What should I eat?
Choosing food and drink which is close to the source (e.g. hasn’t travelled or changed much from the original form) and minimising ones that are not, will increase the quality of nutrition within the Kcal you ingest.
When food and drink are put through any kind of process it becomes less good for you. Metaphorically speaking, if we use transport as an example, you can see the difference a high-octane fuel might make to a sports car compared to some old unleaded that has been sitting in the garage for a while. The same amount goes in but the car runs far better on the high-octane stuff. All of the good stuff is used as energy whilst the stale old fuel tends to clog up the engine.
Four chicken nuggets | Home-made tuna salad sandwich | Maurten 100 energy gel (40g serving) | HighFive Zero electrolyte drink (4g serving) | Maximuscle protein shack (35g serving) | |
Kcal | 236 | 253 | 100 | 134 | |
Fat | 16g | 5g | 1.2g | ||
Saturated Fat | 3.2g | 1g | |||
Carbohydrate | 11.2g | 25g | 25g | 1.5g | |
Of which sugars | 0.1g | 4g | 25g | ||
Fibre | 1.6g | 4g | |||
Protein | 2.4g | 27g | 28g | ||
Sodium | 445mg | 445mg | 50mg | 250mg | 210mg |
Taking the above comparison you can see how the chicken nuggets (only four as well) contain a very similar amount of Kcal and sodium but generally less goodness than the tuna sandwich. The tuna sandwich is a great example of a post-training snack. Accompanied by a glass of water the tuna sandwich would be similar to having a protein shake and energy gel with an electrolyte drink. But even better, the tuna sandwich contains fibre which is good for your gut.
A process is a series of actions which are carried out to achieve a particular result. (Collins Dictionary).
In essence, eating and drinking stuff that is still recognisable for what it is, is healthy. The fewer processes, generally speaking, the better the food or drink might be for your health.
Marketing makes this simple outlook harder to stick to. Many products advertise how they are fortified with lots of vitamins and minerals. A prime example of this is breakfast cereal. let's take Cornflakes for example. On the packet you read how they are made from the simplest ingredients: maize, sugar, barley malt flavouring and salt. It's heaped with essential B vitamins and iron.
The reality is that none of the ingredients even slightly resemble the original form. Each part has been processed down to a crispy, empty flake, with next to zero goodness left in the Kcal. The supermarket or manufacturer then adds (fortifies) them with vitamins.
To answer the question: what should I eat?
Consider the process and eat whole foods.
Look for Kcal with high nutritional value ...
