilk) in UHT packaging. These are heated to a high temperature during processing, so that they don’t spoil as quickly. In fact, UHT packaged products don’t need to be refrigerated until the package is opened, making them great for camping as you can get milk in juice box size. Also consider adding milk powder to oatmeal, trail mix or granola, and pasta sauces. Yogurt also doesn’t spoil as quickly because it is slightly acidic.

3. Consider food sources of protein. Vegetable sources of protein and canned meats don’t spoil as quickly. Try adding canned tuna, canned chicken, beans, lentils and chickpeas to pasta sauces, stir frys and soups. Mix peanut or other nut butter into breakfast oatmeal, mix seeds into stir frys. Adding milk powder to your meals also increases the protein content. Some grains are also high in protein: pot barley has 10 grams of protein in ½ cup.

Pot barley stir fry:

1 cup pot barley (20 grams protein)
1 cup lentils (44 grams protein)
Vegetable stock or bouillon cube
Variety of vegetables: carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, zucchini, bell peppers
Balsamic vinegar and brown sugar
Almonds, pine nuts, or seeds

Rinse barley in cold water. Boil in 3 cups of water with bouillon cube, or in 3 cups of vegetable stock.
Rinse lentils. Boil in up to 5 cups of water.
Chop and fry vegetables. Add balsamic vinegar and brown sugar, then mix.
Top barley with lentils and vegetables. Sprinkle nuts and seeds on top.
Enjoy!

This may serve about 3 people, providing 21 grams of protein per meal.

What do I still have to do with this study?

I still have more stats to run on the data. This will help me determine if there are other factors that influence food choice, and if there are differences in food choices and influences between guys and girls. Going through your responses and comments will also help me bring you more practical tips.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me at onsitenutrition@gmail.com.

Thanks!

Krystal Merrells

Culinary Camping

2009-02-25T15:26:00.000-08:00

New Recipes from the Desert

I just got back from an awesome trip to Hueco Tanks, Texas! I thought I’d share some of my new recipes with you.

In general, I think these recipes will feed 2 very hungry climbers, or 4 lazy climbers.

Feel free to switch up or add any other vegetables to the recipes. This past trip, we often grated carrots just with a knife and added them to many pastas, sauces, and stir frys.

Mark’s Favourite Desert Jambalaya
First of all, this isn’t exactly Jambalaya. Another climber at the campsite said that’s what our dinner looked like, so it stuck! This dinner creation came from needing to use leftover pasta sauce and rice.

Note the CACTUS in the recipe!!! Go to the Vista Mercado. Walk to the back of the produce section, and look on the refrigerated shelves of produce. You’ll find bags of local farmed cactus!!! They are pre-sliced and taste SO GOOD!!! Like cucumber and kiwi combined. You can eat them on their own (like fruit), or you can fry them up for dinner (like vegetables).

2 cups dry rice
Water to make the rice
½ can/jar of tomato sauce
1 can kidney or black beans
Cactus
Bell peppers, sliced
Cayenne pepper
Cumin
Cilantro (optional)
Cheese (optional)

1. Make rice in one pot.
2. In another pot, fry cactus and bell pepper until soft.
3. Add sauce to fried cactus and bell pepper.
4. Drain and add beans to sauce and add as much spices as you want. Heat covered until sauce bubbles.
5. Add cilantro to sauce just before eating.
6. Mix sauce and rice together.
7. Top with cheese for extra goodness!

Impressive Mushroom Pineapple Cream Sauce
This looks really impressive camping, but is really easy to make. Put it on top of rice or pasta.

Vegetable oil
Garlic cloves, minced
Small onion, chopped
1 can mushroom soup (condensed)
1 can pineapple chunks/tidbits
1 can of meat (tuna, chicken, etc)
Broccoli, chopped

1. Heat oil in pot and fry garlic and onions until the onions are soft.
2. Add can of mushroom soup.
3. Add just the pineapple juice (not the chunks) into the pot and mix.
4. Add can of meat and mix.
5. Add broccoli.
6. Heat until sauce is bubbling, stir often.
7. Eat pineapple chunks on the side or mix in right before eating.
8. Place on top of rice or pasta.

** This goes well with carrots on the side.

More then just Pasta and Cheese
If you like tomatoes and cheese, this pasta is for you.

Pasta
Broccoli
Garlic cloves, minced
1 can (540 ml) diced tomatoes, drained
¼ cup (1 handful) of skim milk powder
¾ cup (or as much as you like) parmesan cheese

1. Prepare pasta in a pot. When pasta is almost ready, add in broccoli (broccoli only needs to boil for about 5 minutes).
2. Drain cooked pasta.
3. Add in all other ingredients, and mix well.

** This goes well with fried zucchini (or any other squash) on the side. We also fried canned chickpeas (until soft) with spices (basil, thyme), and had it with this pasta.

Vegetable Chicken Noodle Soup
I know you can buy a can of soup, but this tastes better and makes a lot.

2 cups (500 ml) water
1 can chicken broth
1 cup (8 oz) small pasta (macaroni, shells, etc.)
1 tsp dried parsley
1 tsp dried thyme
1 can chicken
1 can mixed vegetables, drained

1. In a pot, bring to boil water, broth, pasta and spices.
2. Add chicken and vegetables.
3. Ta Da! It’s done.

** This goes good with a potato and cheese. At the Hueco Rock Ranch, they have a microwave. Spear your potato a few times with a fork or knife before microwaving.

Double Stuffed Potato
Because the Hueco Rock Ranch has a microwave, I was able to make my favourite potatoes! They take extra effort, but I love them ☺

Potato
Vegetables, chopped
Cheese

1. Microwave potato until soft on the inside (about 10 or more minutes).
2. Cut potato in half.
3. Scoop out the insides (leaving 2 potato skin shells). Careful, the potatoes will be hot on your worn fingertips!
4. In a bowl, mash the potato insides and add chopped vegetables, such as chopped broccoli, carrots or spinach.
5. Line the potato skin shells with cheese.
6. Fill the potato skin shells with the mashed mixture and top with more cheese.
7. Put back in microwave to melt the cheesy goodness.
8. Enjoy!

** At home, I do the same but bake them in the oven.

Hueco Lunch at the Boulders
At the Vista Mercado, you can buy avocados for cheap!! You can also buy fresh made whole-wheat tortillas. Here’s a delicious wrap to pack for a day in the park.

Whole-wheat tortilla
Cheese
Avocado
Dried apple

1. Line centre of tortilla with cheese.
2. Slice avocado centre into strips and line on top of cheese.
3. Add dried apple pieces on top (seriously, this tastes REALLY GOOD!)
4. Fold, pack, and go!

** You can also put these sandwich fixings on regular bread.
** Be sure to bring some fruit, snack bars, jerky, juice, and other snacks. You want to stay fueled during the day. Also, bring plenty of water! In the desert, the day may get hotter then you think!

On the Fly Sports Drink
When we got to the Vista Mercado, we could not find Gatorade powder. So, we made our own sports drink for our climbing days.

Fruit juice powder
Water
Salt

1. Whatever the juice powder container says, put HALF of the powder measurement listed, in the same amount of water.
2. Add a pinch of salt (we found a salt shaker in the cooking shack at the Rock Ranch).
3. Shake and go.

** Note: the amount of juice powder you use may depend on your tolerance. Even some people can’t tolerate full strength Gatorade, and must dilute it.

Stay Tuned!!!

The first question I ever got on my Onsite Nutrition Facebook group page was about Protein Powders, and how much is too much. Since then, I have been searching and preparing a blog post on protein and climbing.

Just this January, new research was published on maximum amounts of protein needed for muscle! I contacted the researcher and now have more resources to use for the protein blog post.

Because protein is a large topic, another nutrition and rock climbing buddy of mine is helping me write the posts: there will be a series, of maybe 3 posts, coming in the near future.

So stay tuned!

Krystal Merrells
onsitenutrition@gmail.com

Published!!

2008-12-29T17:51:00.000-08:00

Hello All!

Hope the Holidays are going well. I have received a great gift this season...my rock climbing research paper has officially been published!!!

You may remember my September 22, 2008 blog post, where I described my research study on two guys who essentially ate rice for a month-long climbing trip. I wrote a scientific paper on the study, and it has been published!

My paper is titled: "Following 2 diet-restricted male outdoor rock climbers: impact on oxidative stress and improvements in markers of cardiovascular risk".

It is in Volume 33, Issue 6, pp 1250-1256 of Applied Physiology, Nutrition, and Metabolism.

You can find the paper on the journal's website at: http://pubs.nrc-cnrc.gc.ca/rp-ps/journalDetail.jsp?jcode=apnm&lang=eng

Thanks to all those who helped out with my research! Hopefully more research into rock climbing is yet to come!

Krystal Merrells

2008-12-16T19:03:00.000-08:00

Crag Cooking

Hey, it’s the holidays!! That means some climbers are packing up and heading to better temperatures and outdoor rock.

With nothing but a pot, a stove, and some utensils, its unlikely you will be cooking up a turkey at the campsite. But this holiday season, prepare more then just a pot of rice for your post-climbing meal.

Here are some simple recipes that you can cook at the crag.
For ingredient measurements that are “close enough”, use:
• 250 ml on a Nalgene bottle = 1 Cup
• Any camping mug ~ 1 Cup
• Any camping spoon ~ 1 Tbsp
• Half of any camping spoon ~ 1 Tsp

Vegetable Couscous and Chickpeas
This is so delicious and incredibly simple! I don’t even need to look at the recipe anymore to prepare it.

Couscous
2 Tbsp of oil
½ an onion and as much minced garlic as you like
1 Cup couscous
1 Envelope of vegetable soup mix (Example: Knorr, but any brand will do)
2 Cups boiling water

1. Heat oil in pot.
2. Stir/sauté onion and garlic for 2-3 minutes.
3. Add couscous to pot. Stir to coat grains with oil: 2-3 minutes.
4. Take pot off of burner.
5. Boil ~2 cups of water in another pot and add to couscous. Stir and cover.
6. Let couscous stand for ~7 minutes (it will almost quadruple in volume).
7. “Fluff” couscous (stir it) and serve it with chickpeas.

Chickpeas
1 Can of chickpeas (aka garbanzo beans)
2 Tbsp of oil
Herbs and spices of any kind (Examples: basil, oregano, cilantro, thyme, bay leaf)

1. Heat oil in pot/pan/pot lid.
2. Add chickpeas and constantly stir.
3. Add herbs.
4. Ready when chickpeas are soft.
5. Mix in with couscous.

This goes good with fresh zucchini if you have access to fresh vegetables:
1. Cut zucchini into even slices.
2. Fry in pan until soft.
3. Add whatever herbs you like or soy sauce (if available).
4. Grate cheese on top (optional).

Tuna Casserole
This is one way to rock Macaroni and Cheese. You can use any pasta in place of Mac n’ Cheese…just be sure to add some cheese to the recipe. Add a fruit and a glass of milk to this dish and you’ve got yourself a complete and balanced meal.

1 Box Mac n’ Cheese
1 Can tuna
2 Cups of vegetables (canned, frozen, fresh)
1 Can cream of mushroom soup

1. Make Mac n’ Cheese.
2. Add rest of ingredients to Mac n’ Cheese.
3. Stir and eat.

Coconut Risotto
You can purchase coconut milk in cans that do not need to be refrigerated, and bell peppers will last about 4 days in cooler drier environments (from my experience). Cumin is an awesome spice that makes a lot of things taste better…I suggest you get some ☺ Mix in some lentils or some canned tuna to this recipe to add a source of meat or alternatives.

1 Cup of rice
2 Tsp cumin
2 Bell peppers, minced
2 Garlic cloves, minced
½ Cup coconut milk

1. Cook rice, mix in the rest.

Burrito Night
I can’t take credit for this “recipe”, but I love burritos ☺ If you’ve been to Hueco Tanks, you know you can order up some fresh homemade burritos in the meat market behind the Vista Mercado for only a couple of bucks. You can also easily make burritos with just one pot at your campsite:

1 Can of chili
1 Can of refried beans
Carrot, grated/peeled/minced
Bell peppers, diced
Tomatoes, diced
Cheese, grated (optional)
Tortillas

1. Combine chili and refried beans in pot. Heat until bubbly.
2. Turn down heat and add vegetables.
3. Spoon mixture into tortillas, add cheese. Fold and enjoy.

* This is messy, but delicious.
* Add any other vegetables you like.
* Use vegetarian chili if you don’t want any meat.

What about pulses?
On climbing trips, you may like to bring different types of pulses (beans, chickpeas and lentils) because they store well and are a good source of protein when fresh meat isn’t always available. Dry pulses may need to be soaked before preparation. Here are some soaking methods you can use when you only have access to dry, and not canned beans or chickpeas:

Overnight soak method (not for lentils or split peas)
1. Rinse beans and put in water: throw away those that float or are shriveled.
2. Soak in 3 to 4 times the amount of water. Ex. 2 cups of beans would need 6 to 8 cups of water.
3. Soak for 10 hours.
4. Simmer until tender with lid partially covering: This requires a long slow cook.
a. Simmer times:

Garbanzo (chick peas): 4 hours
Mung beans: 3 hours
Soy beans: 2 hours
Pinto: 2 hours
Black beans: 1.5 hours
Kidney: 1.5 hours
Black-eyed peas: 1 hour

b. Add water while simmering to replace water that has been evaporated

Short soak method (especially used for lentils or split peas)
1. Rinse beans and put in water: throw away those that float or are shriveled.
2. Bring beans in water to full boil for 2 minutes.
3. Remove from heat.
4. Soak in the hot water for 1 hour.
5. Return to stove - simmer in same liquid until tender (if not already).

* Without soaking, beans would need to be boiled for several hours (twice as much water and twice as long as above), which may be a waste of fuel.

* Do not use hard water or add salt or lemon juice to the water, as these will prevent softening of your beans and chickpeas.

General Tips
From my climbing trips, I have learned a few tips to help keep variety in my diet, and to assure I’m getting foods from each food group everyday. If you have any tips that have worked for you, send them to me at onsitenutrition@gmail.com, so that I can share them with everyone else! Here are my tips:

Vegetables and fruit

Bring a variety of dried fruit: apple rings, dried pineapple, banana chips, dried mango, raisins, craisins, etc.
Buy potatoes and yams (sweet potatoes), avocados, apples, oranges (anything with a tough outer skin or that needs to be peeled): these last longer in the trunk of your car, or in the food containers at the campsite.
Other vegetables that may last longer outdoors are: carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, snap peas.

Grains

Try different kinds: pasta, couscous, quinoa, oats, rice, hot cereal, cold cereal…mix it up! If you get bored with your food, you’ll eat less, which means your body may not be getting all the fuel and nutrients it needs to recover and climb hard the next day.
Pancake mix: just add water, fry, and you’ve got pancakes! You don’t even need syrup: add chunks of fruit into the mix and top with peanut butter or Nutella.

Milk and alternatives

Get milk powder: it’s cheap, it’s an extra source of protein (same protein as in those protein powders some of us buy) and you can stir it into your morning cereals or into certain soups.
Try shelf-stable milks: you can get these in regular cow milk or soymilk. These packages are aseptic containers that don’t need to be refrigerated until opened. You can buy these in 1 L sizes, or juice box-sized containers.
Yogurt lasts longer: yogurt lasts longer then milk when not refrigerated because yogurt is slightly acidic. The last time I was in Hueco, we bought those yogurt tubes…they were great to throw into our crash pads and have for lunch on the mountain. Yogurt cups also work well.
Cheese: harder cheese tends to last longer.

Meat and alternatives

Experiment with pulses: beans, chickpeas, lentils.
Add nuts and seeds to trail mix, breakfast cereals, wraps and pastas: sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, pine nuts, etc.
Spread peanut butter, almond butter, soy butter on sandwiches, wraps, crackers or fruit.
Beef or other jerkys may be high in sodium, but it may satisfy what some of you are craving.
If you have frequent access to a store, you could purchase some eggs and hard cook them.
Canned tuna and salmon are common favourites: add them to any pasta or other grain dish.

Oatmeal
A lot can be done to oatmeal to make it more of a balanced meal:

Top with dried or fresh fruit: raisins, apple rings, craisins, banana chips, berries.
Add milk powder when preparing.
Mix in a spoon of peanut (or other nut) butter.
Stir in seeds.
Add in flaxseed: flaxseed is becoming very popular in nutrition news. It is a source of omega-3 fats, and an excellent source of fibre, meaning it may help keep your bowels moving when some climbers’ diets may be a bit refined ☺ You can buy flaxseed in seed form, ground up, or powder form. The form changes the taste.

Wherever you travel to this season, enjoy the climbing and enjoy your food!

Happy Holidays,

Krystal Merrells

Nutrition Research Survey!!!

2008-10-30T14:38:00.000-07:00

CLICK HERE TO TAKE ONLINE NUTRITION RESEARCH SURVEY

Hello!

As you may have noticed, there is very little scientifically based nutrition information out there targeted specifically at rock climbers. I am trying to change that, and hope you will help!

In order to figure out what future research needs to be done in nutrition in rock climbers, and to determine what nutrition information rock climbers need, I am doing a survey research study!

My research study is formally entitled “Food motives and typical food choices while living at home versus during outdoor rock climbing trips”. Oof! Quite the mouthful! Basically, with this study I am hoping to find out what foods and drink rock climbers choose, why they choose those foods and drink, and how this might change when climbers go on outdoor rock climbing and camping trips. The information gathered from this study will help decide future research. It will also help figure out what nutrition issues climbers may have, what nutrition information they need and how to best give them this information.

This study is an online survey. You may participate if you are between the ages of 18 and 55 and have been on at least one rock climbing and camping trip of at least 5 days duration within the past year. The survey is open to all Canadian and US residents. Your answers will be kept confidential and at no point will you be asked to give identifying information, ie. you will never need to give your name, address, phone number, e-mail, etc. Also, an ethics committee at the University of Manitoba approved the study.

You have until January 23rd 2009 to complete the survey.

TO TAKE THE SURVEY click here.

If you have any questions or concerns, feel free to contact me or my supervisor:
Krystal Merrells: KJMnutrition@gmail.com
Dr. Miyoung Suh: suh@ms.umanitoba.ca

You can also visit Dr. Suh's University of Manitoba webpage by clicking here. Or, visit the study's webpage by clicking here.

STAY TUNED to this blog! By May 2009, I hope to have all of the data put together and summarized on this blog so that you can see the results of the study.

Thank you for your participation!

Krystal Merrells

2008-10-10T15:52:00.000-07:00

Are you drinking enough?

Hydrating for high performance

When I was in Squamish this August, the group of people I was with and myself noticed that we simply weren’t drinking enough…and I’m not talking about getting enough pints in at the Brew Pub . I’m talking about hydration! (not inebriation…)

In August, we’d be out in the forest and get on problem after problem…it would be half way through the day and we’d notice that our water bottles hadn’t emptied at all. Not only were we thirsty, but we were also sluggish.

When talking to other climbers out there, it seemed many people noticed that even back home at their local gym, they simply weren’t getting enough fluids.

Poor hydration and poor performance are practically synonymous. So, this blog post is about the importance of hydration, and how to drink enough!

What does fluid do for me?

Your body needs water to…

Maintain blood volume, which allows nutrients and oxygen to get to the rest of your body
Help digest food as part of saliva and digestive juices that break down and absorb food
Provide an environment for all biochemical reactions of the cell to occur
Lubricate joints and cushion organs and tissues
Eliminate waste from the body (#1 and #2)
Regulate core body temperature at 37ºC via sweat

That last point can be very important for athletes who are training in hot and humid conditions. When we exercise, our muscles produce heat as a sort of “by-product” of the work they are doing. The heat can build up and be stored in the body, which may cause the body’s overall temperature to rise. We sweat to keep our body temperature at a steady 37ºC.

What are the consequences of dehydration?

Unfortunately, we cannot adapt to chronic dehydration. A loss of only 1-2% of our body water is enough to significantly decrease athletic performance. This amount of fluid loss is common in a one-hour training session, where sweat losses can be ½ to 1½ litres!

Symptoms of dehydration include fatigue, light-headedness, headaches, muscle cramps and low endurance. When dehydrated, exercise may seem harder then usual.

Because body fluids are essential for proper functioning of joints and related tissues, dehydration also increases risk of injury. This is especially important for us climbers who put so much stress on joints and tendons!

When dehydrated, on the inside of the body…

Blood volume and blood pressure drops, resulting in less oxygen being transported to the muscles
Less blood gets to the skin, so less sweat is produced - the body becomes less able to get rid of the build up heat
Heart rate speeds up
Consumed fluids and foods are released from the stomach more slowly - the body doesn’t absorb nutrients or water as effectively.

Dehydration in extreme cases: heat illnesses

When proper fluid intake is avoided for too long in hot or humid conditions, athlete’s can develop heat illnesses. In the first stage, the illness is simply annoying and can greatly affect performance. In the last stage, body temperature rises so high that it can cause coma or death! Here are the heat illnesses and their signs and symptoms:

Heat cramps: These are painful, involuntary and intermittent muscle spasms that can occur in any muscle group.
Heat exhaustion: This is more hazardous as the sufferer’s mental status is changed; they become irritable, dizzy and have poor judgment. Other symptoms are nausea, headache, sudden fatigue and profuse sweating. Skin colour may be pale. When not treated, this can develop into heat stroke.
Heat stroke: This occurs when body temperature rises to 41ºC and above. This illness is very dangerous and could lead to coma or death. Central nervous system dysfunction causes loss of motor coordination, confusion, delirium and loss of consciousness. At a body temperature of 42ºC and higher, protein within the body coagulates and causes cell death – the body cooks itself! This leads to multi-system organ failure. Symptoms may include reddened skin, rapid heartbeat, quick shallow breathing, normal-profuse sweating, personality changes and fainting.

How do I know if I’m well hydrated?

Check your urine. That’s right…you don’t have to share it with the world, but the next time you go #1, check the volume and colour. If you pee only a small volume and your urine is dark, then you’re dehydrated!

Don’t count on your thirst. If you’re thirsty, then you’ve already lost 2% of your total body fluids, which mentioned earlier, is enough to hurt your climbing! If you’re thirsty, you’re already dehydrated.

How much should I drink and when?

Before exercise: Start off well hydrated by drinking 2-2½ cups of fluid 2 hours before, and try ½ to 1 cup 10-20 minutes before climbing or a competition.

During exercise: Try to match fluid input with fluid output. To find out your sweat rates, weigh yourself before and after exercise in the nude or, (for the more discrete) in the same clothes before and after. The amount of weight lost during exercise is the amount of body fluid lost: 2.2lbs (1kg) equals 4 cups (1 litre) of fluid that needs to be replaced. You can also try drinking ½ to 1 cup of fluid every 20 minutes during your session.

After exercise: Aim for complete re-hydration. Try drinking 3 cups of fluid for every pound of body weight lost within 2 hours after exercise.

What do I drink?

Before climbing and in the first hour, water is a good choice. But after one hour goes by, you want to switch to a sports drink, such as Gatorade or Powerade.

What about sports drinks?

Sports drinks have carbohydrates and electrolytes to help replenish what you lost in that first hour of climbing. Plus, they are concentrated 4-6%; at this concentration they cause little tummy upset and allow maximum water absorption into your body. However, some people still find these drinks too concentrated. If these give you tummy discomfort, just dilute with water until you find the right concentration – you’ll still get the benefit of some carbohydrate and electrolytes.

You can also make your own sport drink!

1 cup of your favourite fruit juice
1 cup of water
1 pinch of salt
Mix and enjoy!

Sport drinks and juices also make good recovery drinks after your training session. The simple fast absorbing carbohydrates in these drinks stimulate muscle recovery. Milk post-exercise is also great for recovery because it has carbohydrate and high quality protein.

What about energy drinks?

Energy drinks, like Redbull or Rockstar, are less ideal for good hydration. Carbohydrate concentration in these drinks ranges from 20-25%. Research studies have shown that drinks with a carbohydrate concentration of 8% and higher actually slow down fluid absorption into the body.

What about alcohol?

Alcohol and sports seem to go together. Remember that alcohol has a diuretic effect – that is, “once you break the seal”, it causes you to pee more, causing you to lose more fluids. During or after a hard day of climbing, alcohol won’t help you re-hydrate or recover.

To sum it all up

Dehydration is one of the most common causes of poor performance, and is one of the easiest things to fix in the diet!
Be aware of the symptoms of dehydration: fatigue, light-headedness, muscle cramps, struggling with exercise
Take action when you start to notice signs of heat illness in yourself or your belay partner or spotter: nausea, dizziness, sudden fatigue, profuse sweating, confusion, irritability, rapid shallow breathing. Drink some cold fluid and get into the shade!
Drink fluids before during and after training sessions to prevent dehydration and to optimize recovery
Choose water, juices and sports drinks over energy drinks and alcohol

Hydration table:

Before exercise	When? 2 hrs before 10-20 minutes before	How much? 2 cups ½ - 1 cup	What? Water or Gatorade G2
First hour of exercise	Every 20 minutes	½ - 1 cup	Water
For exercise lasting longer then 1 hr	Every 20 minutes	½ - 1 cup	Sport drink (bought or homemade)
After exercise	Within 2 hours after	3 – 6 cups	Water, sport drink, milk

Practical Tip:

You know you need to drink 1/2 - 1 cup of fluid every 20 minutes during training...but are you really going to bring a measuring cup with you to the gym or to the crag??

If your water bottle doesn't have volume measurements on it, measure out 1/2 or 1 cup of fluid at home and pour into your water bottle to see how much it fills
Mark lines on your water bottle for every 1/2 or 1 cup of fluid - use a Sharpe, nail polish, or stickers!
You can either set a timer or force yourself after each 2-3 burns to take a swig of fluid - make sure your swig empties your bottle to the next marked line!

Facebook
Onsite Nutrition now has its own facebook group. Join to be updated on new blog posts, ask questions, or start discussions.

Any questions?
onsitenutrition@gmail.com

References and Readings
Clark, N. (2003). Nancy Clark's Sports nutrition guidebook, 3 Ed., Human Kinetics.

Covertino, V.A., Armstrong, L.E., Coyle, E.F., Mack, G.W., Sawka, M.N., & Sherman, W.M. (1996). American College of Sports Medicine position stand. Exercise and fluid replacement. Med Sci Sports Exerc, 28(1), i-vii.

Gibson, J. (2006). Energy drinks. SportMedBC factsheet at www.sportmedbc.com.

Murray, R. (1996). Dehydration, hyperthermia, and athletes: Science and practice. Journal of Athletic Training, 31(3), 248-252.

Parsons, D. (2005). Fluid first - hydration in sports. SportMedBC factsheet at www.sportmedbc.com.

Weinmann, M. (2003). Hot on the inside. Emerg Med Serv, 32(7), 34.

Two Climbers and their Bag of Rice: My nutrition research on rock climbing and oxidative stress

2008-09-22T17:34:00.000-07:00

It’s amazing where life can take you…

Several years ago I started working in a nutrition research lab at the University of Manitoba as a summer student. The research I was hired on to do had absolutely NOTHING to do with sports nutrition, athletes or rock climbing. I was new to nutrition and just wanted some experience in the field. At that same time, two crazy guys from my rock climbing gym were planning a month-long rock climbing/camping trip out to a local crag. Being the typical poor university students they were, they wanted to spend as little money as possible. Knowing they could not cut down on the costs of gas, camping equipment or climbing gear, they aimed to spend as little money as possible on food. So, they went to the grocery store and purchased the largest, cheapest bag of short-grain white rice they could find. They also bought some tuna, flour for making bannock and those dry soup noodles you just need to add water to, expecting that this was all they needed for the month (does this sound familiar to any of you?).

I was no nutrition expert at that time, but I knew something was missing in their food plan. When I next met with my nutrition research supervisor, I told her about these two guys and what they planned to eat for an entire month. I asked “What will happen? What are they doing to themselves?” My supervisor pondered a quick moment and responded very excitedly “I don’t know…Let’s study them!!”

After much literary research and ethics approval pages later, we came up with this rock climbing research study. To my knowledge it is the first nutrition research study on rock climbers, and I am proud to say that it is being published in the Journal of Applied Physiology, Nutrition, and Metabolism!

The Study

Our subjects were two males in their early 20s who were going climbing and camping for 5 weeks. They chose entirely what and how much they ate and climbed; we just observed 

Considering their food plan, we expected that they 1) wouldn’t eat enough calories to match their level of exercise; 2) would lose body weight and body fat, and; 3) would have oxidative stress.

What is oxidative stress and why should anyone care about it?

In the athlete, oxidative stress can hurt performance.

Oxidative stress happens when certain hyperactive molecules in the body become too many that our body can’t handle them. These molecules, known as free radicals, can do damage to our cells and tissues by affecting our DNA, our proteins and the lipid molecules that make up our cell walls. One example is superoxide anion, which is an oxygen molecule with one unpaired electron.

Small amounts of free radicals are actually quite helpful. For example, a little bit of free radical production in the muscles help them to contract. However, when too many free radicals are made due to overtraining or not enough rest, oxidative stress occurs and the free radicals can attack our muscle cells, which may cause them to fatigue. This may contribute to overuse injuries in overtrained athletes.

To keep free radicals at a manageable level, the body uses antioxidants to get rid of excess free radicals. These can be protein enzymes that are made by the body, or they can be vitamins and minerals (such as vitamins A, C and E and zinc) that we need to eat. Athletes in general produce more free radicals then your average day Joe and therefore athletes need to eat higher amounts of vitamins and minerals as well. Studies show athletes who don’t get enough antioxidants in their diet have a higher perceived exertion during exercise (exercise feels harder for them).

Knowing that these two climbers were depending mostly on short-grain white rice (which has very little vitamins and minerals), and that climbing is a high-intensity sport, we assumed that they would have oxidative stress at some point during their 5-week trip.

How did we study them?

Before they left for their trip, we had the two climbers fill out diet and activity journals. We measured their body weight, body fat, skinfolds, and took a blood test. Once a week while they were out climbing/camping, a skilled technician (me!) would drive out to the campsite and collect all of the same information, and do all of the same tests. These were repeated again when they got back from their trip.

What did we find?

We had assumed that they wouldn’t eat enough calories to match their exercise level. We were right! In fact, they only ate about 2000 kilocalories per day, when they needed 3200 kilocalories…that’s 40% less then they needed! On top of that, they did not get enough carbohydrate, protein, vitamins A, C, D, E, B2 and calcium and zinc.

They did in fact lose body weight; about 6% of the weight they had before they left. They also lost 16% of their initial body fat mass. But, weight loss is never just fat…they did lose fat free mass as well (which is made of bone, muscle, cartilage, fluid, etc), though we were not able to measure muscle mass directly.

We had assumed they would experience oxidative stress. We were right again! In their blood, we measured a molecule that usually isn’t there unless oxidative stress is occurring. The amount of this molecule (known as F2-isoprostanes) continuously increased in their blood from the time they left to the time they got back.

We also measured the antioxidants in their blood. Vitamin C dropped very low. Antioxidant protein enzymes (such as superoxide dismutase and glutathione peroxidase) also dropped in the last 2 weeks of their trip, meaning they would not have helped protect against the oxidative stress.

To summarize the study findings, these two crazy guys:

Lost body weight, including fat and fat free mass (bone, muscle, etc)
Did not eat enough calories, carbohydrates, protein, vitamins A, C, D, E, B2 and calcium and zinc
Had oxidative stress while their antioxidants decreased

What does this mean?

It’s important to keep in mind that this study was only on 2 people! That means that although these results are really cool and show the need to do more studies on rock climbers, we can’t make too many conclusions from this study alone about what rock climbers should eat.

We were also not able to measure performance in our two rock climbers. So we can’t say for sure whether their diet combined with their outdoor training hurt their climbing ability. However, based on their journals and their comments throughout the study:

They developed and suffered joint pains and overuse injuries
Their skin didn’t heal as quickly

There is no doubt that oxidative stress happened in these two guys, and that not enough food energy and vitamins and minerals were consumed.

Not getting enough food energy (also known as energy restriction) has been shown in lots of studies to hurt performance. Energy restriction:

Decreases endurance
Decreases strength and stamina
Slows wound healing
Decreases lean muscle

Consuming enough antioxidants through food or supplement has been shown to combat oxidative stress in athletes, which may help performance.

Had these two guys consumed enough food energy and vitamins and minerals, they may have had less overuse injuries and joint pains, their skin might have healed better and their climbing performance may have been better. Although, we can’t conclude this here and more studies need to be done to see if this is true.

Practical Tips

The study that I did may have more opened the door for more studies in our sport then it did give climbers precise nutrition information. However, the concepts learned here are the same in all sports, and have been shown in all sports to improve performance:

A prolonged low calorie diet won’t help you climb better
Athletes, including climbers, have higher needs for vitamins and minerals

You can get enough vitamins and minerals, including antioxidants, in foods. Studies have proven that oxidative stress can be combated in athletes who eat foods high in antioxidants.

What foods are high in antioxidants?

Dark and brightly coloured vegetables are generally high in vitamins and minerals. Here are some select choices:

Apricots	Vitamin A
Sweet potato (Yam)	Vitamin A
Carrots	Vitamin A
Turkey	Vitamin A
Cantaloupe	Vitamin A, C
Brussel sprouts	Vitamin A, C
Spinach	Vitamin A, C
Tomato	Vitamin A, C
Strawberries	Vitamin C
Grapefruit	Vitamin C
Broccoli	Vitamin C
Kale	Vitamin C
Bell peppers	Vitamin C
Oranges	Vitamin C
Almonds, Peanuts	Vitamin E
Sunflower, Canola, Corn, Soybean, Olive oil	Vitamin E
Asparagus	Vitamin E

It’s easy to fit these into your everyday foods:

Cut fruit into cereal and yogurts for breakfast or as a snack
Peel or chop carrots or broccoli into tomato soup, pasta sauce or burrito/taco mix
Mix spinach into salads or put into sandwiches
Chew on bell pepper sticks as a snack
Experiment making your own pizzas with as many vegetable and fruit toppings and combinations as you like
Make your own salad dressing by mixing ¾ C of oil with ¼ C vinegar and chopped herbs (dill, basil, rosemary, paprika, mustard, etc)

What about supplements?

Studies have shown antioxidant supplements (usually Vitamins A, C and E) reduce oxidative stress in athletes who already have a low antioxidant diet. In athletes who have a well-planned diet, supplements don’t seem to have any effect.

When outdoor climbing, fresh food and a way to preserve the food is not always possible. In those cases, we probably don’t get enough vitamins and minerals in the diet, so a supplement could be helpful. Taking supplements while on a climbing/camping trip can be part of a well-planned diet, and supplements are generally safe in the adult population.

A multi-vitamin can provide the extras you need with the convenience of having to take just one pill a day.
Chose a supplement that is a brand name, as supplements are not regulated by law: unlike medications, what it says on the supplement bottle may NOT be exactly what’s in the pill. A brand name company has more to lose when it comes to integrity of their product, and so is more reliable.

To summarize supplementation:

When you are at home and have access to fresh foods, ALWAYS count on FOOD FIRST. For most, you can get all you need through food and should first work on optimizing your food plan.
Supplements are to help the food plan. Add on supplements to optimize your food plan or when you can’t meet certain goals through food, such as in outdoor climbing/camping situations.
Choose brand name supplements. Until further research, a multivitamin may be good enough to meet your antioxidant needs when outdoors.

Stay Tuned!

I am conducting another study and need your help!

Stay tuned to this website to find out how you can participate in an online survey!

Any questions?

onsitenutrition@gmail.com

References

Clarkson, P., Thompson, H. (2000). Antioxidants: What role do they play in physical activity and health? Am J Clin Nutr, 72(suppl), 637S-646S.

Finaud, J., Lac, G., Filaire, E. (2006). Oxidative stress: Relationship with exercise and training. Sports Med, 36(4), 327-358.

Sen, C. (2001). Antioxidants in Exercise Nutrition. Sports Med, 31(13), 891-908.

Watson, T., Callister, R., Taylor, R., Sibbritt, D., MacDonald-Wicks, L., Garg, M. (2005) Antioxidant restriction and oxidative stress in short-duration exhaustive exercise. Med Sci Sports Exerc, 37(1), 63-71.

The purpose, the goal, the intro

2008-07-20T17:17:00.000-07:00

Scenario

You’re pulling through the crux on your first V7 project…your arms start to shake, you’re losing your focus and you get spit off a few moves from the send. You know you rested well, have been training hard and have the beta locked…what’s missing?

More and more athletes are realizing the importance of food for their performance: "What can I eat before training that will give me lots of energy, but won't feel heavy in my stomach?" or, "I've been training all afternoon, and I'm starving. What should I have that will help me recover so I can go hard again tomorrow?" or, "I'm thirsty and I'm bagged... should I have a Red Bull or a Gatorade? What's the difference?" and also, "Lots of other athletes take a lot of different supplements and powders...Do they work and should I be using them too?"

But unfortunately, there is very little nutrition information or research out there for rock climbers.

What food does for you

What and when you eat maximizes your performance!

Food…

Fuels your body giving you energy.
Builds and repairs your muscles to enhance recovery.
Prevents sickness during high training times.
Maintains your lean mean machine, whether you are trying to lose, keep or gain weight.
Keeps you focused at the comp or on the last pitch.

My goal

I have created Onsite Nutrition to help you out with your nutrition plan, no matter where you are: at home, at the gym, at the crag or at the campsite. With the proper rest and training, nutrition can help you flash more future routes. Think of how good you’re climbing right now, and how much better you could climb with a few extra food tips!

My goals are to provide rock climbers with:

Practical information to incorporate nutrition into their training plan
Food ideas when camping at the crag and traveling

Who’s this site for?

Information found here will be useful for:

Beginners
Competition climbers
Outdoor climbers

All in all, this blog is for you! Your feedback and questions will help me post the information you want to know! So please send your questions to onsitenutrition@gmail.com. (Your questions will be kept anonymous.)

Who am I?

I am a climber

I have been climbing for about 8 years. I live in the prairies in Canada and so must travel to enjoy the outdoor sport. Currently my favourite spots are Squamish, BC in August, Hueco Tanks, TX in February, and our closest local crags in northwestern Ontario on weekends when weather and insects permit. I have enjoyed the unique bouldering in Castle Hill, NZ, and look forward to my European tour next spring. I have also had the chance to participate in some Tour de Bloc comps in the winter season.

I am a nutrition educator

I am a student in the Department of Human Nutritional Sciences at the University of Manitoba. I work with a sports dietitian - helping to educate different teams and athletes, from runners to ballet dancers - about the importance of sport nutrition. I help with literary research and have submitted articles to the Dietitians of Canada Sport Nutrition Network regarding topics such as nutrition and the immune system, antioxidants and oxidative stress, protein supplementation, creatine use, etc.

I am a researcher

I have been involved in nutrition research for the past 3 years. I have completed my own sport nutrition research project on two outdoor rock climbers. This project looked at their outdoor camping diet and body composition and oxidative stress changes. The written article is currently under review. In the mean time, I am working on developing a research survey on rock climbers’ typical food habits and how these differ from food habits while on an outdoor trip. Stay tuned to see how you can participate!

Stay tuned next time…

My next posting will be about my previous research study, what I did, what I found and what this might mean for you.

Thank you, and remember to send your questions to onsitenutrition@gmail.com.