WBC Nutrition Committee: Foods to avoid for endurance performance (Part 1)

The WBC is proud to continue  the Nutrition committee weekly advisory note, which will provide important information for all to use.

WBC Nutrition Committee:   Foods to avoid for endurance performance (Part 1)

By Doctor Philip Goglia – WBC Nutrition Committee Chairman

1- Dairy – While many people consider dairy to be a protein, the body will utilize it first as lactose, or milk sugar. Therefore, people who believe that they can get sufficient protein in their daily diet from eating dairy products are misinformed. Instead dairy as a food is phlegm and mucus producing – disruptive to digestion causing in most people bloating and gas… as well it is inflammatory and will elevate triglyceride levels and the risk of increased sugar sensitivities. Another important consideration is that nearly all adults have an inherent inability to utilize dairy products and are, therefore, lactose intolerant. Aside from possibly elevating cholesterol, a diet rich in dairy products, such as butter and cheese, is going to create digestive difficulties. Asthmatics, athletes do not consume dairy because it is phlegm producing and will inhibit oxygen consumption / utilization. (Apart from the splash of milk in your coffee). Especially healthy options like Greek yogurt and cottage cheese dairy and its sugars – maltose and lactose – will cause bloating and digestive discomfort. Additionally the sugars found in dairy are inflammatory and mucus producing. In fact they inhibit the full use of our oxygen pathways – which is why as you speak to athletes and ask them about dairy consumption … they will all tell you that they do not consume any dairy pre or post workouts as it is like eating moderately hard phlegm… and most of all can contribute to elevated triglyceride levels and inflammation.

2- Diet foods – Diet foods are examples of manufactured foods that are either / or a combination of low calorie – low fat – low sugar etc… as manufactured foods these items are generally more difficult to digest and can… through the reduction of calories cause cravings for higher sugar or higher fat foods to compensate for daily energy needs. The best diet foods are 1 ingredient foods that have not been tampered with like rice yams oatmeal sweet potatoes chicken fish lean steak vegetables fruits …. There are no better diet foods than these.

3- Plumped poultry? (& what is plumped poultry – Plumped poultry has been around for years … mostly passed the mason Dixon line. For decades southern restaurants and cafeterias would soak their chicken in a salt water solution to “plump or tenderize” the chicken meat — so that the cheaper cuts of meat would be tender and juicy… especially as fried chicken. The chicken would hold more water and sodium per ounce of meat – the result is a more flavorful meat but one that contains a higher sodium count that would in turn cause water retention in those that consumed the plumped poultry — for those people with high blood pressure – naturally occurring water retention and coronary heart failure risks this is not a good choice. Most recently meat corporations have made it a practice to plump their poultry for the same reasons but one additional frightening reason… as the chicken is plumped it will weigh more per square inch of product so a regular 6 oz breast when plumped might weigh as much as 9 oz post plumping and in turn because of the additional sodium water solution … cost the consumer more without costing the manufacturer more money to feed a larger chicken… in  turn the manufacturer makes more bottom dollar profit and provides the consumer with a chicken breast that could damage heart health and cardiovascular health …. Nice right??