Sports nutrition books?

[Preston Crawford]

I'm looking for a good book on sports nutrition. Convinced that I wasn't
getting enough protein and just coming out of a fog of pretty accute anxiety
I decided recently to start eating meat again. Just fish and egg whites. I
feel a lot better, especially physically. I'd like to figure out, though,
having basically winged while I lost the weight and then got stuck in my
anxiety rut for a year or so, how much protein I need generally as an
athlete. Does anyone know of a good book that addresses this? I know some
books about cycling or running address it in chapters, but I'm talking about
a book dedicated to nutrition for the active person.

Preston

[Tom Keats]

In article >,
"Preston Crawford" > writes:
> I'm looking for a good book on sports nutrition. Convinced that I wasn't
> getting enough protein and just coming out of a fog of pretty accute anxiety
> I decided recently to start eating meat again. Just fish and egg whites. I
> feel a lot better, especially physically. I'd like to figure out, though,
> having basically winged while I lost the weight and then got stuck in my
> anxiety rut for a year or so, how much protein I need generally as an
> athlete. Does anyone know of a good book that addresses this?

I don't know for sure, but that "radio doctor" guy, Dr. Gabe Mirkin
might have something up that alley:
www.drmirkin.com

I've never read or bought any of his stuff, though. I just hear his
short spiels on the radio sometimes. He purports to be a cyclist.


cheers,
Tom

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"Preston Crawford" > wrote in message
...
> I'm looking for a good book on sports nutrition. Convinced that I wasn't
> getting enough protein and just coming out of a fog of pretty accute
anxiety
> I decided recently to start eating meat again. Just fish and egg whites. I
> feel a lot better, especially physically. I'd like to figure out, though,
> having basically winged while I lost the weight and then got stuck in my
> anxiety rut for a year or so, how much protein I need generally as an
> athlete. Does anyone know of a good book that addresses this? I know some
> books about cycling or running address it in chapters, but I'm talking
about
> a book dedicated to nutrition for the active person.


Really, it varies from person to person. You'll probably have to
experiment a bit. But keep in mind the gov't recommends is what a couch
potato needs. If you're burning up more energy, you need more calories.
Keep in mind that there are
9 calories in 1 gram of fat
4 calories in 1 gram of protein
4 calories in 1 gram of carbohydrate.
And that's all there is . . . fat, protein, and carbs.
Personally, I feel best and have no migranes when I eat 50% of my total
caloric intake as protein, and roughly 25% fat and 25% carbs. I've tried
what I've seen officially recommended, and 30% protein, 50% carbs, and 20%
fat just doesn't cut it with my system. Hah.
Of course, there are fats, and there are fats. There are carbs, and there
are carbs. There are proteins, and there are proteins. This is what ya
gotta look for:

Fats--you want to avoid hydrogenated fats (like what they put in most peanut
butter, margerine, and fast food/processed crap). You want the good fats,
like what's in fish, and some other stuff that's on the tip of my typing
fingers . . . anyway, there's lots of info on the good and bad fats,
shouldn't be difficult to find a list, learn the general gist of what to
avoid.

Protein--made of amino acids, there are what's called "Complete" proteins
and "Incomplete" proteins. Complete proteins are made with all of the 9
amino acids the human body cannot synthesize. Incomplete proteins are
missing one or more, most often methionine. You can combine different
incomplete proteins and come out ok, but it's easiest just to eat eggs,
milk, fish, and meat along with the incomplete proteins. There's a book
available on Amazon.com called (I think it's) the Nutrition Almanac. It
lists the various essential amino acids in several hundred food items (and
vitamins, too). If you don't mind some heavy duty number crunching, that's
a pretty good resource.

Carbs -- There are some carbs, like sugar, that get burned in your system
pretty quick, give you a rush sometimes. You don't want these. What you
want are the slow-burning carbs, like what's in oatmeal, brown rice. Read
up on the glycemic index of carbohydrates, get a list of what foods are good
and what's not, and you'll know what to put in your supermarket shopping
cart.

To figure out how many calories you need every day . . .
First, weigh yourself.
Keep track (in a notebook or whatever) of everything! you eat in a 7 day
period. Then, using your trusty Nutrition Almanac (or maybe a resource on
the web) figure out how many total calories you took in. Divide by 7, and
that'll be your daily average.
Now, weigh yourself again.
If you don't want to gain or lose weight, then keep your daily average
caloric intake the same.
If you want to lose weight, plan to reduce your intake . . . 1 pound of fat
equals 454 grams, there are 9 calories in each gram of fat, so if you want
to lose 1 lb of fat, you have to reduce your weekly intake by 4086 calories,
or 583 a day. Alternatively, you could increase your energy expenditure
(pedal your bike for another 30 minutes or so a day) by the same amount. Or
a combination of the two.
And if you want to increase your weight, just eat more, or reduce your
energy expenditure.

This is the general gist of the process . . .

You could start out with, say, 30% protein, 50% carbs, 20% fat, in which
case you'd be eating (on a 2400 calories a day diet):
720 calories / 180 grams of protein
1200 calories / 300 grams of carbs
480 calories / 58 grams of fat

Again, you may be better off with different proportions of the above, but
you'll have to experiment and see what works best for you.

I think I've covered the basics of the general gist, but I'm all talked out
.. . . lemme know if I've forgotten something . . .
--Tock

[Bob M]

On Tue, 22 Jul 2003 18:47:42 GMT, > wrote:

>
> "Preston Crawford" > wrote in
> message
> ...
>> I'm looking for a good book on sports nutrition. Convinced that I wasn't
>> getting enough protein and just coming out of a fog of pretty accute
> anxiety
>> I decided recently to start eating meat again. Just fish and egg whites.
>> I
>> feel a lot better, especially physically. I'd like to figure out,
>> though,
>> having basically winged while I lost the weight and then got stuck in my
>> anxiety rut for a year or so, how much protein I need generally as an
>> athlete. Does anyone know of a good book that addresses this? I know
>> some
>> books about cycling or running address it in chapters, but I'm talking
> about
>> a book dedicated to nutrition for the active person.
>
>
> Really, it varies from person to person. You'll probably have to
> experiment a bit. But keep in mind the gov't recommends is what a couch
> potato needs. If you're burning up more energy, you need more calories.
> Keep in mind that there are
> 9 calories in 1 gram of fat
> 4 calories in 1 gram of protein
> 4 calories in 1 gram of carbohydrate.
> And that's all there is . . . fat, protein, and carbs.

What about fiber? True, it's counted as a "carb" in the U.S.

> Personally, I feel best and have no migranes when I eat 50% of my total
> caloric intake as protein, and roughly 25% fat and 25% carbs. I've
> tried
> what I've seen officially recommended, and 30% protein, 50% carbs, and
> 20%
> fat just doesn't cut it with my system. Hah.
> Of course, there are fats, and there are fats. There are carbs, and
> there
> are carbs. There are proteins, and there are proteins. This is what ya
> gotta look for:
>
> Fats--you want to avoid hydrogenated fats (like what they put in most
> peanut
> butter, margerine, and fast food/processed crap). You want the good
> fats,
> like what's in fish, and some other stuff that's on the tip of my typing
> fingers . . . anyway, there's lots of info on the good and bad fats,
> shouldn't be difficult to find a list, learn the general gist of what to
> avoid.

Personally, I don't think that saturated fats are bad. See, for instance:

http://www.mercola.com/2002/aug/17/saturated_fat1.htm

> Protein--made of amino acids, there are what's called "Complete" proteins
> and "Incomplete" proteins. Complete proteins are made with all of the 9
> amino acids the human body cannot synthesize. Incomplete proteins are
> missing one or more, most often methionine. You can combine different
> incomplete proteins and come out ok, but it's easiest just to eat eggs,
> milk, fish, and meat along with the incomplete proteins. There's a book
> available on Amazon.com called (I think it's) the Nutrition Almanac. It
> lists the various essential amino acids in several hundred food items
> (and
> vitamins, too). If you don't mind some heavy duty number crunching,
> that's
> a pretty good resource.
>
> Carbs -- There are some carbs, like sugar, that get burned in your system
> pretty quick, give you a rush sometimes. You don't want these. What
> you
> want are the slow-burning carbs, like what's in oatmeal, brown rice.
> Read
> up on the glycemic index of carbohydrates, get a list of what foods are
> good
> and what's not, and you'll know what to put in your supermarket shopping
> cart.

Hmmm....last time I checked, sugar was low in glycemic index. For
instance, sugar is about 60 on the glycemic index, while brown rice is
about 66 (higher numbers are worse for blood sugar). See:

http://diabetes.about.com/library/mendosagi/ngilists.htm

Basically, select vegetables and some fruits over pasta, rice, potatoes,
and others.

> To figure out how many calories you need every day . . .
> First, weigh yourself.
> Keep track (in a notebook or whatever) of everything! you eat in a 7 day
> period. Then, using your trusty Nutrition Almanac (or maybe a resource
> on
> the web) figure out how many total calories you took in. Divide by 7,
> and
> that'll be your daily average.
> Now, weigh yourself again.
> If you don't want to gain or lose weight, then keep your daily average
> caloric intake the same.
> If you want to lose weight, plan to reduce your intake . . . 1 pound of
> fat
> equals 454 grams, there are 9 calories in each gram of fat, so if you
> want
> to lose 1 lb of fat, you have to reduce your weekly intake by 4086
> calories,
> or 583 a day. Alternatively, you could increase your energy expenditure
> (pedal your bike for another 30 minutes or so a day) by the same amount.
> Or
> a combination of the two.
> And if you want to increase your weight, just eat more, or reduce your
> energy expenditure.

Although your math looks right, it's generally accepted that you need to
lose 3,500 calories to lose one pound of fat.

> This is the general gist of the process . . .
>
> You could start out with, say, 30% protein, 50% carbs, 20% fat, in which
> case you'd be eating (on a 2400 calories a day diet):
> 720 calories / 180 grams of protein
> 1200 calories / 300 grams of carbs
> 480 calories / 58 grams of fat
>
> Again, you may be better off with different proportions of the above, but
> you'll have to experiment and see what works best for you.
>
> I think I've covered the basics of the general gist, but I'm all talked
> out
> . . . lemme know if I've forgotten something . . .
> --Tock
>
>
>

I use a low carb diet, so I eat about 60% fat, 30% protein and 10% carbs.
I bike about 7 hours a week.

--
Bob M in CT
Remove 'x.' to reply

Preston Crawford > wrote:
> I'm looking for a good book on sports nutrition. Convinced that I wasn't
> getting enough protein and just coming out of a fog of pretty accute anxiety
> I decided recently to start eating meat again. Just fish and egg whites. I
> feel a lot better, especially physically. I'd like to figure out, though,
> having basically winged while I lost the weight and then got stuck in my
> anxiety rut for a year or so, how much protein I need generally as an
> athlete. Does anyone know of a good book that addresses this? I know some
> books about cycling or running address it in chapters, but I'm talking about
> a book dedicated to nutrition for the active person.

"Nutritional needs of athletes" by Brouns, F. (Fred)

I liked this one a fair amount. But then it's not a cookbook/recipe/diet
book. This talks quite a bit about the biological nature of performance
and energy. i.e ATP cycle, trace nutrients, hydration, etc. I think it's
a good tool for building your own diet. I think it would be rotten if
you wanted a pre-prepared diet.

I liked it, but I wouldn't recommend you run out and buy it. See if your
local library has a copy.

--
Dane Jackson - z u v e m b i @ u n i x b i g o t s . o r g
The covers of this book are too far apart.
-- Book review by Ambrose Bierce.

[Preston Crawford]

> wrote in message
...
> "Nutritional needs of athletes" by Brouns, F. (Fred)
>
> I liked this one a fair amount. But then it's not a cookbook/recipe/diet
> book. This talks quite a bit about the biological nature of performance
> and energy. i.e ATP cycle, trace nutrients, hydration, etc. I think it's
> a good tool for building your own diet. I think it would be rotten if
> you wanted a pre-prepared diet.
>
> I liked it, but I wouldn't recommend you run out and buy it. See if your
> local library has a copy.

That might be what I'm looking for. Basically what I need is like...

these are the kinds of nutrients you need in these proportions (roughly) and
here are some foods and what percentage of X nutrients they contain.

Preston

> What about fiber? True, it's counted as a "carb" in the U.S.

Dunno what the minimum recommended daily amount is . . . I go pretty much by
what keeps "things" flowing smoothly, and when it doesn't, I do a couple
spoons of psyllium fiber with OJ. Just had my physical results today, and
the doc says I'm in perfect health, 'cept for a few zits. So, I guess I've
got the fiber thing down with oatmeal, whole grain breads, and the
occasional door-to-door Jehovah's Witness.
(jk) Again, what's optimal for the original poster will depend on his own
system (there ain't no such thing as a 'one size fits all' nutritional
regimine), and he'll have to tweak it, pay attention to his body, to get it
right for him.



> Personally, I don't think that saturated fats are bad. See, for instance:
> http://www.mercola.com/2002/aug/17/saturated_fat1.htm


Yah, well, I'm under the impression that it's best to keep the saturated
fats to a minimum in favor of fats like what's in fish oils & etc. I guess
you know what works best for you . . .



> Hmmm....last time I checked, sugar was low in glycemic index. For
> instance, sugar is about 60 on the glycemic index, while brown rice is
> about 66 (higher numbers are worse for blood sugar). See:
> http://diabetes.about.com/library/mendosagi/ngilists.htm

Yah, well, I know I'm no expert in the glycemic index stuff, it's been a
while since I had to fiddle with the numbers to find what works for me.
Which is why I suggested to the original poster that he find a good resource
for himself. Thanks (for both of us) for posting one . . .



> Basically, select vegetables and some fruits over pasta, rice, potatoes,
> and others.

Yes, true. And if you need some concentrated carbs, no real harm in some
whole grain bread or brown rice . . . no need to get anal over all this,
unless it's somehow one's karma . . .


> I use a low carb diet, so I eat about 60% fat, 30% protein and 10% carbs.
> I bike about 7 hours a week.

Ok . . .

--Tock

[Paul Southworth]

In article >,
> wrote:
>
>Really, it varies from person to person. You'll probably have to
>experiment a bit. But keep in mind the gov't recommends is what a couch
>potato needs. If you're burning up more energy, you need more calories.
>Keep in mind that there are
>9 calories in 1 gram of fat
>4 calories in 1 gram of protein
>4 calories in 1 gram of carbohydrate.
>And that's all there is . . . fat, protein, and carbs.

Hey, you can't forget alcohol, I think it's 7 cal/g

:-)

Preston Crawford > wrote:

> That might be what I'm looking for. Basically what I need is like...

> these are the kinds of nutrients you need in these proportions (roughly) and
> here are some foods and what percentage of X nutrients they contain.

I don't think it was real strong on the food cataloging. But that is
certainly the easiest thing to find.

--
Dane Jackson - z u v e m b i @ u n i x b i g o t s . o r g
Thus spake the master programmer:
"Without the wind, the grass does not move. Without software,
hardware is useless."
-- Geoffrey James, "The Tao of Programming"