Seven Key Elements to a Healthy Lifetime Eating Plan for Athletes
Diets are for those who want to stick with the crowd and try fads. Most don't work and for good reason, they only encourage eating in a restricted way until a goal is achieved. They do nothing to teach people how to eat for lifelong fitness, health, and a lean body. Eating healthy is a lifetime commitment, not a short-term fad, especially when you partake in sports. Eating healthy can and will result in a leaner, more energy prone body, over time and will result in a lot of health problems clearing up for good. Here are seven key components to a healthy eating lifestyle:
Carbohydrates
Carbohydrates are essential for short-term energy and they should come from sources which provide key nutrients. For non-paleo athlete diets these would include organic whole grains cooked or ground from scratch at home. But if you are on the caveman diet, or really want to have fewer health problems, the best sources of carbohydrates with key vitamins, minerals, and fibre will come from vegetables like sweet potatoes, yams, carrots, and squashes.
Dairy Products
While dairy products are generally forbidden on the caveman diet, the grain-free diet (a spin off version) allows for free-range or grass-fed raw dairy products. Many lifestyle enthusiasts source whole raw milk locally and make their own butters, cheeses, and more. The benefit to natural raw dairy from grass-fed animals is the high vitamin content, soluble fat content, and the natural probiotics they add to the diet.
Fitness
For optimum football, daily movement is a must. As humans, we were meant to move constantly. Desk jobs and sedentary couch living is relatively modern and is a byproduct of the highly processed, prepacked modern day lifestyle. Even our grandparents needed to move more than we did, just to process things daily. It’s important to keep moving even away from the training field, and if you are really addicted to your TV and computer, consider standing desks and a treadmill for time that must be spent on these.
Fruit and Vegetables
The best diets on the planet are vegetable based with in-season fruits playing a crucial role in filling in the vitamin and mineral gaps. While the caveman diet does support utilising vegetables as the main, if not only, daily carbohydrate source, fruits and vegetables must make up over half the caloric intake for a healthy lifestyle. Fruits and vegetables have a high fibre and vitamin content that make them mankind's most perfect feasting food. But, only raw and slightly cooked fruits and vegetables are okay. Anything canned, precooked, or prepackaged is out as they contain high amounts of salt and sugar and many have hidden MSG.
Healthy Fats
Healthy fats are a must for any diet. The low-fat craze of the 1980s left many with severe health issues and can even lead to immune disorders and death. However, not all fat is equal. Stay away from processed vegetable and grain oils, all trans-fats, anything hydrogenated, and anything not raw and extra virgin. Stick to fat sources directly in food, like wild-caught fish, nuts and avocados. If cooking oils are desired, choose raw coconut, hemp, flax, and olive oils to fill in the gaps. Anything with a high content of medium-chain fatty acids or Omega-3 fatty acids help the body burn internal stores of fat and rebuild nerve tissue.
Protein
Vegetarians can benefit from the caveman and paleo lifestyles, but they will find themselves eating a lot of eggs, nuts and seeds. While beans are a great source of vegetarian protein, they can be incomplete and many people have hidden allergies to legumes. When eating grain-free and paleo, opt for grass fed free range meats. If you are short on time and find your grocery stores don't sell certified organic grass fed beef, you can turn to websites like Good Grub People farm food delivery.
Treats
Finally, every healthy eating plan deserves its treats. Even our ancestors thrived on occasional treats, though these usually were sweet grubs or berries in season. But athletes too should and can enjoy occasional treats, just find dairy-free paleo treats usually made with unrefined coconut sugar and nuts. There are many recipes for all time favourites like cheesecake, ice cream, and chocolate mousse pies completely paleo (and grain-free) and much more tasty.
