With workplace well-being and online workouts gaining increasing interest, there exists a growing curiosity around acquiring nutritional insights to enhance optimal outcomes. However, discerning between factual information and nutrition myths can often pose a challenge.
Live Rugby Tickets have partnered with experienced nutritionists, Vanessa Peat and Caroline Hind, to demystify prevalent nutrition myths concerning nutritional well-being and sports diets and to help educate the UK workforce on the best practices.
Myth 1: Eating after dinner will make you gain weight
For those of us who snack after 6pm, there is no need to feel guilty! There is actually no right or wrong time to eat but instead, it depends on your workout and sleep schedule. If you prefer going to the gym or your local grassroots football in the evenings, eat a light meal 1-2 hours before you go and have some post-workout snacks afterwards.
Eating nutritious food with protein after a workout can help you replace glycogen stores and recover muscles to reduce the risk of overuse injuries. This is particularly important after muscle-building activities.
Myth 2: Carbs will make you fat
Many people believe carbs are the cause of weight gain but that may be the biggest nutrition myths about dieting. Carbs are essential for a sports diet as it not only reduces your risk of injuries but also plays a crucial role in terms of recovery.
Research has shown that carbohydrates fuel your body and help with muscle growth by delivering energy, controlling blood glucose, and improving metabolic functions. This is even more vital during a sports injury when we are more vulnerable to lose muscles and in need of glucose and energy.
The recommended carbs during an injury are potatoes and whole grains such as bread and rice. But this does not mean that you should have a high-carb diet. Caroline Hind, Registered Clinical Nutritionist at Nutrable suggests:
Increase carbs around your sessions, but emphasise protein-rich foods with plenty of colourful veg the majority of the time.
Caroline Hind, Registered Clinical Nutritionist at Nutrable
Myth 3: A vegan diet fails to support you
A plant-based sports diet usually contains less fat and more fibre and carbs, which helps improve blood viscosity and increase aerobic capacity. This allows more oxygen to reach your muscle and improves endurance, enhancing athletic performance.
During an injury, a vegan diet provides plenty of proteins, without the inflammation effects of meat, which are supportive to muscle tissue rebuilding and recovery. There are plenty of ways to get protein from a plant-based diet. Tofu, soya, wheat and peas are all good protein sources for a vegan athlete diet.
Myth 4: Salts are bad for you
Just as athletes need more protein, salts play a significant role in a sports diet too. You need more sodium if you sweat regularly as it helps maintain body fluid balance and keeps you hydrated.
Losses of sodium after sports could reduce your blood volume and the amount of oxygen it takes, which adds stress to your cardiovascular system, leading to fatigue and a higher risk of injuries.
Drinking sports drinks with sodium prepares your heart and body for physical activities and helps your body rehydrate. Research has shown that by supplementing with sodium, performances for endurance runners were enhanced significantly.
Myth 5: All you need for recovery is Protein
In response to this, Vanessa Peat, Performance Nutritionist & Co-Founder of UCU (Uniquely Created U) sheds light on the following ‘R;s’:
Rehydrate: Drinking a homemade rehydration drink, post exercise will allow you to replace the fluids and electrolytes lost during sweating. A homemade electrolyte drink is easy to make and inexpensive.
Refuel: Post exercise is important to restore your glycogen stores, which are your main fuel source, ensuring you are ready for tomorrow’s session. This can be done by eating some fruit, pasta or white rice following your session, which will give you a quick release of carbohydrates.
Rest: It is crucial to ensure that you take time to rest following your exercise session and good sleep quality is vital.
Repair: Yes, it is important to eat protein following exercise, to provide your muscles with the necessary building blocks – however, we must not forget the other three R’s.
Joanne is the editor for Workplace Wellbeing Professional and has a keen interest in promoting the safety and wellbeing of the global workforce. After earning a bachelor's degree in English literature and media studies, she taught English in China and Vietnam for two years. Before joining Work Well Pro, Joanne worked as a marketing coordinator for luxury property, where her responsibilities included blog writing, photography, and video creation.
