I'm short on catchy titles. This one is about food and exercise.

Food and fitness.
There are a lot of misconceptions about food and exercise. I thought I should relate these two topics that are so interconnected but often misconstrued. Food enables you to get up everyday and go about your daily activities. Food enables runners to endure marathons and body builders to maintain muscle mass. Food enables you to live.

25% of adults in the United States are completely inactive, meaning they make no body movements that substantially increase energy expenditure. We all know that people who exercise live longer because they have stronger bodies and a stronger heart, but there are a plethora of reasons why exercise can be beneficial.

We know weight bearing exercise increases muscle mass, strength and bone density. We know aerobic exercise increases cardiac output, leaving you with a stronger heart. In order to get the most out of your exercises, whether they be aerobic, anaerobic or weight bearing, you need to eat certain foods to facilitate it.

Don't be afraid!

As a country, we are focused on the fact that many Americans are overweight, under-exercised and overall unhealthy. As a result of this, we have been scared away by some of the major food groups that have helped us live strong and healthy lives for centuries. Carbohydrates and fat are the main macronutrients that people tend to shy away from. Carbohydrates are supposed to make up over half of our diets at about 60%, followed by fats at 30%. People are generally consuming carbohydrates in refined forms which spike blood sugar and can cause weight gain and diabetes. Fat consumption has been a problem because people have been consuming too much of it. It's important to remember that complex carbohydrates and fats are essential and good for your body, as long as they are consumed in a healthy amount. Athlete or not, we need carbohydrates and fat to live. 

Carbohydrates.

In order to adequately support exercise, you must consume glucose from carbohydrates, fatty acids from fat and amino acids from protein. At rest, your body uses about half of its energy from fatty acids, a little less than half from glucose and a very small amount from amino acids. As the first minutes of exercise begin, your body uses stored glucose from muscle glycogen to move into action. As exercise continues, liver and fat cells release glucose and fatty acids to facilitate physical activity. The glucose in muscle glycogen that is initially used when exercising is important because it fuels quick action. If you were running away from danger, per see, the only way you are able to do this is because of stored muscle glycogen. Since glucose comes from carbohydrates, the more carbohydrates you eat, the more glycogen stores you will have and the longer the stores will be there to support your physical activity. After you use up your glycogen stores, your body increases its uptake of blood glucose in order to keep you from using your fat stores which will fatigue you more easily. An endurance athlete must maintain their blood glucose concentrations for as long as they can to stay energized. Eating a high carbohydrate diet and building up glycogen stores and blood glucose levels are the surest ways to endure long exercises. 

Your body needs carbohydrates for endurance.

To put it simply, a high carbohydrate diet enhances an athletes endurance because they have higher glycogen stores, thus they have more glucose to be used. A runner on a high fat diet averages about 57 minutes of maximum endurance time, while a runner on a high carbohydrate diet averages around 167 minutes of maximum endurance time-- huge difference. Glycogen stores are also helpful for everyday activities that are under 2,000 calories at a time. After that, fat stores are used to sustain up to 70,000 calories of fuel activity.


Fats.
Diets that are overly restrictive in fats can make athletes have low energy as well. Fat stores can fuel hours of activity without running out, making fat virtually an unlimited source of energy. During physical activity, muscles draw out fatty acids from working muscles and fat deposits. A moderate amount of fat in your diet is crucial to being able to sustain physical activity.

Protein.

Protein is used by athletes to build and maintain muscle mass, but it is not a good source of fuel for activities. Eating high quality protein either by itself or with carbohydrates immediately following physical activity greatly stimulates muscle protein synthesis. Dietary protein is what actually creates the new muscle protein but muscles would not be able to do this without being exercised first. Most athletes need a little more protein than sedentary people, but the average protein intake of an American usually covers this need. Athletes should focus mostly on ingesting an ample amount of carbohydrates, otherwise they will burn off protein as fuel that they wish to retain as muscle. Athletes who eat a balanced, high carbohydrate diet usually consume enough protein to the extent that they don't need specialized foods, supplements or protein shakes. Vitamins, minerals and protein itself are also much more easily absorbed in their natural form as food as opposed to supplements. The DRI (Dietary Reference Intakes) recommends males to have an average of 56 g/day of protein. The average American male consumes about 95 g/day of protein. The bottom line is, excessive intake of protein does not build muscle mass. Athletes need protein, but not in large amounts. Exercise, such as weight lifting builds muscle mass and consuming a moderate amount of protein right after exercise provides additional stimulus for muscle growth.

Supplemental overload.

If you take a lot of supplements you probably notice your pee is a bright yellow or maybe even green color. That just means you are in excess of nutrients and you are passing water soluble vitamins that your body doesn't need through your urine. It's important to be very cautious of this because if you are in excess of water soluble vitamins, you could also be consuming too many fat soluble vitamins which stay in your fat cells and can be toxic to your tissues. People that have a healthy balanced diet will not have enhanced physical performance from supplements because they are already consuming enough nutrients as is. Generally speaking, an athlete consumes much more calories then the average person which means that they are more likely to be consuming more nutrients as well. Some athletes are focused on losing weight, which can make adequate vitamin and mineral consumption more difficult, so these people could benefit greatly from a multivitamin.

Vitamin E and Iron.
As I said before, people who eat well-balanced meals don't need vitamin and/or mineral supplements. There are however, two nutrients of concern for active people. During intensive, prolonged physical activity the muscles consumption of oxygen is greatly increased, which enhances the production of damaging free radicals in cells. Vitamin E is a fat soluble vitamin that defends these cell membranes from damage. Free radicals contribute to heart disease and cancers but vitamin E protects against oxidative stress.

Iron is another nutrient of concern for athletes, especially women. Women have greater iron intake needs than men do and this is especially pertinent to pay attention to in female athletes. Iron deficiency impairs performance because iron helps deliver oxygen to muscles. So, if a person is lacking in iron, then their cells are unable to utilize oxygen efficiently, making them tire more easily.

Water and electrolytes.
The best fluid you can ingest while exercising is water. Water is superior to sports drinks, flavored waters and even natural energy drinks. Endurance athletes often drink things like Gatorade for the electrolytes but there are other, healthier options that don't contain high fructose corn syrup and dyes like Gatorade does. For example, lemons have natural electrolytes so a lemon wedge or two in your water can give you the electrolytes you need to maintain healthy salt balance in your blood while you exercise. I'm not a huge fan of fortified foods or drinks but electrolyte enhanced water is a good substitute to sports drinks as well. The important thing to remember is, stay hydrated by drinking water with electrolytes and have enough glucose in your system for endurance exercises.

We need carbohydrates, fat, protein and water for a healthy working body.
Athletes need nutrient-dense carbohydrates, fat and protein in order to maintain a healthy body, increase endurance and increase muscle mass. Water is detrimental in temperature regulation because we lose it during sweating and electrolytes are needed for fluid balance. It is important to remember that an excess or deficiency of these nutrients can be harmful to your body, and moderation is key. Exercise shouldn't only be about weight loss or muscle gain.

Dieting is wishful shrinking. So, eat well and exercise regularly for a healthy body and happy soul.