{"id":8473,"date":"2020-06-17T21:49:57","date_gmt":"2020-06-18T01:49:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/eatrightpa.org\/?p=8473"},"modified":"2021-10-30T03:37:32","modified_gmt":"2021-10-30T03:37:32","slug":"produce-to-perform","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.eatrightpa.org\/blog\/2020\/06\/17\/produce-to-perform\/","title":{"rendered":"Produce to Perform"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>By Leslie Bonci, MPH,RD,CSSD,LDN <\/strong><\/p>\n<p>We all know that fruits and vegetables are good for us, but they may provide additional benefits for active individuals. Produce brings the macros ( carbohydrate, fiber, protein and fat ( avocados), the micros ( vitamins and minerals) fluid, carbs, the hydros ( fluid) and the phytonutrients to the plate to help you train and minimize muscle damage and pain.<\/p>\n<h4>So why does eating more produce matter?<\/h4>\n<p>Athletes who up their produce intake benefit from:<br \/>\n\u2022 A higher carbohydrate intake to optimize training and performance<br \/>\n\u2022 A higher antioxidant and phytonutrient intake to combat oxidative stress and minimize inflammation<br \/>\n\u2022 Improved blood flow<br \/>\n\u2022 Improved endothelial function<br \/>\n(Barnard et al. Nutrients, 2019 11(1):130)<\/p>\n<p>Dietary nitrates in foods such as beets, spinach, celery and arugula can help with the:<br \/>\n\u2022 Regulation of blood flow<br \/>\n\u2022 Muscle contractility<br \/>\n\u2022 Glucose and calcium homeostasis<br \/>\n\u2022 Mitochondrial respiration and biogenesis<br \/>\n(Van Der Avoort et al. Eur J Clin Nutr 2019;72(11)1485-1489)<\/p>\n<p>Anti-inflammatory foods should be part of every athlete\u2019s fuel box and produce can be a way to keep the pain away.<br \/>\nStudies on tart cherries, berries, and pomegranate have shown that these foods can suppress the enzymes that cause inflammation as they contain polyphenols which are anti-inflammatory phytonutrients. So changing what is in the glass to tart cherry juice or pomegranate juice or adding berries to cereal, smoothies and salads may be of benefit.<\/p>\n<p>In addition, produce provides micronutrients, Vitamins A and C that are important to support a healthy immune system, as well as aiding in protein synthesis and wound healing.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Vitamin A containing produce includes:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Sweet potatoes<\/li>\n<li>Carrots<\/li>\n<li>Papaya<\/li>\n<li>Kale<\/li>\n<li>Pumpkin<\/li>\n<li>Collard greens<\/li>\n<li>Spinach<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>You can Vitamin C in:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Cabbage<\/li>\n<li>Strawberries<\/li>\n<li>Watermelon<\/li>\n<li>Red peppers<\/li>\n<li>Citrus fruits\/juices<\/li>\n<li>Potatoes<\/li>\n<li>Tomatoes<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><strong>Produce also provides potassium<\/strong>, a mineral and electrolyte that is essential for fluid balance, muscle contractions and nerve signals. Some of the highest potassium sources include:<br \/>\n\u2022 Bananas<br \/>\n\u2022 Potatoes<br \/>\n\u2022 Dried fruit<br \/>\n\u2022 Beans and lentils<br \/>\n\u2022 Orange juice<\/p>\n<h4><strong>Produce in the blender, the glass or on a stick can help us to score with our pour.<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p>Adding more produce is also another way to meet fluid needs every day. Active individuals have greater fluid requirements than sedentary individuals. Water is fine, but fruits and vegetables provide fluid PLUS!<br \/>\n\u2022 Fruit infused water<br \/>\n\u2022 Fruit vegetable smoothies<br \/>\n\u2022 Strawberry-watermelon slushees<br \/>\n\u2022 Crop sicles made with fruits and vegetables.<\/p>\n<h4>So how can we up the produce in the glass, bowl or plate?<\/h4>\n<p>I am a big fan of starting with familiarity.<br \/>\n\u2022 Adding veggies to a pizza or spaghetti sauce<br \/>\n\u2022 Adding pumpkin, zucchini or carrots to muffins<br \/>\n\u2022 Throwing more produce into a smoothie<br \/>\n\u2022 Upping the produce in stir-fries<br \/>\n\u2022 Adding more veggies into the burger and on the bun<br \/>\n\u2022 Veggie noodles and regular pasta can coexist on the plate<br \/>\n\u2022 Use a potato as the \u201cbowl\u201d and top with other veggies<br \/>\n\u2022 Sweeten a salad with fruit<br \/>\n\u2022 Add fruit as well as veggies to a kebab- think pineapple, pepper, onion and chicken kebabs<br \/>\n\u2022 Graham crackers topped with nut butter and sliced bananas or strawberries<br \/>\n\u2022 Wraps with nut butters and sliced fruit<br \/>\n\u2022 Oatmeal with pumpkin, berries and dried fruit<br \/>\n\u2022 Frozen pureed banana \u201cice cream\u201d<br \/>\n\u2022 Dried Beet or carrot \u201c chips\u201d with hummus or other bean dip<br \/>\n\u2022 Salsa with mango added and bean chips<\/p>\n<h4>So how can you put the pro on the plate?<\/h4>\n<p>Aim for \u00bd of the plate as fruits and veggies.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-7529 aligncenter\" src=\"http:\/\/dev.eatrightpa.org\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/LB1-300x169.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"399\" height=\"225\" \/><\/p>\n<h4>Think about how you could add some produce with your grains:<\/h4>\n<p>\u2022 Veggie fried rice<br \/>\n\u2022 Spaghetti sauce on the pasta<br \/>\n\u2022 Avocado on the toast<br \/>\nTo add some produce to your protein:<br \/>\n\u2022 Blended burgers with veggies and mushrooms<br \/>\n\u2022 Beans or lentils as great sources of protein<br \/>\n\u2022 Veggie burgers or crumbles<br \/>\nAim for produce in the glass through fruit and vegetable juices as well as smoothies<\/p>\n<p>Bring the eye thrill and gut fill to the glass ,bowl or plate to help make your performance great.<\/p>\n<p><strong><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"201\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-5749 alignleft\" src=\"http:\/\/dev.eatrightpa.org\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/Leslie-Kitchen-300x201.png\" alt=\"\" \/>Leslie Bonci, MPH, RDN, CSSD, LDN<\/strong> is the Owner of Active Eating Advice by Leslie in Pittsburgh, PA and is the sports dietitian for the Kansas City Chiefs. She was the sports dietitian for the Pittsburgh Steelers for 24 years and also worked with the Cleveland Browns and the Washington Redskins.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Leslie Bonci, MPH,RD,CSSD,LDN We all know that fruits and vegetables are good for us, but they may provide additional benefits for active individuals. Produce brings the macros ( carbohydrate, fiber, protein and fat ( avocados), the micros ( vitamins and minerals) fluid, carbs, the hydros ( fluid) and the phytonutrients to the plate to [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":8676,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[237,1],"tags":[256,257,258,131],"class_list":["post-8473","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-237","category-uncategorized","tag-fuel","tag-produce","tag-sports","tag-sports-nutrition"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eatrightpa.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8473","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eatrightpa.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eatrightpa.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eatrightpa.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/18"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eatrightpa.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8473"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.eatrightpa.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8473\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10218,"href":"https:\/\/www.eatrightpa.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8473\/revisions\/10218"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eatrightpa.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8676"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eatrightpa.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8473"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eatrightpa.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8473"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eatrightpa.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8473"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}