Coach J-R’s observations and analysis of the crazy and conflicting world of cycling and Sports nutrition...

Of late, I’ve been reading a few race reports, cycling blogs and cycling magazines and have been alarmingly surprised about what people eat, refuel on and what the cycling magazines “experts” suggest... Now it never ceases to amaze me what the so called diploma experts who continue to put out as misinformation & crap in different cycling magazines (as well as Running, triathlon, Fitness & health, etc, etc...)

I was in the local newsagents looking at a certain Bicycling magazine that caters for Australian cyclists, and usually I go buy it, to support the Australian cycling scene, advertisers etc, etc. However, this time I just couldn’t bring myself to swallow the crap written.
On the nutrition pages, it was all about how pasta is a “superfood”, accompanied by a photo of a geezer woofing down white processed pasta topped with some type of tomato “sauce”
Reading the article, it went on about how pasta really does help you not bonk and how it avoids insulin spikes, etc, etc.
Now lets get one thing clear, I have nothing against people eating what they want, or what they feel good about eating. That’s fine with me, each to their own I always say.
However for a “recognized cycling nutritional expert” come out with misinformation, which hundreds of thousands cyclist read for information, I do think that his is really taking the piss, (excuse my French).  And sure, of course there were charts showing the high glycemic, low glycemic graphs, and how it can help you, perform better etc, etc, blah blah blah...
However, in reality, you need the correct type of nutrition for this, and what he was suggesting, certainly doesn’t match that form of suitable nutrition!

For a start, be aware that white pasta, whether its from wheat, brown wheat, semolina, etc, it has all been processed and / or refined. Having been processed, refined, it has very little nutritional value left in it. Sure it has calories, but those calories are of little real value, nutritional wise.
Secondly, you go cook your pasta, and bang, once the pasta is boiled to become soft, or “a la dente”, it looses even more nutritional values (ever looked at green pasta when its been boiled in water, or vegetables having been boiled in water?  Yep all the nutritional value is left in the water, which of course, you throw away...)
Thirdly, you go put an Italian style tomato topping sauce on it; where do you get it from maybe a can, a jar, (have you read the contents of the jar or can? Did you see all the preservatives, additives in there?), or maybe you make your own? Tomatoes, basil, pure rock salt, a little olive oil...
Despite pasta and tomato “sago” being an all time Italian favorite, ever wonder why it makes you feel heavy afterwards? Simple... because tomato and pasta do not combine well! It sits in your stomach and putrefies for over 72 hours...
All the food is dead, no enzymes at all, the starch of the pasta and the tomato do not mix, cancelling out each others benefits in nutrition as well as adding to the difficulties of the digestion....

With such a combination, you don’t benefit from much, however you do get issues such as: Heartburn, indigestion with your stomach and digestive system working overtime trying to digest it all...  Which is also why often after a big meal like this, you feel heavy, lethargic... It’s your digestive system fighting to cope with the assault of this pasta, tomato sauce, etc.
Now this leads to the issue of calories being burnt in this process... yep, the same calories you just ate are needed to help the digestive system cope with this, so in fact, it’s a no win situation... Where is the benefit of eating this?
However thousands of readers will take it as gospel and suffer the consequences!
So, what’s the alternative I hear you ask...
Well if you want to stick to pasta, try soba or “Japanese” pasta, made from buckwheat, quinoa or similar.  Lighter on the stomach (gluten free)... Or even if you prefer wild rice, basmati rice, easier to digest, (still processed of course), but less evil than the average white pasta that you buy, despite all the hype on the packaging...

On the other hand, without going to extremes you could eat a few bananas, 30 minutes or so before a meal (and preferably your “bigger meals” would be at lunch time), and then as you’d be already benefitting form the pure nutritional and calorifique value of the carbohydrates from the bananas, not to mention your stomach that will be easily digesting them (just make sure that they aren’t green).

Another benefit is from this style of eating is that you will find that you will want to eat less at you main meal. Now I’m not trying to get you to eat less or suggest that you loose weight, no!  it’s a question of having already eaten the bananas, your body will commence to fill satiated already. So lets say you eat some basmati rice, wild rice or even some pasta, whatever... as long as you keep the combinations simple, you will then benefit from the nutrients of those foods, (well at least the small nutrients that are left after being cooked), but just avoid mixing it all with incompatible foods......

Maybe you think that this is all a bit extreme, and why should you eat other than you have since years? Sure, I can understand that point of view. Of course, change is never easy to accept, nor are new methods, different ideas, just as I suggest here. However, what if you find that just by trying it a few times, that it works? What if you shed some extra fat, that you became stronger, quicker, more alert...? Would you maybe consider it then?

Now I am not one to force change upon anyone, and yes, I am pretty much “off main stream thinking” (as I have proved in my bike fits, cycling analysis, run coaching, and I do get great results...) however, think about it, give it a try. See if you are less likely to doze off or maybe you’ll feel less “heavy” after eating bananas (or mangoes, or paw-paw) before a meal, and then limiting your combination of starches, carbohydrates, sweet/acid fruits (tomato) all in one go.
One thing is for sure, your body will pay you back big time if you look after it. And until now, have you really looked after it, as far as nutrition is concerned?

Also just briefly, a recent race report I read was something like this “so I popped a few jelly babies, and jelly snakes as I was feeling low on energy...” the guy goes onto say how just after eating these jelly babies, that he started getting a pain (I guess he meant in the stomach). And then goes onto explain in this race report, that after a while he ate a banana, and very quickly felt a lot better, the pain went away... Well guess what folks? Bananas are about the best sports fuel that you can eat on the go! Instant energy, just like fresh dates, which I have been advising everyone on for ages...

Funny thing is, often I see at end of races people popping these jelly snakes, bears, whatever, and this just amazes me. By doing so, sure, you get  a surge of sugar (processed chemical sugar) in the blood. Then you fall down from that spike, and guess what? Free radicals build in your blood, in your cells,  and eat away at your healthy cells, adding to the damage that you have undergone whilst out cycling (or running or whatever exertion)... Hey, newsflash, You’re not helping yourself, in fact your causing more damage, and delaying recovery.
The best thing to have after the effort within 30 minutes is fresh fruit, or fresh fruit smoothies. The more fresh fruit you eat, the more the body will regenerate itself naturally. For a start, there’s the water content in the fruit such as bananas, mangoes, paw-paw, fresh dates, then the simple carbohydrates to keep a level of sustained natural glucose to keep feeding the muscles, and to start rebuilding the stock of glycogen in the muscles and liver. Something that no processed sugars from lolly’s can do (or Gu’s and protein shakes, for that matter)...

I could go on, and probably have gone on more than enough already. However, my take home message is this: Want to perform better, recover better? Then eat natural foods, don’t mix more than two different types of food types together in the same meal, and avoid processed foods, processed pastas & rice, fried food, and your body will thank you...

Remember, you body is a temple of energy, treat it with respect!