Latest / The People Run Podcast / #16: Nutrition Myths Busted with Registered Dietitian Carla Duenas

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#16: Nutrition Myths Busted with Registered Dietitian Carla Duenas · The People Run Podcast

0:00
SPEAKER_01: I always look at carbs.
0:01
SPEAKER_01: Do you have them on your plate and are they enough?
0:03
SPEAKER_01: And then the second thing is just pro you do need protein.
0:06
SPEAKER_01: Everybody needs protein with every single meal, but a lot of athletes will just add too much protein and kind of like restrict on the carbohydrate because they want to manage their body composition.
0:14
SPEAKER_01: So usually that's where the power is.
0:16
SPEAKER_01: It's coming from the carbs and a lot of education.
0:18
SPEAKER_01: It's not the same to say have Skittles for a snack versus have a you know a banana or fruit or more of a complex carb.
0:26
SPEAKER_01: Um yeah, I always look at the carbs.
0:28
SPEAKER_01: And for the most part, most athletes that I see, at least especially the first time, they're under-eating calories, but also.
0:40
SPEAKER_00: Hello and welcome back to the People Run podcast.
0:43
SPEAKER_00: So there's a lot of noise out there when it comes to nutrition and some good stuff that we we know now by default, just because so much information.
0:50
SPEAKER_00: That's why I sought out Carla, who's a registered dietitian, to go through some uh myths, some do's, some don'ts, and just talk overall nutrition for uh, you know, sports, endurance, us runners in general.
1:02
SPEAKER_00: Uh so without further ado, thank you, Carla, for hopping on and being on the People Run podcast.
1:07
SPEAKER_00: How are you doing and how's everything going?
1:09
SPEAKER_01: No, I'm honored that you reached out.
1:11
SPEAKER_01: I'm always happy to share any nutrition tips that can help everybody, but specifically athletes out there.
1:17
SPEAKER_01: I know how much misinformation is out there.
1:19
SPEAKER_01: And so happy to share what I what I know and and set the record straight on some of these myths or you know, crazy things that sometimes runners specially follow.
1:29
SPEAKER_00: Um, let's start with number one right away.
1:31
SPEAKER_00: You are a registered dietitian, Ken, for the listener, we discuss the difference between your average sports nutritionist versus an actual registered dietitian.
1:41
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
1:42
SPEAKER_01: I I guess the basics would be whenever you see the title registered dietitian, I hate the the title being dietitian because it because because it implies diet, right?
1:52
SPEAKER_01: Which it really does have like a negative connotation for most people, even for us for dietitians.
1:57
SPEAKER_01: We don't really love that title.
1:59
SPEAKER_01: But whenever you see those, the RD next to a person's name, it means that that person went through a lot of education for it.
2:07
SPEAKER_01: And as of now, in order to be a dietitian, you have to have a bachelor's, or four years of a nutrition degree program or science-related program with a lot of nutrition classes, which include the chemistries, all the anatomy, physiology, very scientifical, science-based, right?
2:24
SPEAKER_01: And then they have to get a master's in nutrition and then complete a one-year internship.
2:29
SPEAKER_01: So it's about 1200 hours of practical experience under another registered dietitian within three different areas.
2:36
SPEAKER_01: The difference between that and a nutritionist is that a nutritionist doesn't have a um, it's not a specific definition, right?
2:44
SPEAKER_01: Anybody can be a nutritionist.
2:46
SPEAKER_01: Nowadays, there's a lot of online universities that are offering that degree, and I'm not saying that they're bad, it's just that they're shorter or they're more surface level.
2:55
SPEAKER_01: Um, it doesn't go deep into the science of it, into the chemistry of things.
2:59
SPEAKER_01: So when I hear things of like you have to be fasting for a week or three days in order to be healthier, it's like not really.
3:07
SPEAKER_01: All you have to do is have that next healthy meal, and that's it.
3:09
SPEAKER_01: There's no detoxing of your body because we have a system for detoxing itself, right?
3:14
SPEAKER_01: So when you understand the physiology, the anatomy, the chemistry behind it, you can make more informed decisions.
3:22
SPEAKER_00: I'm assuming you got to fall in love with this.
3:23
SPEAKER_00: 12, you said a lot of hours into this, a master's studies, a lot of schooling.
3:28
SPEAKER_01: You have to like it, and I'll be honest, why?
3:30
SPEAKER_01: Because one, it's not a high-paying field, right?
3:32
SPEAKER_01: So anybody considering studying nutrition, just know that, you know, some dietitians do make it, but it's not, you don't go in it for the money.
3:39
SPEAKER_01: You go in it because you like science and you like helping people.
3:42
SPEAKER_01: And personally, what happened to me is I realized that nutrition was really the root of health.
3:47
SPEAKER_01: Doesn't matter what other chronic condition you have, what other disease you have.
3:51
SPEAKER_01: Um, you can take, if you need medication, you need the medication, but nutrition will always be at the root cost of helping you manage, prevent, reduce, you know, having to take medication or the dose of the medication, the frequency that you have to take the medication.
4:05
SPEAKER_01: So that's why I went into it.
4:07
SPEAKER_01: Um, so it was more of I was a nerd like you, like I wanted to find out more about the body, right?
4:13
SPEAKER_01: And so that's how I got into nutrition.
4:15
SPEAKER_01: And and my approach has always been just say yes to anything that's exciting, that you, you know, even if you don't know how you're gonna do it, you learn in the process because it's what you like.
4:24
SPEAKER_01: And so I started doing, I joined a run club, started running, I met friends that were triathletes and started doing triathlons.
4:31
SPEAKER_01: So all these things kind of influenced me and took me into a path of sports nutrition because once you're in it, and this was talking about maybe 14 years ago, 13 years ago, even um, there wasn't anything on sports nutrition that I knew.
4:45
SPEAKER_01: There was only one main dietitian nationally that was like the sports dietitian.
4:51
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
4:51
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, the person.
4:52
SPEAKER_01: But I just saw so many run runners, and personally, my first half marathon, I completely bunked.
4:58
SPEAKER_01: Like I stopped by the bathroom.
4:59
SPEAKER_01: I did all them, all the running mistakes, and now I coach runners like what to avoid, how to prevent this.
5:05
SPEAKER_01: And to your first question of like, how do you get into sports nutrition?
5:08
SPEAKER_01: I think I always recommend you have to be an athlete in one way or another because it's hard for somebody, whether they're a teen, like middle school, high school, or a professional athlete, they're not gonna go for somebody that doesn't understand their sport or doesn't understand the ins and outs of putting nutrition in practice, or how can nutrition you know help you.
5:27
SPEAKER_01: Um but I I find that most sports dietitians have done a sport at some level at some point in their lives, and they they genuinely love it.
5:37
SPEAKER_01: It's also that boost, that edge that you can give a person to have not just a faster time, but a better race experience, right?
5:45
SPEAKER_00: Talking on that before we get into like some deeper topics, like walk me through some of your uh running experience.
5:50
SPEAKER_00: And not only are you a uh a registered dietitian, but you run as well.
5:54
SPEAKER_01: Yes.
5:55
SPEAKER_01: So I started running.
5:56
SPEAKER_01: I ran, but but I'll say that the running is really more like therapy.
6:01
SPEAKER_01: It's always been since I was in high school.
6:03
SPEAKER_01: I never I never joined a team because I moved from Ecuador very young in like for high school, basically, and I didn't know how to get into any of the teams, which is a major regret that I have.
6:12
SPEAKER_01: Like, if I had that door open, who knows?
6:16
SPEAKER_01: Who knows where I'd be the Olympics?
6:19
SPEAKER_01: I'm not that good.
6:20
SPEAKER_01: I'm not I'm not really good.
6:21
SPEAKER_01: I I do it because I love it.
6:23
SPEAKER_01: And so it was really through running, trying to forget, you know, just the stresses of life when you're in high school, which is really like tests and relationship things.
6:33
SPEAKER_01: Um one boyfriend that I had, ex-boyfriend, broke up with me and told me, hey, you should check out this run club in the city.
6:41
SPEAKER_01: This is South Beach Run Club back in the day.
6:43
SPEAKER_01: And he's like, Yeah, you should check it out.
6:45
SPEAKER_01: It's gonna help you get over me, kind of thing.
6:47
SPEAKER_01: Um, you're gonna meet people.
6:49
SPEAKER_01: And yeah, yeah, that's exactly how it was.
6:52
SPEAKER_01: And and now I thank him because when I um started going to this run club, I would go every, it was every Thursday back then.
7:00
SPEAKER_01: Then they opened a new run club, still same leader, uh, Breakout Run Club on Tuesdays.
7:06
SPEAKER_01: So every Tuesday, every Thursday, I went to run, which was my fix of like stress reliever.
7:11
SPEAKER_01: I just felt so much better after the run, throughout the run, but after the run, and then I met a lot of new people, which is how I met this group of triathletes that got me into triathlons.
7:19
SPEAKER_01: And and it just became about the it became about the social aspect of it, and I was hooked.
7:25
SPEAKER_01: Fast forward to like maybe 10 years later, I met my husband there, who's actually the leader of the of the run clubs, and so yeah, I have to thank him for that.
7:36
SPEAKER_01: But that's how I started running.
7:37
SPEAKER_01: It was it was always like on the more mental health aspect of it.
7:41
SPEAKER_01: There it I call it my therapy.
7:42
SPEAKER_01: I'm a better person, happy person now be your mom when I get to run.
7:47
SPEAKER_00: That's amazing.
7:48
SPEAKER_00: So you mentioned you you've studied this for a while.
7:50
SPEAKER_00: What have you seen that like fads have you seen that work now, that that were a big thing in the past and no longer work?
7:57
SPEAKER_00: Like one that comes to mind right now.
7:59
SPEAKER_00: I don't hear it as much nowadays, and I don't think most people are doing keto comes to mind, but what kind of nutrition uh fad have you seen come and go?
8:07
SPEAKER_01: So in in general, just come and go, there's so many.
8:10
SPEAKER_01: I mean, keto is a big one that's still around.
8:12
SPEAKER_01: A lot of people, and I think even runners, like we want to believe that keto works because it sounds great.
8:17
SPEAKER_01: Like, I think fat accidents.
8:18
SPEAKER_01: That's one of those I think it gets so much so many so many people's attentions because it sort of makes sense.
8:24
SPEAKER_01: Like, let's switch our metabolism to burn fat.
8:27
SPEAKER_01: I have a lot of extra fat.
8:28
SPEAKER_01: Let's, you know, let's let's burn that.
8:30
SPEAKER_01: It's just that it unfortunately it's not how it works.
8:32
SPEAKER_01: And throughout the years, there's been decades of studies about this.
8:36
SPEAKER_01: Um, they haven't found it to be beneficial or advantageous for runners for endurance athletes.
8:42
SPEAKER_01: That's one of those things that every time that I get an endurance athlete with me, I have to go through the sciences, break it down.
8:47
SPEAKER_01: This is how it works.
8:48
SPEAKER_01: Yes, you can use it.
8:49
SPEAKER_01: Some people will be able to, you know, complete a uh a race and feel good with it, but it's not great.
8:54
SPEAKER_01: It's not optimal, right?
8:56
SPEAKER_01: There's always that edge that I talk to people about, right?
8:59
SPEAKER_01: One thing is to complete it, to get it done, but there's always gonna be, if you do it, you know, when you incorporate carbs, it's there is something more to gain there.
9:08
SPEAKER_01: Um, I'd say fasted workouts is another one that, yes, a lot of people can do it, but it's not optimal.
9:14
SPEAKER_01: I guess I'm always talking about what's good and what's optimal.
9:17
SPEAKER_01: That that there's a big difference, especially with competitive athletes.
9:21
SPEAKER_01: Because I get that a lot of people can do it, especially men tend to thrive on a ketogenic or more of a fasting approach.
9:28
SPEAKER_01: Um, at least from experience, it's been mostly men.
9:30
SPEAKER_01: I think just in general, the main one is just reducing carbs.
9:33
SPEAKER_01: Whenever anybody wants to lose weight, it's just like, oh, cut out the carbs and you're gonna lose it.
9:38
SPEAKER_01: Yes, it works, but again, it's not healthy, sustainable, and you lose it not from the fat aspect of it, you lose it from other sites.
9:47
SPEAKER_01: It's calorie deficit, first of all, you're taking out a whole food group.
9:51
SPEAKER_01: Second of all, is when you eat carbs, you also hold on to more water, you also hold on to carbs as in storage as glycogen in your liver and in your muscles.
10:00
SPEAKER_01: So when you're not eating carbs for a while, that reserve is gone, which weighs as well.
10:06
SPEAKER_01: So it's not just fat and people that when you look at a scale without looking at the body composition, fat versus muscle, you think that it's really fat that you're losing.
10:14
SPEAKER_01: Things that are not necessarily unhealthy, but like, for example, starting your day with like a celery juice or like lemon water, it's not magical.
10:22
SPEAKER_01: There's no scientific evidence to work for one thing or another.
10:27
SPEAKER_01: But there is research on the placebo effect of things, which is why I've learned with time never to close off or like disregard something that a person's doing.
10:38
SPEAKER_01: If it doesn't harm you, then you know, why do I care?
10:42
SPEAKER_01: If it's helping you in a sense, start with a healthy habit, which is gonna help you with the rest of the day continue with a healthy lifestyle, then it's fine, do it.
10:52
SPEAKER_01: But there's nothing magical about water and celery in a juice form.
10:57
SPEAKER_01: Um, what else?
10:59
SPEAKER_01: What else?
11:00
SPEAKER_01: Um, I think supplement in general.
11:03
SPEAKER_01: A lot of people want to just tackle everything with a pill and they forget about their plate.
11:12
SPEAKER_01: That should be a quote.
11:14
SPEAKER_01: Pill over plate, right?
11:17
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it's I I find a lot of people, especially young athletes wanting to take creatine, for example, or like BCAA, the branching amino acids, or relying more on a protein powder.
11:28
SPEAKER_01: And when I look at what they're eating, is really um like it's not balanced, it's not enough for what they need.
11:35
SPEAKER_01: They're skipping meals.
11:36
SPEAKER_01: I'm like the the supplement is kind of like the cherry on top.
11:40
SPEAKER_01: The the plate, your regular meals is what the basics of your nutrition should come from.
11:45
SPEAKER_01: So I think that's something that I find myself talking to athletes constantly.
11:50
SPEAKER_01: It's let's look at your diet first, and then we can talk about supplements.
11:54
SPEAKER_00: Um let's talk about actually the supplement portion.
11:58
SPEAKER_00: You know, myself, I've been guilty of that in the past, like years ago when I was newer.
12:02
SPEAKER_00: Like, if you looked at my diet then, it was three protein shakes, BCAs, one plate of chicken and rice because it was cooked at home, and everything else was a protein bar and this, and it's like I think, especially nowadays, I I no longer make these mistakes, but I see it online and everywhere.
12:18
SPEAKER_00: And then people who are, you know, some look great, but do they feel great?
12:21
SPEAKER_00: Is a whole nother story.
12:22
SPEAKER_00: You see people like take this supplement, and your favorite athlete online is hey, take this protein and take this creatine.
12:30
SPEAKER_00: Um I guess what I'm getting at is here, like often now people are favoring supplementation over food.
12:37
SPEAKER_00: I'll start here.
12:38
SPEAKER_00: Why do you think that's happening?
12:41
SPEAKER_00: And what are you seeing as a sports dietitian when that happens?
12:47
SPEAKER_01: So, what I see is still complaints of side effects.
12:51
SPEAKER_01: Like, I feel tired throughout the day, I am sore, I don't have energy.
12:57
SPEAKER_01: Um, what else can I see?
12:59
SPEAKER_01: I mean, in some cases, I work a lot with young athletes.
13:02
SPEAKER_01: I'll say, like, for example, just being underweight.
13:05
SPEAKER_01: They might be getting, you know, protein shakes and their creatine powder and whatnot, but their meals are very low calorie overall throughout the day.
13:13
SPEAKER_01: So I see, I see that.
13:14
SPEAKER_01: I see constipation, I see um what else?
13:20
SPEAKER_01: Or the other thing is I still I'm not able to make my times, or I'm not able to um, you know, gain muscle mass is yes, you might be drinking a lot of protein shakes, but it's not enough protein because you still need, I guess that's also a misunderstanding that a lot of people have is that in order to build muscle, you have to just eat protein or just eat more protein.
13:41
SPEAKER_01: And what the muscle needs to grow is calories, calories first.
13:45
SPEAKER_01: And then the second thing that I see is they just want something fast.
13:48
SPEAKER_01: They want, like, like I don't want to think about it.
13:50
SPEAKER_01: It's easy.
13:51
SPEAKER_01: And I I personally I do get it.
13:53
SPEAKER_01: You pay$30,$40,$50 for this bottle, lasts you for a month, and that's all I have to do, versus when you have to think about how do I build my plate.
14:03
SPEAKER_01: There's a lot more learning behind it, right?
14:04
SPEAKER_01: It's is it just protein and vegetables, or do I need carbs?
14:07
SPEAKER_01: And if I need carbs, what are carbs?
14:09
SPEAKER_01: How many?
14:09
SPEAKER_01: What's good, what's bad?
14:10
SPEAKER_01: Like sifting through all that misinformation, they might go, you know, they get it from social media most of the times, or it's just Google, I hate because it gives you you can find a reason or an answer for everything, like you know, the the counter answer answer kind of thing.
14:28
SPEAKER_01: I have to say, Chat GPT, um, I have my respects.
14:31
SPEAKER_01: I actually do like it a lot because I find it to be very more objective, more science-based.
14:36
SPEAKER_01: I feel I feel like it can collect all the data out there and come up with a more reasonable response closer to what a dietitian would share.
14:43
SPEAKER_01: It's not perfect yet.
14:44
SPEAKER_01: I'll have to say that.
14:45
SPEAKER_01: On the on the nutritional information, the grams of things, the calories of things, it's still off.
14:50
SPEAKER_01: Um, but for the most part, I think it's a good start to give you a reasonable answer, right?
14:57
SPEAKER_01: Um, but I think that's why a lot of people just want that quick pill, which we're seeing now with weight loss, right?
15:02
SPEAKER_01: And the medication.
15:04
SPEAKER_01: A lot of people ask me, especially athletes, you have no idea how many runners in their you know, mid-40s, mid-50s, like, hey, I'm starting to gain a little bit more weight.
15:13
SPEAKER_01: I want to do this marathon, but I want to get rid of this weight.
15:15
SPEAKER_01: Do you think that I should go on XYZ medication?
15:18
SPEAKER_01: Right?
15:18
SPEAKER_01: There's many different brands, right?
15:20
SPEAKER_01: Um, for quick weight loss.
15:22
SPEAKER_01: And I'm like, even if you do so, for athletes, it's not beneficial because it's a low calorie, it's gonna, it's gonna, the impact that it has is that you're not gonna have enough appetite, you're not gonna eat enough calories to sustain the exercise.
15:33
SPEAKER_01: But then on the other side, we still have to work through lifestyle changes because unless you want to be on that medication for the rest of your life, and most people don't want to.
15:41
SPEAKER_01: So as soon as you stop that medication, you're gonna gain the weight back.
15:44
SPEAKER_01: So I think that's a lot of education on my part, at least, that I go through with people.
15:48
SPEAKER_01: First of all, what works and what doesn't.
15:50
SPEAKER_01: There's a lot of supplements that don't really work, right?
15:52
SPEAKER_01: So once you discard the ones that don't work, you're left with a very small list of the ones that do work.
15:58
SPEAKER_01: And even if the ones that do work, we gotta start at your nutrition.
16:01
SPEAKER_01: We gotta start with your plate.
16:02
SPEAKER_01: If you're skipping breakfast, let's talk about you shouldn't be having or skipping your breakfast.
16:07
SPEAKER_01: I'm not against supplements.
16:08
SPEAKER_01: I do support some of them and they have their place, but it's usually the last topic that I'll address with athletes.
16:16
SPEAKER_01: The last one.
16:16
SPEAKER_01: It's once we have everything else down to even down to sleep, right?
16:20
SPEAKER_01: Sleep, nutrition, everything else, then let's talk about supplements.
16:24
SPEAKER_00: I love that because although it may sound like traditional, it's it's what I've found works.
16:29
SPEAKER_00: And when you talk to the high-level athletes, it's what works and what they're doing.
16:34
SPEAKER_00: Um no matter what country they are, to add even further.
16:37
SPEAKER_00: Like if you look at the top athletes in running, they're very simple.
16:41
SPEAKER_00: It's like food, food, food.
16:43
SPEAKER_00: Um touching on this, yeah, on a brief overview, because I know this could be a big rabbit hole.
16:48
SPEAKER_00: What should sports athletes, endurance runners fill their plate with to at least cover the basics?
16:55
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
16:55
SPEAKER_01: Starting always is gonna be carbs.
16:57
SPEAKER_01: There's no replacement to carbs.
16:59
SPEAKER_01: There's, I mean, and and if athletes want to try a ketogenic approach, a low-carb approach, try it, but then challenge that with a higher carb.
17:07
SPEAKER_01: Most elite runners, elite athletes, endurance athletes are basically the name of the game is how many carbs you can consume, even during exercise, is how can you maximize how many carbs you can eat during work during a workout without upsetting your stomach?
17:23
SPEAKER_01: And there's a lot of brands out there coming up with higher carb versions, with you know, with the marketing approach of like it's not gonna cost GI distress.
17:32
SPEAKER_01: So I always look at carbs.
17:34
SPEAKER_01: Do you have them on your plate and are they enough?
17:36
SPEAKER_01: And then the second thing is just you do need protein.
17:38
SPEAKER_01: Everybody needs protein with every single meal, but a lot of athletes will just add too much protein and kind of like restrict on the carbohydrate because they want to manage their body composition.
17:48
SPEAKER_01: So usually that's where the power is.
17:51
SPEAKER_01: It's coming from the carbs and a lot of education.
17:53
SPEAKER_01: It's not the same to say have Skittles for a snack versus have a you know a banana or fruit or you know, more of a complex carb.
18:02
SPEAKER_01: Um yeah, I always look at the carbs.
18:05
SPEAKER_01: And for the most part, most athletes that I see, at least especially the first time, they're under-eating calories, but also coming from carbohydrates specifically.
18:15
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
18:16
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, carbs get a bad rap until you start running a lot.
18:20
SPEAKER_00: Um and they're like, I'm hungry.
18:22
SPEAKER_00: But um, what about fats?
18:25
SPEAKER_00: Um, how important are fats?
18:26
SPEAKER_01: So I would say every single every plate should always have carbs, protein.
18:30
SPEAKER_01: Fats, I don't focus too much on it because one way or another, they're gonna be a part of your plate.
18:36
SPEAKER_01: Whether it's if you're eating animal protein, those foods have naturally fats in them.
18:41
SPEAKER_01: And then every single food when you cook it, we're adding some kind of fat to it, whether whether it's butter, olive oil, etc.
18:48
SPEAKER_01: Um, and then if you're eating vegetables, which you should, every plate should have some kind of vegetable, um, then you're gonna have some dressing in it as well, right?
18:56
SPEAKER_01: Whether it's olive oil, ranch dressing, balsamic vinaigrette, something like that.
19:00
SPEAKER_01: So it's not something that I emphasize to be like, and where is your fat?
19:04
SPEAKER_01: Because it's always there without people thinking about it.
19:06
SPEAKER_01: But the power that fats have in your diet is that they really help recover.
19:10
SPEAKER_01: They help with the inflammation, the inflammatory response that happens from training, which is good, but we want to also reduce it after training to help reduce the soreness, to help us get back to that next workout the next day or in two, whatever you're you know, depending on how often you're training, you know, the level of competitiveness in the athlete.
19:29
SPEAKER_01: But you know, a lot of competitive athletes, elite athletes, they're training most of the day, every single day.
19:34
SPEAKER_01: So those healthy fats, specifically the healthy fats, help reduce that inflammation.
19:39
SPEAKER_01: And then fats overall help to meet calories.
19:42
SPEAKER_01: We all have a certain minimum amount of calories that we need to meet.
19:44
SPEAKER_01: Um, and that's gonna change from the weight of the person to their goals, right?
19:51
SPEAKER_01: If they're trying to lose weight, gain weight, it's something that we modify.
19:54
SPEAKER_01: Because if it's something that wants to gain weight, it's a very easy macronutrient to add on to get more calories.
20:00
SPEAKER_01: And then if you want to lose weight, it's an it's another nutrient to reduce to help with weight loss.
20:05
SPEAKER_01: But it needs to be in that plate.
20:07
SPEAKER_01: So it's carbs, protein, and then vegetables.
20:09
SPEAKER_01: It's the other one that every plate should have.
20:11
SPEAKER_01: It's just that depending on the sport, we play with the amount of carbohydrates that they have, or the goal as well, we play, right?
20:19
SPEAKER_01: So more endurance training, more carbohydrates.
20:22
SPEAKER_01: So we usually go up to half the plate of carbs.
20:25
SPEAKER_01: And then if it's somebody like me, I'm running, you know, three to six miles every day.
20:29
SPEAKER_01: I go more for like 25% of the plate carbs.
20:32
SPEAKER_01: But I have it with every single meal.
20:34
SPEAKER_01: And that's something where I think a lot of people could use that little boost of having carbs with every single meal instead of, for example, doing a high carb lunch and dinner and then skipping carbs for breakfast, or the other way around, skipping carbs for dinner, especially for athletes that are that are training in early in the morning, they could really benefit from having carbohydrates at night instead of skipping them.
20:58
SPEAKER_01: So yeah, it's uh that's the basics of the plate.
21:02
SPEAKER_01: That's where I always start.
21:03
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
21:03
SPEAKER_01: And the beauty with that approach, Fitz, is that we're just talking, right?
21:07
SPEAKER_01: You you've lived all over the place, kind of with a Hispanic background from the DR.
21:10
SPEAKER_01: I'm from Ecuador.
21:12
SPEAKER_01: Uh, we we each have our own culturally, you know, special foods.
21:17
SPEAKER_01: That approach, if I tell you it's half the plate carbs, whether you want to put a mofongo there, or for me, yeah, ping gacho from Ecuador, um, you know, if it's pasta, if you like Italian, it doesn't matter.
21:28
SPEAKER_01: It still fits the plate.
21:30
SPEAKER_01: So that's the beauty of it too, that you get to play with the actual food.
21:34
SPEAKER_01: If you can think through what's a carb, what's a protein, what's a vegetable.
21:37
SPEAKER_01: That's it.
21:38
SPEAKER_00: Uh, I want to pause just a little bit before I ask on that, and and just to make a quick distinction, I want the listener to pay attention to this one.
21:45
SPEAKER_00: We've spoken briefly on supplements, but everything you just mentioned was food and cooking food, right?
21:51
SPEAKER_00: And I just want to pause for the listener to listen.
21:53
SPEAKER_00: Like, hey, we're talking about cooking and eating real food.
21:56
SPEAKER_00: And what I find is, and the reason we'll get back to supplement in a minute, because I have some questions.
22:00
SPEAKER_00: But the supplements often, to your point here, I can easily go drink a 42 scoop, 40 gram protein.
22:06
SPEAKER_00: But guess what I'm not getting in that?
22:08
SPEAKER_00: I'm not getting the fiber.
22:09
SPEAKER_00: It likely doesn't have high fat unless it's like a meat one I bought intentionally, which most people don't.
22:14
SPEAKER_00: They usually buy the regular whey or isolated whey, which has less fats.
22:18
SPEAKER_00: Um, there's less vitamins in that.
22:21
SPEAKER_00: Just wanted to make that distinction because we're talking about food, food a lot here.
22:24
SPEAKER_00: Yes.
22:25
SPEAKER_00: Food, which is important and what should come first, and it's often what we don't hear nowadays.
22:30
SPEAKER_01: It should come first.
22:31
SPEAKER_01: I always say food first, right?
22:32
SPEAKER_01: That's an approach.
22:33
SPEAKER_01: But you do bring up a really good point, which is the supplements.
22:37
SPEAKER_01: It they do have they play a role because for the person, athlete, man that wants to gain weight.
22:44
SPEAKER_01: Like I have a lot of athletes that train three hours a day.
22:47
SPEAKER_01: They need three, four thousand plus calories just to sustain what they're doing.
22:52
SPEAKER_01: And there is a limit to how much food we can eat.
22:55
SPEAKER_01: There's a little bit of part that I work with, it's like training your stomach to eat more or eat less, but there's also just a certain amount that we can eat without feeling too full or time-wise.
23:04
SPEAKER_01: So I supplements have a place and they're to help meet that gap between food and the extra that you need for those that have higher needs, whether it's calorie, protein, carbs, et cetera.
23:14
SPEAKER_01: And then it's just convenience.
23:16
SPEAKER_01: Because if I'm working with a student or if I'm working with a professional that, you know, has to go to work eight to six o'clock and doesn't have time to make breakfast, well, let's talk about that protein shake.
23:26
SPEAKER_01: That's your protein, but how can you add the carb?
23:28
SPEAKER_01: How can you add the fat, right?
23:30
SPEAKER_01: To make it a balanced meal in a bottle.
23:33
SPEAKER_01: But again, I think the supplement part is more about convenience and helping meet that need, but we always start with the food first.
23:39
SPEAKER_00: Talking about that, how many meals should, and I know this depends on different people, you know, you could have someone who's working 12-hour shift and also a triathlete, but on average, how many meals a day would you say someone needs to eat?
23:50
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
23:51
SPEAKER_01: I think, I mean, the standard is still applies, it's three meals, maybe two snacks as needed.
23:56
SPEAKER_01: It's more of like eating every three to four hours, or really going off of hunger in a way.
24:02
SPEAKER_01: If the plates are like we talked about, they're balanced.
24:04
SPEAKER_01: They have the carb, they have the protein, and they have vegetables.
24:07
SPEAKER_01: It should last about three to four hours when the next meal should come in.
24:11
SPEAKER_01: So believe it or not, in my office, a lot of times I don't talk about what's your breakfast.
24:15
SPEAKER_01: It's like what's your first food or drink that you have?
24:18
SPEAKER_01: Because some athletes need six, seven meals, whether it's larger meals or smaller, like snack-wise.
24:24
SPEAKER_01: I I sometimes don't like to put that label.
24:26
SPEAKER_01: I just go off like, what's your next bucket of food?
24:29
SPEAKER_01: What's your next bucket of fuel, even?
24:31
SPEAKER_01: What does that include?
24:33
SPEAKER_01: And as a dietitian, I know that if it's three hours or more outside of training, it should have that basics of carbs, protein, fat, fiber, which is coming from the vegetables.
24:44
SPEAKER_01: As we get closer to training, that's when we start to narrow down and leave out the fats, leave out the proteins because they're, you know, they take longer to digest, and we don't want that to affect the athlete while they're training.
24:55
SPEAKER_01: But that would be the only exception to when it wouldn't be as balanced.
24:59
SPEAKER_01: It's just focusing on carbs, for example.
25:01
SPEAKER_00: Got it.
25:02
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
25:03
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it's a good way to put it in.
25:04
SPEAKER_00: And the reason I asked was just thinking of everything we just said now.
25:07
SPEAKER_00: Like, yeah, I could probably eat three meals, and if it's real food, it's gonna be very filling, versus if I snack grays here and there, like that might be like seven.
25:17
SPEAKER_01: Um it is important to make a distinction between like you do need a break between food.
25:23
SPEAKER_01: That definitely the sweet spot for most people is three to four hours.
25:27
SPEAKER_01: I I think I've seen it two hours when the meal is either not enough or it's an athlete that you know, the metabolism is a lot faster, so they just you they get hungry quicker, especially after a workout.
25:37
SPEAKER_01: But the standard, I've worked with just so many people, it's always it ends up being still three main meals and maybe one snack, right?
25:45
SPEAKER_01: Because depending on the time that they have breakfast, maybe from breakfast to lunch, there's a three to four hour window, right?
25:51
SPEAKER_01: It's you know, it's enough to go from one meal to the next without being completely starving.
25:55
SPEAKER_01: It's just a normal hunger level.
25:57
SPEAKER_01: But then from lunch to dinner, that might be for most people, that's a bigger gap.
26:01
SPEAKER_01: And we're talking about six to maybe eight hours of no food.
26:05
SPEAKER_01: And so that's where I recommend like just put a snack in there or a smaller meal in there.
26:10
SPEAKER_01: The reason for that is that when you get there's a lot of research and and and practical, I've done it myself, it happens to me.
26:17
SPEAKER_01: Whenever you wait too long to eat, whether it's you're skipping a meal or the window's too large.
26:23
SPEAKER_01: Again, if you have lunch at 12 and your dinner is at eight o'clock, that's eight hours of no food in you.
26:29
SPEAKER_01: Maybe you can do it.
26:30
SPEAKER_01: Maybe you're you've trained your stomach to not need energy at four o'clock.
26:34
SPEAKER_01: You can just, you know, kind of ignore that hunger.
26:36
SPEAKER_01: A lot of people have trained their stomachs for that.
26:38
SPEAKER_01: But when you get to eight o'clock, they they're just ravenous.
26:42
SPEAKER_01: And they, you know, they you don't just want to eat your chicken and salad and quinoa.
26:46
SPEAKER_01: You want to eat a cheeseburger with fries, or maybe you eat the chicken and the quinoa, but you want a lot more quinoa, you want a lot second plate, and you want dessert with that.
26:54
SPEAKER_01: And then it becomes more about kind of like not just fueling, but also just feeling good because you were already starving, you were stressed maybe before.
27:01
SPEAKER_01: Now that you're home, you're relaxed, and you want to overeat.
27:04
SPEAKER_01: That's what I try to manage with putting a snack in between.
27:07
SPEAKER_01: So that sweet spot is three to four hours for most people.
27:11
SPEAKER_00: What's the flip side of that?
27:13
SPEAKER_00: Because I I find that there is a subsequent uh amount of people that do this where they're not doing the three, four-hour gap.
27:19
SPEAKER_00: And it's like snacking, snacking, grazing every hour, every two hours.
27:23
SPEAKER_00: What um what happens when someone does that and they're not giving that stomach a break and letting the food digest or the metabolism break?
27:31
SPEAKER_01: I think the first thing that that I can think of that that will happen, obviously, is when you're grazing throughout the day, you're definitely eating a lot more calories than you think.
27:39
SPEAKER_01: People, when they do this, they're distracted.
27:42
SPEAKER_01: There's no structure to it either.
27:44
SPEAKER_01: It's not just like, let me make sure that I have my carbs and my protein.
27:47
SPEAKER_01: It tends to be like on the high carb side, so like chips and pretzels and popcorn, like things like that.
27:53
SPEAKER_01: Or on the fat side as well, of like they think, oh, I'm eating healthy like nuts and you know, pistachio, and they end up eating a lot of that because they're eating a little bit, but like, you know, regularly.
28:04
SPEAKER_01: So I see just very high calorie consumption from that.
28:07
SPEAKER_01: And not letting your stomach digest, honestly, um, I can't say that there's a lot of research to it, but I would imagine that at some point over the years, and this just because it does take a longer time, the longer that your digestive system is working, every time that you eat, there's a lot of it's kind of like an orchestra that comes into play where you have your liver digesting enzymes and you have, you know, pancreas, just every pancreas, everything comes into play to control how much energy you're consuming to make sure that those nutrients are going into the cell.
28:38
SPEAKER_01: So, like, for example, glucose is the one that comes to mind when you're eating constantly carbohydrates.
28:43
SPEAKER_01: Every time you eat carbs, your blood sugar goes up, right?
28:46
SPEAKER_01: Then it then insulin comes in to bring that down.
28:50
SPEAKER_01: And so if your body's constantly doing this, right, that's gonna put a stress on your pancreas, with which over time it can lead to a burnout, which can lead to insulin resistance, then diabetes.
29:01
SPEAKER_01: This is like kind of like a domino effect.
29:04
SPEAKER_01: It's just that honestly, it can take years, decades to develop, right?
29:08
SPEAKER_01: So it's not from one day to the next.
29:10
SPEAKER_01: Um, I think shorter, shorter side effect or downside that constantly grazing has is just on gaining weight, honestly, and not enjoying your meal.
29:19
SPEAKER_01: Because if you're grazing throughout the day, then when you get to dinner, you're probably not that hungry, but you still eat that plate.
29:25
SPEAKER_01: And so that also on the enjoyment side of it, you don't enjoy your food as much as when you're actually hungry.
29:32
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
29:34
SPEAKER_01: There's a lot of psychology to to nutrition as well.
29:37
SPEAKER_01: Um, but I just definitely don't recommend it.
29:40
SPEAKER_01: Or at the very least, make sure that those snacks have basic the basics of carbs for energy and protein for satiety and controlling of the of the that blood glucose response as well.
29:51
SPEAKER_00: Talking about that that blood glucose response and insulin spike, so essentially that's the crash we always talk about with a caffeine or food, and everyone's always like, I'm low on energy, correct?
30:01
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
30:02
SPEAKER_01: After after a high sugary snack, like if you know, we can put we can talk about this in many different ways, but like if I'm thinking about like a soda, right?
30:11
SPEAKER_01: Pure sugar, a lot of sugar without fiber, without protein, without any any gatekeeper, I call it like a freno de mano, like something that would hold on that blood sugar response.
30:22
SPEAKER_01: Um, that coke, soda, sprite, whatever, sugary drink is gonna give you a quick blood sugar spike.
30:30
SPEAKER_01: The spike is what can lead to then the that crash sensation because your body is like, what I do with all this energy?
30:38
SPEAKER_01: Are you gonna go for a run?
30:39
SPEAKER_01: Great, we're gonna burn it, we're gonna use it.
30:41
SPEAKER_01: Your muscles act as an insulin as well.
30:43
SPEAKER_01: They open up, the cells of the muscles open up to take in that energy to get you through the workout.
30:48
SPEAKER_01: But if you're just gonna drink a soda and drink and sit, that gets stored as fat, unfortunately.
30:52
SPEAKER_01: So we start to feel a little bit tired, and then the response when you start to feel tired is, oh, let me go get coffee, let me go get more food, and it's usually a starchy or a sugary food, because that one that's what the brain knows to be energy.
31:04
SPEAKER_01: All carbs are energy for the body.
31:06
SPEAKER_01: Some are you know quicker or slower than others, but they all turn into glucose in the body at a you know, whatever speed.
31:14
SPEAKER_01: So when we talk about carb quality, that's what I usually refer to is what do we want it for?
31:19
SPEAKER_01: Ideally, it's more complex, more more um slow digesting so that we don't have that that uh crash.
31:28
SPEAKER_00: When do uh complex versus simple carbs come into play?
31:31
SPEAKER_00: You know, in running endurance triathletes, often we're like, hey, let me take a gel, which is a lot of sugar, you know, and and we use it strategically.
31:39
SPEAKER_00: But there could be times we're snacking on, you know, you mentioned the soda, I'm just drinking the soda for the pleasure, it's hot outside, and I'm not gonna go work out.
31:47
SPEAKER_00: You know, when do when do simple versus complex carbs are Yeah.
31:50
SPEAKER_01: I mean, so just to touch on even the definition of simple versus complex, because it can be complex to understand, is like I said, right?
31:58
SPEAKER_01: So all carbohydrate foods turn into glucose or energy in the body.
32:02
SPEAKER_01: So glucose and energy are interchangeably because glucose is the energy for the cell, for your brains, for your muscle.
32:09
SPEAKER_01: When we say complex, it means that that carbohydrate has fiber in it, or it's not just so sugar is very simple.
32:16
SPEAKER_01: Sugar to sugar inside, sugar to glucose is immediate.
32:19
SPEAKER_01: Starch to sugar, there it's a breakdown process.
32:22
SPEAKER_01: So it takes a little bit longer, right?
32:24
SPEAKER_01: So think of the sugar in fruit is a little quicker than the wheat in pasta or even in rice.
32:30
SPEAKER_01: It's a starch, it has to be broken down to turn into sugar.
32:34
SPEAKER_01: Um, when we add fiber, like if it's whole wheat pasta or brown rice, or even in fruit, yes, it's sugar, but it also has fiber.
32:42
SPEAKER_01: Every single plant food has fiber in the skin of it or in the actual structure.
32:46
SPEAKER_01: What's holding it together, it's called fiber.
32:48
SPEAKER_01: Um, it takes a little bit longer to break into from the sugar or from the starch to the sugar or the glucose that we have inside our bodies in our blood.
32:57
SPEAKER_01: Um, so that's what makes it complex, right?
33:00
SPEAKER_01: It's taking longer to digest, taking longer to turn from the food form to the glucose form inside our bloodstream.
33:08
SPEAKER_01: Uh, the more complex, the more fiber it has, the more of a starchy component it is, the healthier overall.
33:14
SPEAKER_01: Because it's giving your body more time to, instead of getting a spike, it's more like a wave, a more controlled wave.
33:21
SPEAKER_01: So it's more time to use those cards for energy instead of like, what do I do?
33:24
SPEAKER_01: Let's burn or store.
33:26
SPEAKER_01: It's more like, okay, I have two hours to now see what I do with this, right?
33:30
SPEAKER_01: Store it in a more or use it as you're walking, as you're picking up things in your house or going to your car or whatnot.
33:37
SPEAKER_01: Now, when do we use it?
33:38
SPEAKER_01: Ideally, we want to use the complex carbohydrates like the starches for our main meals and snacks outside of exercise, right?
33:46
SPEAKER_01: When we're thinking of exercise within the hour to even two, but within an hour or during exercise, we want the simple carbohydrates because that's quick.
33:56
SPEAKER_01: That is, I'm eating a piece of fruit, my blood sugar is spiking, but I'm also running within the next hour, so I'm gonna, my muscles are gonna use it.
34:04
SPEAKER_01: Exactly.
34:04
SPEAKER_01: And during the trade, and there's very little digestion of that as well.
34:09
SPEAKER_01: During exercise, like if you're running a marathon, right, or training to run a not even marathon, but I would say anything over a 10K to getting closer to the half marathon, really half marathon, that's the point where you want to start consuming some kind of carbohydrate during the run to give you more power, to give you more energy.
34:26
SPEAKER_01: Um, that's when we go to pure sugar.
34:29
SPEAKER_01: Because if you were to eat something that's more complex, like let's say that you eat a bagel or a piece of bread during the run, then all the blood, all the attention is going to your stomach to digest it.
34:40
SPEAKER_01: But guess what?
34:41
SPEAKER_01: Your muscles also are needing the energy, are needing the bloodstream for oxygen, for nutrients to get you to keep running.
34:48
SPEAKER_01: And so there's gonna be a competition in between your stomach and your muscles.
34:51
SPEAKER_01: And who's gonna win?
34:52
SPEAKER_01: Usually it's gonna be the muscles because you're exercising.
34:54
SPEAKER_01: So you're gonna end up feeling heavy, nauseous, and worst case scenario, throwing up, which happens all the time in races.
35:01
SPEAKER_01: Um, and so we we want to keep it very easy to digest.
35:05
SPEAKER_01: You know, the quicker digestion, the better.
35:08
SPEAKER_00: That's very simple and elegant way of putting the simple simple versus complex um as far as usage, and kind of I guess explains as well when we do overeat using the simple card, but I'm about to go sit down.
35:22
SPEAKER_01: Uh, you know, versus the soda that you like, so the soda example that you mentioned, honestly, that's more for pleasure, right?
35:28
SPEAKER_01: It's not healthy, but if you do it occasionally, it's not gonna make or break you.
35:32
SPEAKER_01: The red flag that we're pronounced is if that's your go-to every day, that you're drinking soda with lunches every day, it's like, okay, let's make it a little bit better because there's a missed opportunity in here.
35:40
SPEAKER_01: Um, but if it's an occasional thing for pleasure, then and you're a runner, especially, it's probably most likely fine.
35:47
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, especially post-race when you want that sugar spike and you're dying.
35:52
unknown: Yeah.
35:52
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
35:53
SPEAKER_01: But you something you just made me think of something because it's so popular here.
35:57
SPEAKER_01: I don't know about where you're at, but I've seen so many athletes training for a marathon and consuming low-calorie sports drinks.
36:06
SPEAKER_01: Have you seen that?
36:07
SPEAKER_01: Like there's so many brands out there.
36:09
SPEAKER_01: I don't want to name anyone in particular, but there's the standard most common brands have a sugar-free version.
36:16
SPEAKER_01: Have you seen those?
36:17
SPEAKER_00: I've seen a spike recently because I I also look at all the I'm one of those people that reads all the ingredients and looks at what's new, what's on the horizon.
36:26
SPEAKER_00: I'm noticing an upward trend, I would say, because a lot of them are tend to be low calorie.
36:30
SPEAKER_00: And I just say low calorie because it's like 100, 120 grams.
36:33
SPEAKER_00: I find that low.
36:34
SPEAKER_00: I could be wrong on that.
36:34
SPEAKER_00: But I have seen Well, I mean low sugar.
36:37
SPEAKER_01: So like let's say like the standard sports drink, they they were developed to provide sugar during exercise.
36:44
SPEAKER_01: And now they're having a whole line of like no sugar.
36:48
SPEAKER_00: I think I might know what brand, and we won't say here you're talking about because I've recently seen one of my favorite brands release a lower sugar one, which is almost non-existent.
36:55
SPEAKER_00: There's a few other gels out there that are going less sugar as well.
36:58
SPEAKER_00: But yes, I have seen an upward tick of no sugar, and I think it's just this is just my opinion, right?
37:03
SPEAKER_00: And obviously, I'm not a registered dietitian, but just from observance, it's it's one of those things where now maybe we're heading along the lines where people are feeding sugar now.
37:10
SPEAKER_00: There's always something that we fear.
37:11
SPEAKER_00: At one point it was fats, at one point it was carbs.
37:14
SPEAKER_00: I have seen an upward tick, yes.
37:16
SPEAKER_01: It doesn't make sense.
37:17
SPEAKER_01: I see these runners drinking the low sugar version.
37:20
SPEAKER_01: I'm like, the purpose of the sports drink is to fuel you with carbs coming from sugar, and then obviously the electrolytes, which is a different topic, but so it's in a bottle, you're getting both.
37:29
SPEAKER_01: The fact that you're going low sugar, you're kind of like going backwards in a way.
37:35
SPEAKER_00: It's well, some brands sell both now, where it's like, hey, I have an electrolyte, no sugar, and I have an electrolyte with sugar.
37:41
SPEAKER_01: But the endurance athlete, they want to go for the low sugar because they think it's healthier, but it's not for them.
37:48
SPEAKER_01: They need the high sugar version to drink during their training.
37:51
SPEAKER_01: Not like with lunch, not with you know a meal.
37:54
SPEAKER_01: I'm talking about because then that's different.
37:56
SPEAKER_01: If you like the flavor of it or you just want an electrolyte beverage, then you know, choose a low sugar one if you're just sitting down.
38:02
SPEAKER_01: But if you're running, cycling, if you're exercising, that you need the high sugar version.
38:07
SPEAKER_01: And I've seen so many cases of kids that I'm like, okay, this is where your low carb is coming from.
38:12
SPEAKER_01: Like, let's switch this to that.
38:14
SPEAKER_01: And then what do I hear back after a race or after a training?
38:16
SPEAKER_01: It's like, wow, I have more energy.
38:18
SPEAKER_01: Who would have thought?
38:19
SPEAKER_01: I'm like, who would have thought?
38:21
SPEAKER_00: I I've had athletes ask me in the past when they're like a little newer, they look at a gel for the first time and they're like, 29 grams of sugar.
38:27
SPEAKER_00: And I'm taking three of these, and it's like, you need this.
38:31
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
38:32
SPEAKER_01: Um, this is the difference between I think the recreational or beginner endurance athlete and the elite is that for the recreational athlete, they want to see how fast or how long can they go with very little fuel, right?
38:47
SPEAKER_01: Like the game for them, the challenge for them is like, how little can I consume and still get to my goal to finish this race or to you know hit these times with the least amount of fuel and even hydration?
39:00
SPEAKER_01: Because I've seen that.
39:01
SPEAKER_01: It's like, oh, three, four miles go by and they're not drinking anything.
39:04
SPEAKER_01: And then the elite athlete knows better about nutrition and they're like, okay, how can I maximize how many carbs can I consume?
39:12
SPEAKER_01: Right?
39:13
SPEAKER_01: It's it's completely opposite.
39:15
SPEAKER_01: How many carbs can I consume without having any GI effects?
39:18
SPEAKER_01: The thing with sports nutrition is that the training part, like as a coach, you you might know this, right?
39:24
SPEAKER_01: Like you give your athletes their training, right?
39:27
SPEAKER_01: If you're if you understand nutrition and ideally, you know, like good, balanced, like science-based nutrition, then you can recommend nutrition.
39:34
SPEAKER_01: But most coaches out there, they either they they don't know.
39:37
SPEAKER_01: And sometimes athletes don't come to the the coach about nutrition because they're like, okay, my coach is my running.
39:43
SPEAKER_01: And then who do I go for nutrition?
39:44
SPEAKER_01: My friends, my athletes here.
39:46
SPEAKER_01: And they usually share what's worked for them.
39:49
SPEAKER_01: The gels are a great example, they're made with different kinds of sugars.
39:53
SPEAKER_01: And what works for me might not work for my friend because they actually give her cramps because of the type of sugar that it has.
40:00
SPEAKER_01: Not everybody tolerates the same sugars.
40:02
SPEAKER_01: So, and these gels have a mixture of them to maximize the amount, to maximize, to improve the flavor, whatnot.
40:08
SPEAKER_01: Um, so gels, I would say like that's the main thing where I don't like to recommend a brand.
40:14
SPEAKER_01: I'm like, go to this store, buy five different brands, and try which one you like and which one you know you feel good with.
40:21
SPEAKER_01: So, yeah, it's definitely registered dietitians, unfortunately, they're they're like really an untapped, untapped resource.
40:29
SPEAKER_01: I don't think they're as common as as uh as obviously I'd like them to be within the sports world, but at least now at the collegiate level, I think most schools like do have a dietitian on staff or consulting to provide that support.
40:46
SPEAKER_01: Um high school levels, that's where I'm that's where I'm coming in.
40:49
SPEAKER_01: I'm trying to support a lot on the at the high school level in sports.
40:53
SPEAKER_01: Um, but it's still, I think, a growing field for sure, because we're still still learning more.
40:58
SPEAKER_01: And it's only been, I think, like maybe two decades of of knowing, not knowing, because we've known for a while, but like really seeing the potential that carbs have for an athlete's life and trying to show to demonstrate the athlete that carbs are not the enemy, I guess.
41:15
SPEAKER_01: There's a lot of work on my part to to take out that reputation.
41:19
SPEAKER_00: I mean, some of it I think might be to what you said the whole word dietitian now.
41:22
SPEAKER_00: Like, no one wants to hear diet as much anymore.
41:25
SPEAKER_00: So maybe there's someone on the board or somewhere has to change the name.
41:28
SPEAKER_00: I wish.
41:29
SPEAKER_00: Trust me.
41:30
SPEAKER_01: That's why when people call me a nutritionist, I'm like, I don't care, it's fine.
41:33
SPEAKER_01: I like it better, actually.
41:34
SPEAKER_00: It just like it better.
41:36
SPEAKER_01: Exactly.
41:36
SPEAKER_01: It's nutrition is more well-known.
41:38
SPEAKER_00: Talk electrolytes, you know.
41:40
SPEAKER_00: I saw a post you posted, it was like uh things I'm no longer subscribing to, or something like that.
41:43
SPEAKER_00: And electrolytes was one of them.
41:45
SPEAKER_00: And I'm curious to ask you because there's so many out there, like we just talked a little bit about it now.
41:50
SPEAKER_00: Some have sugar, some don't.
41:52
SPEAKER_00: There's a couple out there that have 800,000 milligrams of uh sodium in it.
41:57
SPEAKER_00: And I'm just like, wait a minute, typical American diet has an excess of two, three thousand.
42:02
SPEAKER_00: This is like the healthy person, uh, sodium.
42:04
SPEAKER_00: I can only think that consuming so much sodium, no matter how much you need electrolytes, cannot be that good for you.
42:10
SPEAKER_00: I could be wrong, this is why I'm asking, but like, can you talk me through electrolytes?
42:15
SPEAKER_00: Yes, no.
42:16
SPEAKER_01: So on the electrolyte side is um, you're right.
42:19
SPEAKER_01: Our the standard American diet tends to be high in sodium if you're eating out a lot.
42:24
SPEAKER_01: If you're eating at restaurants, whether it's like fast food or not, just sit-down restaurants, there's no limit to the salt that they're using.
42:32
SPEAKER_01: And it tends to be just always high.
42:34
SPEAKER_01: Even if it's a healthy restaurant, they too it's just a fact of life that salt makes food taste better, period.
42:40
SPEAKER_01: If you're eating a lot of processed foods, even those protein shakes, protein bars sometimes have sodium in them, a lot of sodium in them.
42:46
SPEAKER_01: So that's where most of our sodium ink comes in if you're eating a lot of processed foods, like packaged foods, and eating out a lot.
42:53
SPEAKER_01: If you're cooking at home, that's not the concern.
42:55
SPEAKER_01: We add some salt, but it gets so diluted, you know, you're cooking a larger portion, that's not where the fear is.
43:01
SPEAKER_01: As an athlete, though, we do lose salt in our sweat.
43:05
SPEAKER_01: And here's here's a misconception that a lot of athletes don't know is that even though a lot of brands are trying to market their electrolyte drinks, as we have sodium, potassium, magnesium, which are the pretty much the three main electrolytes, the only one that we really lose in significant amounts through sweat is sodium.
43:23
SPEAKER_01: You should you shouldn't be taking potassium or magnesium to make up what you're losing, right?
43:28
SPEAKER_01: We get enough in our diets as it is, whether you're an athlete or not.
43:32
SPEAKER_01: Um, magnesium could be one of those that does can have, can help with other things, um, but it's not one that you're losing regularly while exercising.
43:41
SPEAKER_01: So sodium is the main one that we want to focus on.
43:44
SPEAKER_01: And I do appreciate that brands have different amounts of sodium because of the everybody's different.
43:49
SPEAKER_01: And I have seen athletes losing a crazy amount of sodium in their sweat, and others that don't really lose that much.
43:56
SPEAKER_01: Um, and you can see that in two ways there's heavy sweaters.
44:00
SPEAKER_01: And I'll give you an example with my husband, right?
44:02
SPEAKER_01: So my husband's one that he'll go out on a run, 30-minute run, comes back and is sweating for another 30 minutes while he's just sitting down.
44:11
SPEAKER_01: Okay.
44:12
SPEAKER_01: He looks like he just came back from a pool and he has to sit outside for a long time until he stops sweating.
44:19
SPEAKER_01: Me, even in the heat that we live, we're in Miami.
44:22
SPEAKER_01: It's yes, it's hot year-round, but even in this heat, I can run for 10, 12 minutes before I break out sweat.
44:29
SPEAKER_01: Like it takes me a while to actually have a drop.
44:32
SPEAKER_01: Like my hairline will get slightly, you know, wet.
44:35
SPEAKER_01: And so we're very, we have very different needs.
44:37
SPEAKER_01: I don't need as much hydration as he does.
44:39
SPEAKER_01: I'm not losing as much.
44:41
SPEAKER_01: So just in that, there's a different hydration strategy.
44:45
SPEAKER_01: Within that sweat, or even because of that sweat, I already know that he's losing more sodium than I am.
44:51
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
44:52
SPEAKER_01: And even for the heavy sweaters, there's people that lose more salt than others, more sodium than others.
44:58
SPEAKER_01: So we use salt sodium interchangeably, right?
45:01
SPEAKER_01: Um, the best way to know would be people that lose a lot of salt know it.
45:07
SPEAKER_01: Because once you stop sweating, that salt becomes like a crust, a layer of crusts, either in your skin, or you see like the line, maybe like a like a little line in your skin or in your shirt, you see like a white line as well, or white patches of uh that's salt, pretty much.
45:24
SPEAKER_01: So you know that you're losing a lot.
45:26
SPEAKER_01: Therefore, you need a lot.
45:28
SPEAKER_01: Um, the tricky part is that there's formulas to estimate how much sodium you need, but they're not perfect.
45:33
SPEAKER_01: It's a lot in sports nutrition is trial and error.
45:36
SPEAKER_01: And I would say always starting with like, okay, a low amount, and then just keep pushing to see, you know, on the amount of sodium that you're having, and not like throughout your day, but like let's say on that drink, to see how how you feel better, right?
45:50
SPEAKER_01: You shouldn't be feeling when you're exercising or even with the next hour or two, you shouldn't have a headache.
45:55
SPEAKER_01: You shouldn't feel lightheaded, you shouldn't feel dizzy, you shouldn't feel swollen.
46:00
SPEAKER_01: We're just talking about that.
46:01
SPEAKER_01: Sometimes it's happened to me, I go on a short run, my fingers get so swollen that I can't like, you know, close, make a fist.
46:07
SPEAKER_01: You shouldn't be feeling that.
46:09
SPEAKER_01: Um if your heart rate is like just, you know, you take a quick break, maybe a two, three-minute break, you stop for water, whatnot, and then you start running and your heart rate skyrockets again really quickly.
46:20
SPEAKER_01: When your heart is speeding up, it's it's it's it's pumping too fast, it's also a sign that you could be dehydrated.
46:27
SPEAKER_01: In those moments, you need you know that you need more water and potentially combining it with more sodium.
46:34
SPEAKER_01: We could, you know, there again, like I said, there's formulas using your weight, using um, if you have a scale, what I'll use, I'll recommend athletes to do is weigh yourself before, weight yourself after, based on how much weight you've lost, which in that period of time, whether it's 30 minutes or an hour that you're running specifically, for example, however much you've lost is of water.
46:56
SPEAKER_01: So using that, you know how many, there's formulas to know how many ounces you need to drink.
47:02
SPEAKER_01: That helps on the hydration side, not on the sodium side.
47:05
SPEAKER_01: What I recommend now using technology, I do love technology.
47:08
SPEAKER_01: I like to try it, and this has been something that's been around for a while already, is Gatorade.
47:12
SPEAKER_01: I don't know of any other brands out there, so I'll mention Gatorade.
47:15
SPEAKER_01: It's the only one out there right now where they have these patches that you stick on the inside of your of your arm, your forearm, and it collects not just a sweat, but it collects the sodium that you're losing.
47:26
SPEAKER_01: So through that, it tells it it sends the information to an app to st and it tells you how much sodium you need to be drinking.
47:34
SPEAKER_01: You know, whether you're a heavy salt sweater or a low salt sweater.
47:38
SPEAKER_01: That's all you need to know.
47:39
SPEAKER_01: If you're a low salt sweater, I don't recommend to add a lot of salt to your to your drinks because all you need to do probably is just add more salt to your food.
47:46
SPEAKER_01: That's it.
47:47
SPEAKER_01: To your dinner, to your lunch, maybe a salty snack instead of adding all these electrolyte drinks.
47:53
SPEAKER_01: Um, now if you're a heavy sweater, you might, heavy salt sweater, you might need that a thousand milligrams of sodium in a drink is considered high sodium.
48:03
SPEAKER_01: So you might benefit from doing that or adding one of those to your diet.
48:07
SPEAKER_01: But again, it's only for the athlete that is running an hour or longer in the heat, losing a lot of sweat.
48:13
SPEAKER_01: And I would say even checking to see how much sodium you're losing.
48:16
SPEAKER_01: Um, if you have those those white patches, you're a salt, a heavy salt sweater, so you might benefit from the higher salt version.
48:23
SPEAKER_01: Um and again, it's trial of error, it's just trial and error, it's just seeing how you feel.
48:28
SPEAKER_01: You should you should feel a little boost of energy or more sustained energy during your runs.
48:34
SPEAKER_01: For most people though, I mean, I just I see so many people drinking, because I've seen the account on Instagram on all these like social media accounts of you should wake up and have a glass of electrolyte, like a water and electrolytes.
48:47
SPEAKER_01: That everybody should be drinking electrolytes, it's not true.
48:50
SPEAKER_01: Most people, if you're exercising less than 30 minutes a day or even an hour, but you're indoors, you don't need that sports drink.
48:56
SPEAKER_01: You don't need the electrolyte specific beverage.
49:00
SPEAKER_01: All you need is water and then just a regular meal that will have salt as it is.
49:05
SPEAKER_00: I love that.
49:06
SPEAKER_00: That was amazing on electrolytes and so much gems there to drop on when to use, when not to use.
49:12
SPEAKER_00: Um calls my mind on a lot of thoughts I've had around electrolytes lately.
49:17
SPEAKER_00: It's just expensive.
49:18
SPEAKER_01: Think about it.
49:19
SPEAKER_01: You're paying five, six dollars a bottle for water and salt, which are the two things they can do.
49:24
SPEAKER_00: It's on the cheapest end, by the way.
49:26
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I know which one is that.
49:28
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
49:29
SPEAKER_00: Um because I've seen some are like 45 bucks now for like 20 servings and stuff.
49:33
SPEAKER_00: And what people don't often notice, because I read the nutrition labels now, I've had a couple international trips that have made me a little paranoid on labels lately.
49:42
SPEAKER_00: And now, if it has more than three, four ingredients, I don't want it.
49:45
SPEAKER_00: But some of these have hidden sugars and stuff.
49:47
SPEAKER_00: You know, I was at the grocery store the other day, I was looking for cheese of all things, cheese, and I picked up four until I found one that was just cheese.
49:55
SPEAKER_00: Some of them had maltodextrin and guam sugar.
49:58
SPEAKER_00: I'm like, why does my cheese have all this?
50:01
SPEAKER_00: Um, I'm glad you touched on that.
50:05
SPEAKER_01: Uh, reading reading labels is important.
50:06
SPEAKER_01: It's just when you look at like even the electrolyte drinks, you're gonna see it's sodium, potassium, magnesium, it's the main things.
50:12
SPEAKER_01: A lot of brands are adding things like creatine.
50:14
SPEAKER_01: So you get creatine and the electrolytes, or you'll get vitamins, and it that's something, you know.
50:20
SPEAKER_01: When I go through the list of with my athletes of like what are the things that you're consuming?
50:23
SPEAKER_01: Tell, walk me through your supplements.
50:25
SPEAKER_01: I see so much overlap of nutrients.
50:28
SPEAKER_01: Like they're having, for example, a multivitamin and their their protein shake.
50:31
SPEAKER_01: When I look at the ingredients, it also has vitamins added to it.
50:34
SPEAKER_01: When they're their electrolyte drink might have add vitamins to it, creatine, it's a mix that has, you know, like all these things.
50:41
SPEAKER_01: There's a lot of overlap.
50:43
SPEAKER_01: Um, that when you look at it, it might not be harming you, right?
50:47
SPEAKER_01: Because really toxicity levels are really hard to meet.
50:51
SPEAKER_01: And it's only like a handful of vitamins, specifically the fat-soluble vitamins like A, D, E, and K that are a concern of toxicity.
50:58
SPEAKER_01: Um, but then you're just wasting money.
51:00
SPEAKER_01: Let's put those 50 hundred bucks towards a dietitian, towards more fruits and vegetables, towards, you know, better quality carbs, towards a meal delivery company.
51:10
SPEAKER_01: If if time, you know, if you need convenience or you don't have time or you don't want to think about it.
51:14
SPEAKER_01: There's so those dollars could be better spent, right?
51:17
SPEAKER_00: That's that's a great point that I don't think many think of.
51:20
SPEAKER_00: There's so much things we're taking nowadays, and and the overlap.
51:22
SPEAKER_00: Great that it's not toxic, but I mean, like you said, I can spend it on all that instead.
51:28
SPEAKER_00: Um, you know, I'll add carbon ratios in there.
51:31
unknown: Yeah.
51:31
SPEAKER_01: Pay for a pay for a running coach that can actually help you get better.
51:35
SPEAKER_01: Pay for that gym.
51:36
SPEAKER_01: Just so many things that we could use that money for.
51:41
SPEAKER_00: Buy the kids a new uh book bag.
51:44
SPEAKER_01: It's not a large amount, but it does add up over the over the years.
51:47
SPEAKER_01: And again, you're prioritizing something or you're you're really throwing away money because whatever nutrient you're not absorbing, you're just excreting one way or another, right?
51:55
SPEAKER_01: You're probably peeing it out.
51:56
SPEAKER_01: I've had people in my office proudly, oh, I'm with a dietitian, let me tell you all the supplements that I'm taking.
52:02
SPEAKER_01: I'm taking vitamin D and omega-3 and creatine and da-da-da-da.
52:05
SPEAKER_01: Like, it's actually the opposite.
52:07
SPEAKER_01: I want to hear the food first.
52:08
SPEAKER_01: Like, if you're taking all these supplements, it's telling me that your diet is probably most likely deficient.
52:13
SPEAKER_01: You're not eating enough.
52:16
SPEAKER_00: That's um a running thing I see often that comes up, and like deficient iron is becoming more popular now.
52:24
SPEAKER_00: Or maybe I see it more because I'm at altitude, maybe that could be part of it.
52:28
SPEAKER_01: It's very common in runners specifically to be deficient in iron, and not specifically anemia, believe it or not.
52:33
SPEAKER_01: But like when we look at the stored iron, which is called ferritin, is either low or borderline low, which is, I think, a whole other topic.
52:42
SPEAKER_01: I think I struggle with that.
52:43
SPEAKER_01: It's my pet peeve because a lot of doctors will kind of like discredit it with just saying, like, oh, it's normal.
52:48
SPEAKER_01: But for an athlete, going back to the what's good and what's optimal, right?
52:52
SPEAKER_01: What's good normal is not optimal for an athlete.
52:56
SPEAKER_01: Exactly.
52:56
SPEAKER_01: And especially for somebody training at high altitude where they have less oxygen, they could benefit from a higher amount of you know, iron.
53:04
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, the average doctor patient is not running 60, 70 miles per week or every day, you know, uh in the sun.
53:10
SPEAKER_00: And in your case, Miami, you know, like, yeah, there might be some, but not the majority.
53:14
SPEAKER_00: So it's it's important to like your runner and stuff.
53:17
SPEAKER_00: Um, Carl, I want to ask you a set of quick rapid fire questions here.
53:22
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, some I made specifically from you or some info I learned from your Instagram, which I will share on the description for anyone listening.
53:28
SPEAKER_00: She has a lot of nuggets shared on her Instagram, um, and also website and stuff I'll share in the description.
53:34
SPEAKER_00: Um first thing, what supplements should endurance athletes or sports athletes uh drop?
53:42
SPEAKER_01: Drop.
53:43
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
53:45
SPEAKER_01: Um, I think first one that comes to mind and keep.
53:50
SPEAKER_01: Okay.
53:51
SPEAKER_01: Uh I mean, listen, protein protein powders, I think it's drop or keep depending on your nutrition.
53:57
SPEAKER_01: Right?
53:58
SPEAKER_01: I think most runners might not need a protein powder other than convenience.
54:01
SPEAKER_01: That's it.
54:03
SPEAKER_01: Um creatine is one of those that has a lot of research.
54:07
SPEAKER_01: There's a lot of research to back up the benefits of it from a performance standpoint and then also from a health standpoint.
54:14
SPEAKER_01: But on the performance side, that's something that I would recommend as a maintenance.
54:18
SPEAKER_01: It it could, you know, it can help.
54:20
SPEAKER_01: Um there's, for example, uh branching amino acids, right?
54:23
SPEAKER_01: BCAAs.
54:24
SPEAKER_01: There is some research behind it, but we're already getting, if you're taking a protein powder, if you're eating protein in your diet, you're getting that already.
54:31
SPEAKER_01: Um, it's not gonna make or break you at all.
54:33
SPEAKER_01: It's not a big there's no in studies, at least, there's no significant benefit to taking it.
54:39
SPEAKER_01: So let's put those dollars somewhere else, maybe in buying the creatine or buying, you know, quality protein powder if you need it for convenience.
54:46
SPEAKER_01: Um electrolyte powders would be something that again, if you're if you're a recreational runner trading for a 5K, a 10K, even you might not need any kind of electrolyte drink.
54:59
SPEAKER_01: Um, have marathon is yes.
55:01
SPEAKER_01: I mean, you you tell me what are some other supplements out there?
55:03
SPEAKER_00: Because um, I I think right now all I'm hearing is creatine, creatine that's well, creatine is a hype, and it's because uh to your point, studies have come out, but new studies have come out testing cyclists, which to me has been the same things.
55:15
SPEAKER_00: Um, I'm curious, I'm glad you mentioned creatine because that's one I haven't delved much in.
55:18
SPEAKER_00: I used it when I was more a lifter.
55:20
SPEAKER_00: I spent 10 years lifting before I got into running, and I used it and I kind of dropped it because I didn't want the water weight.
55:25
SPEAKER_00: But uh it's good to hear that it is a good one.
55:28
SPEAKER_00: Okay, it helps it.
55:29
SPEAKER_01: It helps, and I'll tell you along the hydration side because because of that water that you're retaining, it helps you stay more hydrated or better hydrated.
55:35
SPEAKER_01: So I do recommend it, especially when you're training in the heat ketones.
55:41
SPEAKER_01: I've seen ketones, I use up ketones a lot, ketone pills um or drinks, even.
55:46
SPEAKER_01: Um, that's something that you should definitely drop.
55:48
SPEAKER_01: It's not beneficial.
55:51
SPEAKER_00: Um, I wasn't even gonna ask one, but I'm personally not a fan.
55:53
SPEAKER_00: I've tried it, I felt nothing.
55:55
SPEAKER_00: Um I've done keto before and it has worked, but I find it's a struggle when it comes to endurance sports.
56:00
SPEAKER_00: Protein bars is one I'm not no longer a favorite.
56:03
SPEAKER_00: I'm not saying anything wrong.
56:04
SPEAKER_00: If you're in a if you eat well 90% of the time and you're in a jam and you got a choice, have the bar.
56:09
SPEAKER_00: But I see people depend on it like, hey, this is what I need day in and day out.
56:13
SPEAKER_01: Um it's processed.
56:15
SPEAKER_01: It's a I I see so it this is what's funny to me a lot of times that the person that's like talking bad about processed foods and stay away from processed foods, and then I see them eating a protein bar.
56:25
SPEAKER_01: I'm like, what do you think that is?
56:27
SPEAKER_01: Right?
56:27
SPEAKER_01: Like it's it's processed food.
56:29
SPEAKER_01: It's not just protein, it has so many additives to that.
56:32
SPEAKER_01: And again, it convenience, it can help, it can help meet gaps, it can, you know, it has its place, but at the same time, I don't want to see athletes relying on that.
56:41
SPEAKER_01: Like that's your go-to snack.
56:42
SPEAKER_01: I'd rather you have green yogurt, hard-broiled eggs.
56:44
SPEAKER_00: Here's a quick one, and I'll move to the next rapid fire question.
56:48
SPEAKER_00: Uh, magnesium.
56:49
SPEAKER_00: I see that a lot lately.
56:50
SPEAKER_00: People are just supplementing magnesium, well, all kinds, glycerin, and all the other variations.
56:55
SPEAKER_01: I I'm not a fan of recommending it for everybody.
56:58
SPEAKER_01: I I like to do micronutrient testing.
57:01
SPEAKER_01: So in my office, I have like a kid will test like 50 plus micronutrients to see what you know is really deficient.
57:07
SPEAKER_01: Um, magnesium is one again, it doesn't hurt.
57:09
SPEAKER_01: It can help some people with muscle relaxation, sleep.
57:13
SPEAKER_01: Um, those are the two things, headaches.
57:15
SPEAKER_01: There's some research with migraine specifically, but I would still check to see that they're deficient.
57:20
SPEAKER_01: Like, where are you?
57:21
SPEAKER_01: What are the levels of magnesium in your bloodstream?
57:24
SPEAKER_01: Then start supplementing and let's recheck in three months to see, you know, if you've absorbed enough, like, and how do you feel the difference?
57:31
SPEAKER_01: But just going by, you know, how you feel, magnesium is not a supplement that you immediately feel like, okay, I feel so much better by taking it.
57:38
SPEAKER_01: It's we need such small amounts anyway.
57:40
SPEAKER_01: Um, that I don't, you know, it's not a blanket recommendation.
57:44
SPEAKER_01: I'll I'll do it for somebody that's struggling with sleep, that's struggling with muscle soreness, maybe with cramps, things like that.
57:50
SPEAKER_01: Um, but I like when when possible, I like to start with labs.
57:53
SPEAKER_01: Let's get a baseline set of labs to see where you're at.
57:56
SPEAKER_00: If I just finished a race or a long-run workout, I'm not hungry.
58:01
SPEAKER_00: What should I eat or snack on?
58:05
SPEAKER_01: I would say sports drink or or like handfuls of like a fruit, like a little fruit pouch.
58:10
SPEAKER_01: Just eat it once and done.
58:12
SPEAKER_01: Because the reason you're not hungry is because all the attention of your bloodstream has gone to your muscles and you're still burning.
58:18
SPEAKER_01: Even though you stopped running, you're still burning, right?
58:21
SPEAKER_01: Because you're burning, your body still needs energy.
58:23
SPEAKER_01: So you should consume, keep consuming food.
58:26
SPEAKER_01: And it's not a meal we're talking about, and also not waiting until you're hungry, because then you missed a window of the window for recovery, where whatever breakdown happened from those muscles, we want to repair that with nutrition.
58:38
SPEAKER_01: For the athlete that ends up being like almost like with reflux and really like pain in their stomach after a race because they give it all.
58:45
SPEAKER_01: Um, I would recommend just sips of a sports drink, something that has sugar, that has water, and then electrolytes, and just continue to sip that until they get hungry again.
58:55
SPEAKER_01: Or if they can, a lot of races have like oranges or bananas or just and don't eat it all, but just again, like nibbles of that food as you're, you know, stretching and you know, talking to people and waiting to receive your award, hopefully.
59:09
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, metal.
59:10
SPEAKER_01: Um yeah, just something is better than nothing, definitely.
59:14
SPEAKER_00: What's a highly underrated recovery food?
59:19
SPEAKER_01: I mean carbs.
59:21
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
59:22
SPEAKER_01: Carbs.
59:23
SPEAKER_01: I know everybody goes, everybody goes for the protein.
59:25
SPEAKER_01: And yes, we need protein, but we don't need as much protein as we need the carbs.
59:29
SPEAKER_01: Because if you exercise for an hour or longer, your muscles were using purely carbohydrates.
59:35
SPEAKER_01: And again, so when you finish exercising, you want to refuel the carb and then pair with protein because if there was muscle breakdown, then the protein helps with the muscle breakdown.
59:45
SPEAKER_01: But I would say definitely carbohydrates.
59:48
SPEAKER_01: I see so many runners finishing a race and going for like a protein shake sometimes, just protein without the carbs.
59:53
SPEAKER_01: The perfect pair is carbs and protein together.
59:56
SPEAKER_01: Um, and in sports nutrition, we have this thing of like the chocolate milk is the perfect recovery snack because of the carb to protein ratio.
1:00:05
SPEAKER_01: There's a lot of other performance supplements that are coming around, like brands that have come around with products that have that mimic that, uh, like ready-to-drink options or like even food options.
1:00:16
SPEAKER_01: But um, as long as it has a carb and a protein, then that's a perfect snack.
1:00:20
SPEAKER_00: It's funny you say the chocolate milk.
1:00:22
SPEAKER_00: I saw a post about that yesterday.
1:00:23
SPEAKER_00: It was talking about new study again, which I feel everyone, including you, have known for years.
1:00:30
SPEAKER_00: Uh, chocolate milk being the best recovery and sports performance post workout and whatnot.
1:00:35
SPEAKER_01: It is, it's the quickest absorbed by your muscles.
1:00:38
SPEAKER_01: It has a perfect ratio, it has electrolytes.
1:00:42
SPEAKER_01: People forget about this.
1:00:43
SPEAKER_01: Milk has electrolytes in it.
1:00:45
SPEAKER_01: Um, and then it's also cheap and accessible in any country.
1:00:50
SPEAKER_01: Wherever you're traveling, you're gonna be able to find chocolate milk.
1:00:53
SPEAKER_01: It's one of the most universally consumed foods.
1:00:57
SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna go buy chocolate milk after this.
1:01:01
SPEAKER_00: Lots of it.
1:01:02
SPEAKER_00: It's just a lot easier.
1:01:04
SPEAKER_01: It's easy, and most most wherever you're traveling, it doesn't have a lot of additives.
1:01:08
SPEAKER_01: It should just be sugar and milk.
1:01:10
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
1:01:10
SPEAKER_01: Right?
1:01:11
SPEAKER_01: That's it.
1:01:12
SPEAKER_00: Do you have a favorite snack you carry around post-run or like races?
1:01:16
SPEAKER_01: Uh fruit.
1:01:18
SPEAKER_01: Fruit should be an athlete's favorite food.
1:01:20
SPEAKER_01: Pre-post is great, honestly.
1:01:23
SPEAKER_01: Um, I I love the pouches, the fruit pouches.
1:01:26
SPEAKER_01: Like there's many brands out there, right?
1:01:28
SPEAKER_01: But like apple puree or peach mango combinations, I love.
1:01:32
SPEAKER_01: I love because they're very convenient, they're very practical, right?
1:01:34
SPEAKER_01: A banana might bruise, an apple.
1:01:37
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, apples might bruise as well.
1:01:38
SPEAKER_01: Grapes, they don't taste good when they're warm.
1:01:40
SPEAKER_01: But those fruit pouches, you know, they can last anywhere with any temperature, and they're, you know, they're they're pretty accessible.
1:01:49
SPEAKER_01: I have to ask, what's yours?
1:01:51
SPEAKER_00: Ooh, let's see.
1:01:52
SPEAKER_00: Funny enough, we have those fruit pouches here in the house.
1:01:55
SPEAKER_00: Um it's changed recently.
1:01:57
SPEAKER_00: I want to say post-workout for me, honestly.
1:01:59
SPEAKER_00: Um, banana is kind of like my go-to uh or dates.
1:02:02
SPEAKER_00: I'm big on dates lately.
1:02:04
SPEAKER_00: Sometimes I'm not hungry, so I'll just chuck down two, three dates.
1:02:08
SPEAKER_00: Bananas are go-to.
1:02:10
SPEAKER_00: Um toast lately, I've been buying real bread.
1:02:14
SPEAKER_00: I say that based off the ingredient stuff we were talking about earlier, but I now go to a bakery and get bread.
1:02:19
SPEAKER_00: And sometimes if I do have a little hunger, I'll I'll like put on a pan, a little bit of olive oil, and like saute the bread on it because it just tastes way better.
1:02:27
SPEAKER_00: It tastes like I went to a restaurant.
1:02:29
SPEAKER_00: That's been a thing lately.
1:02:31
SPEAKER_01: Um I have to try that.
1:02:32
SPEAKER_00: And then I try to get a real meal later on.
1:02:35
SPEAKER_00: Um pineapple.
1:02:36
SPEAKER_00: There we go.
1:02:37
SPEAKER_00: I can't forget pineapple.
1:02:38
SPEAKER_00: Um super refreshing.
1:02:40
SPEAKER_00: We had a farm growing up in the Dominican Republic.
1:02:42
SPEAKER_00: My uncle used to export pineapples.
1:02:44
SPEAKER_00: I love pineapples.
1:02:47
SPEAKER_01: I I love fruit because it has sugar, it has water, and it has also vitamins, right?
1:02:53
SPEAKER_01: So they're healthy.
1:02:54
SPEAKER_01: They're to me, it's like every athlete's best friend.
1:02:57
SPEAKER_01: Like you should be consuming pre-post during, it's a great snack.
1:03:01
SPEAKER_00: To your point earlier, nowadays, I just pre-run, since I usually like to wake up and go, I'll have like fruits or something, or those dates I mentioned, and then when I get back, I just have a big blown breakfast.
1:03:13
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
1:03:13
SPEAKER_01: Well, you know that you bring up a really good point, is if you can get to a meal within the next hour, you don't need a post-workout snack.
1:03:21
SPEAKER_01: The meal is your pro-workout snack.
1:03:23
SPEAKER_01: But again, convenience-wise, if you just finish a race and you're not gonna get home for another hour or two, then you need something.
1:03:30
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
1:03:31
SPEAKER_01: So it's it's about the time.
1:03:33
SPEAKER_00: Carla, if people want to work with you to reach out to you to get more nutrition.
1:03:37
SPEAKER_00: We're gonna say nutrition, not dietitian for now.
1:03:40
SPEAKER_00: Tips, advice, or just improve, but how can they reach out to you?
1:03:43
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I think the easiest way would be Instagram.
1:03:46
SPEAKER_01: I'm always there, always trying to share advice would be Carla.nutrition.
1:03:49
SPEAKER_01: That's my Instagram account.
1:03:51
SPEAKER_01: And then um, my E.
1:03:52
SPEAKER_01: I'll happy to share my emails, Carla Duenas.
1:03:55
SPEAKER_01: First and last name, Carla Duenas Nutrition at Gmo.com.
1:03:59
SPEAKER_00: Perfect.
1:03:59
SPEAKER_00: Carla, I want to thank you for so much information you just dropped and spending this time with me here on the podcast.
1:04:05
SPEAKER_00: Uh, learned a lot.
1:04:08
SPEAKER_00: Um, for those listening, this has been the People Run Podcast.
1:04:11
SPEAKER_00: If you got some nuggets, share with someone.
1:04:12
SPEAKER_00: If you've been trying to work on your nutrition, tune in, listen to it while you're running, share with some friends.
1:04:17
SPEAKER_00: Uh, this has been the People Run podcast, guys.
1:04:19
SPEAKER_00: Thanks for tuning in and until next time.