Food For Runners
The list of foods runners need every week for good health and top performance
Here is my take home list of the right foods–ones that will keep you healthy, fuel peak performance, and easily cook up into lots of delicious meals. So before your next trip to the grocery store, add the following foods to your must-buy list.
Almonds: Runners should eat a small handful of almonds at least three to five times per week. Nuts, especially almonds, are an excellent source of vitamin E, an antioxidant that many runners fall short on because there are so few good food sources of it.
Eggs: One egg fulfills about 10 percent of your daily protein needs. Egg protein is the most complete food protein, which means the protein in eggs contains all the crucial amino acids your hard-working muscles need to promote recovery. Eat just one of these nutritional powerhouses and you’ll also get about 30 percent of the Daily Value (DV) for vitamin K, which is vital for healthy bones.
Sweet Potatoes: This Thanksgiving Day standard should be on the plates of runners year-round. Just a single 100-calorie sweet potato supplies over 250 percent of the Daily Value for vitamin A in the form of beta-carotene, the powerful antioxidant. Sweet potatoes are also a good source of vitamin C, potassium, iron, and the two trace minerals manganese and copper.
Canned Black Beans: one cup of these beauties provides 30 percent of the Daily Value for protein, almost 60 percent of the DV for fiber, and 60 percent of the DV for folate, a B vitamin that plays a key role in heart health and circulation.
Whole Grain Pasta: Pasta has long been a runner’s best friend because it contains easily digestible carbs that help you restock spent glycogen stores. Whole-grain versions are a must over refined pastas because they contain more fiber to fill you up, additional B vitamins that are crucial to energy metabolis, and disease-fighting compounds such as lignans.
Frozen mixed Berries: The colorful compounds that make blueberries blue, blackberries deep purple, and raspberries a rich shade of red are called anthocyanins–a powerful group of antioxidants that may help stave off Alzheimer’s disease and some cancers. Anthocyanins may also assist with postrun recovery and muscle repair.
Dark Chocolate: As a runner you deserve at least one indulgence–especially one you can feel so good about. Chocolate contains potent antioxidants called flavonols that can boost heart health. Dark chocolate (the darker the better) generally contains more flavonols than milk chocolate. Just a little over an ounce (200 calories worth) of Dove dark chocolate per day has heart-healthy benefits.
Low fat yogurt: Besides being a good source of protein and calcium, low-fat yogurt with live cultures provides the healthy bacteria your digestive tract needs to function optimally. This good bacteria may also have anti-inflammatory powers that can offer some relief to arthritis suffers. Just look for the live-culture symbol on the yogurt carton
Salmon: Nutrition-wise, salmon is the king of fish. Besides being an excellent source of high-quality protein, salmon is one of the best food sources of omega-3 fats. These essential fats help balance the body’s inflammation response, a bodily function that when disturbed appears to be linked to many diseases including asthma.
Chocolate Milk: To build strong bones and help prevent stress fractures, make sure you eat foods packed with calcium. Dairy products are your best bet. Chocolate milk is great as a post run drink because it has an optimal ratio of carbohydrates to protein to help refuel tired muscles. Runners need calcium to strengthen bones and prevent injury, and chocolate milk is a tasty source.
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