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.