Label Reading Food and Beverages for Health and Performance Holly Grant, RD IOC, Sports Nutrition Diploma.

Label ReadingFood and Beverages for Health and Performance

Holly Grant, RD

IOC, Sports Nutrition Diploma

Overview

• Fueling for Sport Review

• Nutrition Label

• Serving Size

• Carbohydrates

• Sodium

• Fat

• Activity

Hmmmmm….

What does “healthy” food mean to you?

How do you know if a food is “healthy”?

What does eating for performance mean to you?

What foods do you choose before, during, after training/competition?

A Quick Review

Fueling Review Daily: • 6-10 g/kg carbs• 0.8-1.6 g/kg protein• 0.8-1.0 g/kg fat (<= 30% daily calorie intake)

Before: 200-300 g carbs 2-3 hours before – Bagel with peanut butter/jam, 2 cups milk, banana

Fueling Review During: 30-60 g/hour carbs (events lasting > 60 minutes)

– 2 sports gels– 500-800 mL sports drink

After: • 1-1.2 g/kg carbs (try to eat within 30 minutes)• 10-15 g protein

– Turkey sandwich, glass milk, fruit– Peanut butter and banana sandwich, milk

CHO’s Before Racing • Eat 2-4 hours before racing

– Allows for stomach emptying/intestinal absorption/liver glycogen storage

– Try meal replacements like Boost if don’t tolerate solids

• Pre-race meal should be:– Easy to digest (not too much fibre, fat or protein)

– High in carbohydrates (lower GI-slow release of sugar)

– Familiar

– Adequate in fluid

Target: 1-4 g/kg

CHO’s Before Racing • Carbohydrate loading the “traditional way” is not

necessary (intense exercise followed by low carb diet)

• Event lasting over 90-120 min

• Three days before race:– 3-4 day exercise taper– Focus on primarily CHO’s– Minimum activity and lots of rest in 3 days prior to

maximize CHO stores

Target: 10-12 g/kg/day

CHO’s During Racing

• CHO’s ingested during:– Delay fatigue– Maintain intensity– Improve endurance performance

• Necessary for events over 60 minutes– 90 minutes is point where CHO’s can be used up

CHO’s During Racing

• Heat, altitude, cold weather, dehydration can all deplete CHO’s faster

• Important if did not consume enough CHO’s prior to exercise

• Target: 30-60 g/hour (max muscles can oxidize)– 2 Sports Gels– 500-800 mL of sports drink– Sports bar– 2-4 pieces of bread

Carbs During Racing

• Make sure you are fuelled up prior to the last 30 minutes of predicted finish time

• Plan your fueling strategy– How often?– What food/fluids?

• Practice during training

CHO’s After Racing

• Glycogen stores may be depleted after training/racing

• For efficient recovery– Important if have to race or train again within 24 hours– Try to consume food within 2 hours of training– Adding protein can increase carb storage

CHO’s After Racing

• If have >24 hours until training– Consume water/sports drink with snack within 1-2 hours– Resume with normal meal patterns

• If have <24 hours until training (double workouts etc)– Consume water/sports drink with snack within 20-30

minutes

–Target: 1-1.2 g/kg every hour up to 4 hours

CHO’s After Racing

• Higher GI CHO’s are broken down and absorbed faster– Higher fibre carbs may decrease the amount of sugar

available for storage (we don’t absorb fibre)

50 - 75 g carbohydrate recovery snacks – (1-1.2 g/kg)

• Turkey sandwich, glass milk, fruit

• Chicken breast, potato, veggies, water

• Peanut butter and banana sandwich, milk

• Yogurt with cereal, fruit, water

Fluid and Hydration

Sweat rate: can be 1-2 L per hour• Gender• Temperature/humidity• Intensity/duration • Training/acclimatization • Size/surface area

• Hard to give “one size fits all” guidelines

Fluid and Hydration

Signs of Dehydration• Dry mouth• Fatigue• Lightheaded• Muscle Cramps• Thirst• Decreased Performance

How to stay hydrated

• You must start hydrated• Cannot play “catchup” during race

– As you sweat you are losing more fluid

• “Pee test”

How to stay hydrated

• Huge debate in literature on planned hydration vs using thirst as a cue

• “Blanket guidelines” may not be appropriate– Huge biological and environmental differences

• The goal is not to replace all weight loss– Stay within the <1-2% water loss

– You will lose some mass from glycogen oxidation (releases water)----don’t need to replace this

How to stay hydrated

• 2-4 hours before exercise

– 480-600 ml or (5-7 ml/kg)

• 30 minutes before exercise

– 300-480 ml

• During exercise

– 180-300 ml every 15-20 minutes

How to stay hydrated

During: Needed if >45 mins duration

Goal: replace 80% of loses during

Hot weather: 400-800 mL/h

Cold weather: 300-700 mL/h• Test this during training for individual needs

• Consume every 15-20 minutes

–Don’t wait until you feel “like crap”

How to stay hydrated

After: Replace 150% of loses• Obligatory urine production • Important if training within 24 hours after loss

1 kg lost= Replace with 1.25-1.5 L fluid

Best results:• Consume in 500 mL every 30 minutes for 2 hours• Beverage has to contain sodium to help retain fluid

Hydrating after a marathon

Where do we get our Nutrition Information ?

• 75% Product Labels

• 47% Physicians

• 31% Fitness Programs

• 28% Registered Dietitians

Canadian Council of Food and Nutrition (CCFN)

Three parts of a label?

1. Ingredient List

2. Nutrition Facts

3. Nutrition Claims

Ingredient List

• All ingredients are listed by quantity from the most to the least - the ingredient in largest amount is listed first.

• Helpful when checking for specific ingredients eg for allergies, religious beliefs, health reasons,

etc.

Nutrition FactsStandard Format

Easy to find and read

Provides information on calories and 13 other nutrients

Which foods have Nutrition Facts?

• Almost all pre-packaged foods will have Nutrition Facts

• Some exceptions:– fresh fruit and vegetables– raw meat, poultry, fish and seafood– foods prepared or processed at the store

• e.g. bakery items, sausage, salads– foods that contain very few nutrients

• e.g. coffee beans, tea leaves, spices– alcoholic beverages

Serving size

• the specific amount of food listed under the “Nutrition Facts” title

• all nutrient information is based on this amount of food

• listed in common measures you use at home

Nutrition Facts are based on a specific amount of food. Compare this to the amount you consume.

Label1 single serving bottle of orange juice(minimum 350 mL)

At home350ml in glasses

% Daily Value• based on general 2000kcal

diet

• can make it easier to compare foods

• nutrients on a scale from 0%-100%

• helps you see if a food has a lot or a little of a nutrient

Use % Daily Value to see if a food has a lot or a little of a nutrient

The actual numbers can be confusing, for example:

• 2 mg of iron seems small but it is 15 % of the Daily Value for iron

• 110 mg of sodium seems large but it is only 5 % of the Daily Value for sodium

• % Daily Value makes it easy to see if there is a lot or a little of a nutrient without having to do any math.

Nutrition Claims

They are: Regulated statements made when a food meets certain criteria (problems with this……?)

Optional

Often on the front of food packages

A quick and easy way to get information about a food

Nutrition Claims: 2 types

• Nutrient Content Claims

• Diet-related Health Claims

Nutrition content claims: When you want to decrease the amount of certain nutrients

Free• none or hardly any of this nutrient• an example is “sodium free”

Low• a small amount• an example is “low fat”

Reduced• at least 25% less of the nutrient than a similar product• an example is “reduced in Calories”

Light• can be used on foods that are reduced in fat or

reduced in Calories

Nutrition content claims: When you want to increase the amount of certain nutrients

Source• contains a useful amount of the nutrient • an example is “source of fibre”

High or good source

• contains a high amount of the nutrient• an example is “high in vitamin C”

Very high or excellent source

• contains a very high amount of the nutrient• an example is “excellent source of calcium”

Diet Related Health Claims:

• "A diet low in saturated and trans fat reduces risk of heart disease".

• "A diet with adequate calcium and Vitamin D, and regular physical activity, reduces risk of osteoporosis".

• "A diet rich in vegetables and fruit reduces risk of some types of cancer".

• "A diet low in sodium and high in potassium reduces risk of high blood pressure".

Serving size• You make two tuna

sandwiches from this can.

• How many Calories will you get from the tuna in two sandwiches?

Light Tuna 170 g in water (120 g drained weight)

CarbohydratesCarbohydrates

Also known as: (“ose”) – Sucrose– Fructose– Galactose– Lactose– Maltose– Starch– Fibre

Carbohydrate

Starch + Sugar + Fibre=

Total Carbohydrate

1 serving= 15 g carbohydrates

1 slice bread

½ cup cooked rice

½ cup cooked pasta

30 g cold cereal

How many servings of carbohydrates?

Tim Horton's Honey and Wheat Bagel

Serving size 114 g

Calories 300

Total Fat 3 g

Saturated 0.4 g

Cholesterol 0

Sodium 600 mg

Total Carbohydrates 60 g

Dietary Fibre 4 g

Sugar 6 g

Protein 10 g

Sugar? Fibre?Kellogg’s All Bran Bran Flakes Kellogg’s Two Scoop Raisin Bran Flakes

Carbohydrate Tips

Daily:• Make at least ½ your grains

choices whole grains• Choose cereals with less than 9

grams of sugar per serving more often

• Aim for greater than 3 grams fibre per serving – 25-35 grams of fibre each

day• Watch portion distortion (e.g.

bagels)

Before training:• < 3 g fibre if experience

gastrointestinal discomfort • Choose complex carbs for

sustained energy

Sodium• Daily Limit 2,300 mg/day

– 1 tsp salt

• Select foods with Daily Value of <5% to 15%

• Some athletes may need to increase sodium intake if have high sweat rates/high sodium loss (can lose 1g/hour in sweat)

Sodium Amount Sodium

Pretzels 10 1029 mgSoy Sauce 1 tbsp 902 mgCambell's Chicken Noodle Soup Bowl 345 g 870 mgLean Cuisine Chicken Fettuccine 1 pack 630 mgTomato Juice 1 cup 653 mgSlice pizza 1 slice large 570 mgRagu Pasta Sauce 1/2 cup 480 mgSide Kicks Asian Teriyaki Noodles 1/2 cup 400 mgTuna 3 oz 287 mgCherrios 1 cup 213 mgSports Drink 1 cup 210 mgKetchup 1 tbsp 167 mgSkim Milk 1 cup 103 mgApple 1 1 mg

Fat

• A source of energy during endurance exercise

• Vitamins A, D, E, K

• Avoid large amounts of fat before competition or practice

• Sits in stomach • Limit deep fried food (trans fat)• Fast food not great choice

• THE GOOD (daily)

– Unsaturated

• THE ‘BAD’ (small amount)

– Saturated

• THE UGLY (avoid)

– Trans Fats

Look beyond the ClaimsDid You Know?

• Kraft Peanut Butter has always been:

– Cholesterol free

– Lactose free

– Gluten free

– Kraft Peanut Butter is low in saturated fat and is free of cholesterol, trans fat and gluten.

Ingredients: Select roasted peanuts, corn dextrin, sugar, salt, hydrogenated vegetable oil

The new way of eating..1. Don’t eat food your great grandmother wouldn’t recognize

2. Avoid foods with “high fructose corn syrup”, “hydrogenated oil” or “partially hydrogenated oil”

3. Don’t eat food with more than 5 ingredients or ingredients you can’t pronounce

4. If it can sit on your shelf for 5 years and not go bad….don’t eat (Eat foods that will eventually rot)

5. If you just add boiling water (or microwave) and it’s ready to eat…..don’t eat it

Thank you!

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