Wednesday, February 13, 2008

Food for Fitness

I have finished "Chris Carmichael's Food for Fitness: Eat Right to Train Right" as of today. I read it little by little over the past five weeks. I found it to be very, very informative. I learned a lot about properties of different foods that I certainly did not know. For example:

"Eggs are a great quality carrier for athletes and have long been considered one of the best and most complete sources of protein. Although they were vilified for their cholesterol content, recent research suggests that eggs are not as bad as they were made out to be. While it's true there is cholesterol in egg yolks, eggs are one of the best and most affordable sources of protein, containing all nine essential amino acids (acids that your body can not produce itself - they must be supplied from outside the body). Eggs are naturally rich in vitamins A and D, as well as in choline - an essential nutrient that plays a role in brain development and memory. In addition, they are a source of carotenoids that reduce the risk of cataracts and other age-related eye problems. And don't worry; Eating just the egg whites and discarding the yolks doesn't greatly diminish the egg's protein contribution to your diet. If you already have high levels of LDL cholesterol in your blood (the "bad" cholesterol), you may want to consider removing the yolks and making omelets out of egg whites, or buying Egg Beaters, which only contain egg whites."

There are numerous lists of "which food is best in which nutrients," and they are very, very clearly explained. The number one thing I absorbed from this book is the athlete's need for incredible amounts of carbohydrates. The thing is, I know athletic people who do the no-carb diet! Crazy folks...

Pertinent information such as how much water to consume, water vs. sports drinks, fuel for exercise, myths behind fats and proteins and the truth behind supplements can all be found in this wonderful book. I feel very, very educated in the arena of sports nutrition now! And to boot, there are 43 pages of recipes, plus an athlete's guide to preparing different foods.

It took a while for me to get through it, but it was well worth the time. A book this good isn't something that you can just breeze through. A lot of time was spent thinking about what was written. I give it two thumbs up.

12 comments:

Chief Wahoo said...

I love eggs!

I think every thing in moderation is the best approach...there is no shortcuts. You need to eat a well balanced and varied diet. ?Just my two cents...

CewTwo said...

Are you just trying to egg us on? Is this some kind of a yolk?

I agree. Eggs tend to taste really good, too.

peter said...

Nice review. I should do more than my cheezits and Millers diet, so maybe I'll read this book.

Bev said...

Hey thanks for the review. I had just posted a request for book suggestions, so I'm going to add the nutrition book to my list.

Sunshine said...

So difficult to wait for healing on tendons!! Wishing you a speedy recovery.

There is more new information about nutrition all the time. I love science.

We have eaten 2 eggs for breakfast every morning for years... healthy start for the day.. helps prevent pigging out later.

Unknown said...

I got this book Christmas of '06... I have yet to read it. But I am glad to hear that there is good information. This will encourage me NOT to get ride of it.

As for eggs... I have that high(er) cholesterol thing and being that Tree-hugging Enviro-Green Dude, I try to buy the best eggs out there... Sure they are 5x more expensive but they are free-range (non animal cruelty) and non Steriod (ref: Baseball) chickens. SO the eggs that I have a higher amount of OMega oils and other nutrients and they taste 10x better... and you can tell when eggs are the "regular" kind.

My Take on the Low-Carb Athelte: The Human body can do some amazing stuff and I think that it can adjust to the low carb and still perform, but it takes time to evolve to that. So you and me, carb-creatures, would have a hard time adjusting but would make it eventually. After all... at one point we weren't marathon runners, but now we are... AND WE LIKE IT!

jeanne said...

i've had this book for a long time--I guess i should try reading it!

i will offer a caution on dairy--I remember last year deciding to eat one egg a day...and let's just say that did not SIT well with my system.

but great review, thanks!

Jodi said...

ooh! I need to read this! I had chocolate hearts for lunch :-)

Arland said...

I need to read that book bad. If I could get my nutrition better I might be a better runner.

ShirleyPerly said...

Great that you're reading up on this stuff, esp. now as a coach. I think a lot of people underestimate the importance of nutrition and think that exercise alone will make them lose weight, get stronger, feel better, etc.

Anonymous said...

I wish I had a chef to cook one nutritious meal a day, I hate messing with all that stuff - I'm pretty good with my nutrition, if it's easy, if I could just give up chocolate, but let me think about it....

I've thought about it, No.

Great review on the book.

P.O.M. said...

Hardboiled egg whites are my staple food item. The yolk actually upsets my stomach, so I just eat the whites. Plus high cholest runs in my fam - but I just had mine tested and it dropped!