Whether you’re an athlete looking to perform better, or if you’re an everyday-athlete, there are foods and beverages you should avoid to stay at the top of your game!
It’s crucial to fill your body with elements that will boost your performance and overall health. There are many highly-processed food-like products out there that are marketed as healthy, especially to the diet and sport worlds. It’s important to know some of these top offenders that might have you confused and be sure to avoid consuming them if you wish to maintain or improve health, fitness, or sport outcomes.
(Diet) Soda
Soda and diet soda does not provide any nutrition to the body to support growth, repair, or performance, and it detracts from health and performance. Both regular soda and diet soda are extremely acidifying to the body and leach vital minerals from the bones and can deplete nutrient stores. The chemicals found in diet sodas wreak havoc on the nervous system and can greatly increase chances for seizures and other neurological problems for certain people. Regular soda is not much better, though it doesn’t contain the artificial sweeteners, it contains large amounts of processed sugar that also provides no nutritive value and can cause nutrient deficiencies and lethargy, among other things.
Processed Juice Drinks
There is an abundance of highly-processed juices and drinks on the store shelves today, even at health food stores. While some might look better than others nutritionally speaking, all processed juices and drinks provide little to no true nutritive value to the body, are often high in sugar or chemicals, can rob the body of nutrients, can cause hormone imbalances, adrenal fatigue, and blood sugar issues. The symptoms that can arise from such problems are many, none of which equate to increased health or performance outcomes!
Energy Drinks
A tired athlete might think that taking an energy boost is a good way to boost performance. While it might synthetically help a couple of times, frequent energy drink consumption wreaks havoc on the adrenal glands, thyroid, and the body as a whole. The body becomes accustomed to the stimulation from the energy drinks and grows fatigued or burnt out due to the nutrient deficiencies often caused. Even consuming an energy drink once in a while is not a good idea, but continual or frequent use can cause a body to become fatigued, burned out, and lethargic. It also causes headaches, concentration problems, sleep problems, and slower recovery time. There is simply no benefit to taking synthetic energy and a lot to be lost.
Processed Coffee Drinks
Processed coffee drinks often contain added sugar, chemicals, and other ingredients that also rob the body of vital nutrients while providing no true nutritive value. Too much reliance on coffee, especially when it contains other stimulants such as sugar, also can lead to some of the same effects as frequent energy drink consumption, such as adrenal fatigue and sleep disturbances. If coffee is needed, it’s best to consume a high-quality (organic) black coffee with added coconut oil.
Canned Soup
Canned soup, even most brands that are organic or that are found at the health foods store, are highly processed and contain little true nutritive value. On top of this, many brands, even the “healthy” ones, contain added sugar, salt, toxic oils, and added chemicals, including flavor enhancers such as MSG or yeast extract, which wreak havoc on the nervous system. A much better option is to buy fresh soup from a trusted, clean source or make your own!
Conventional Cereal
Most cereal and cereal bars on the shelves today are highly processed, and again, contain little nutritive value. The nutrients in cereal are primarily all from fortified nutrients that are added back in, which are not only not naturally occurring with their full spectrum of nutrients, but the nutrients that are added back in are typically low quality, coal derivative nutrients that the body can really only use in a state of deficiency. These products contain a high amount of processed carbohydrates and sugar that can further rob the body of vital nutrients and can cause low energy and other problems. If cereal is to be eaten, choose ones that provide as much true nutrition as possible, such as whole oatmeal or Ezekiel sprouted cereal.
White Sugar, Flour, or Carbs
White sugar or flour, or any product containing them should be avoided. These things provide no nutrition to the body, thus, causing the body to lose vital nutrients to be able to digest and assimilate them, which leads to deficiency. These things are hard on the body as a whole, but specifically on the adrenals, thyroid, gut, and pancreas (blood sugar control). Sometimes avoiding these ingredients can be tricky, especially when eating out, as these things are often hidden. So be on the lookout and minimize or avoid these nutrient-depleted, high-processed foods as much as possible!
The more processed the food or drink, the more important it likely is to avoid. The best foods and drinks to consume, especially for those looking to boost performance, are whole, fresh, and truly natural ones that provide the body with a wide spectrum of vital nutrients. Ask yourself, what is this food or drink supplying my body and how is it likely to make me feel, and what will the ultimate result be from consuming it?
