Winning Edge: Nutrition for Athletic Fitness and Performance - Softcover

Addleman, Frank

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0671765795 ISBN 13: 9780671765798

Verlag: Touchstone, 1984

Inhaltsangabe

The Winning Edge is the first nutrition book that's both scientifically sound and practical. In clear layman's language it shows you how the right choice of food can dramatically improve your athletic fitness and performance...and help prevent problems like obesity and heart disease.
Whether you're an athlete or a coach, a weekend jogger or a dieter -- or someone who just wants to become more fit -- you'll find here a total nutrition program to help you achieve your highest goal without endangering your health. Based on the latest scientific research and the most up-to-date nutritional information, this book shows you what combination of nutrients -- fats, proteins, carbohydrates, vitamins, and minerals -- best prepares you for physical activity and helps you through the activity when you're in the middle of it.
You'll also learn: * why weight control is a major factor in your health and performance * the best ways to lose excess fat * how to take in fewer calories without eating less food * the hazards of food additives * what foods to avoid -- and why * what water can do for your performance * what to eat before you compete * and much more.
With frequently asked questions at the end of each chapter, The Winning Edge provides all the nutritional information you'll ever need, in language that gets straight to the point.

Über diesen Titel

Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Frank G. Addleman, a nutrition and health instructor at Santa Ana Community College in California, is a member of the American College of Sports Medicine, the Nutrition Today Society, and the Society for Nutritional Education.

Auszug. © Genehmigter Nachdruck. Alle Rechte vorbehalten.

Chapter 1

NUTRITION: THE LINK TO HEALTH AND PERFORMANCE

Many facets of health, ranging from physical fitness and stress control to our individual genetic makeups, have been cited as the keys to health and performance. Even though each of these factors plays a major role in total health, a considerable amount of scientific evidence indicates that nutrition is the main environmental factor within our control that affects our health. As a society Americans are bombarded with advertising and fad diets that promise to make us younger, sexier, faster, trimmer, and stronger. Our choices run the gamut from high-protein diets that promise trim bodies or big muscles to vegetarian diets that separate foods into "yin" and "yang," implying that certain foods yield beneficial powers and that some are adverse to good health. Recently, diet has even become the cause for alarm as we hear that almost everything we eat causes either cancer, heart disease, or some equally debilitating disease. We might wonder how we survived over the centuries without the aid of special diets, vitamin and mineral supplements, and all the "wonder foods" we have today. With all this conflicting information it is no wonder that most Americans are totally confused about what to eat.

Our Changing Diet

Our diet, like the rest of the environment, has undergone considerable change since primitive times. Primitive people didn't have the luxury (or distraction) of all the food choices we are offered today. If they wanted meat on the table it meant hunting for wild game rather than dropping in at a hamburger stand. When their sweet tooth increased their desire for sugar, they didn't have the convenience of a soft drink or a candy bar. They had to make do with fresh fruit or some other natural carbohydrate. Simply put, it was difficult for people to make poor nutritional choices since the food selection available to them was natural, wholesome, and sufficient for their physiological needs.

The problem is much different today. The natural foods that we have survived on for millions of years are still available to us but, because of food technology, our choices have changed. In a sense, we have been taken out of our natural food environment and placed in an environment that allows us to make many different food choices. Our choices are no longer based on natural instinct but, rather on advertising, convenience, and taste. Take sweets as an example. If you are hungry your body encourages you to eat. If you are at work and only have a ten-minute break, it's convenient to get a cola and pastry from the vending machine. It also tastes good. Advertising plays a role because we subconsciously remember ads telling us that sugar foods give us quick energy. Our primitive friend had to settle for a nutritious apple! We make other, less conspicuous, selections, too. Take, for example, eggs. We have heard that they are high in cholesterol and that cholesterol is associated with heart disease. We have also heard that eggs are a very nutritious food, and we know that people have been eating eggs for hundreds of years. That's true, but look how easy it is for us to go to the market and buy two dozen eggs. Our primitive friends had to chase down wild game or raid nests to collect their eggs. Who do you think ends up eating too many eggs? We hear that cereal is a good alternative to bacon and eggs for breakfast every day, but if we don't know the good ones from the bad ones we end up making some poor selections. Many of the cereals available have too much added refined sugar, and in excess that can be bad for your health. A final example: When was the last time you sat down to dinner with the family and ate a meal cooked from scratch? A long time ago, right? In fact, the last meal you all ate together was probably a "Chicken Delight" take-out dinner for six at the convenient price of $3.99 each.

The problem is obvious. There are so many poor food choices available that are convenient and cheap that it seems burdensome to take the time to select food that is more nutritious and takes more of our precious time to prepare. But all is not lost. With some basic understanding of nutrition we can easily swing the pendulum to a more nutritious diet and increase our state of health and performance.

Nutrition and Disease

A common misconception about nutrition is that people who attempt to improve their diets are "health freaks" seeking a utopia of well-being, whereas the rest-of us maintain perfectly good health with little or no concern about what we eat. Nutritionists may not know for sure what the ideal diet is, but there is little disagreement among them that the American diet is not conducive to good health. There is an old American saying: "Eat all your food, people are starving all over the world." The maxim in today's underdeveloped countries might be "Eat all your rice, Americans are starving on junk food."

People become ill, suffer disability, and even die prematurely simply because of the way they live. There is mounting scientific evidence that the way we live our lives is the major determinant not only of how long but of how well we live. The new era in health will take us beyond traditional medical care and stop illness before it occurs through personal prevention and the promotion of healthy life-styles.

Diet, the major element of life-style, is strongly linked to the incidence of degenerative diseases in this country. Cardiovascular disease, which includes heart disease and stroke, is most commonly associated with diet. Vascular diseases account for over half the deaths in the United States, a fact directly related to our typical high-fat diet. Obesity, a disease that is the underlying cause of many other diseases such as hypertension and age-onset diabetes, starts with the problem of weight control. The constant battle to control weight, which seems to occupy many Americans, is rooted in our excessive intake of processed foods high in fat, refined sugar, and empty calories. Other diseases, such as breast cancer, colon cancer, osteoporosis, hypoglycemia, and tooth decay, are all significantly more prevalent in people who eat the typical American diet.

Nutrition and Performance

Humans are creatures of habit. One of our worst habits -- always looking for an easier way -- causes dieters to use diet pills to shed unwanted weight and often spurs athletes to look at special foods or supplements to make them champions. In the following chapters there will be no mention of a "wonder food" that will propel the athlete into the championships. Instead, I will show that negative nutrition prevents athletes from reaching their potential and that positive nutrition enhances that potential. Nutrition is an important link to success and should be treated as such. Great athletes in any sport must start with great talent. Given that basic gift, they must have the desire and dedication to excel in their particular sport. From there, it is hard training, drilling, and self-discipline that produces champions. Positive nutrition will enhance total training and performance, while negative nutrition will probably prevent the athlete from reaching his or her ultimate goal. Athletes and coaches often miss this important link. They frequently feel that training is the only factor and that nutrition has little effect. That is a logical assumption, especially when athletes appear to perform successfully on a "normal" diet. There is no question that highly gifted athletes can, on certain occasions, perform well in spite of a poor diet. But they will never reach their maximum potential.

A Champion or an Also-Ran

We constantly hear that athletes should eat just like everyone else except for consuming more calories, which are required for their increased energy expenditures. That view is...

Details zur Ausgabe

• Verlag: Touchstone
• Erscheinungsdatum: 1984
• Sprache: Englisch
• ISBN 10: 0671765795
• ISBN 13: 9780671765798
• Einband: Taschenbuch
• Anzahl der Seiten: 232
• Kontakt zum Hersteller: Nicht verfügbar
• Verantwortliche Person: Simon and Schuster Netherlands BV, GPSR Europäische Union; info@simonandschuster.nl; ; Herculesplein 96; AA Utrecht; 3584; Niederlande