Sierra Samaritans - National Ski Patrol

get from barley, brown rice, dates, and salmon helps with energy
production and protects you against sunburn and skin cancer.
The vitamin A you assimilate by eating asparagus, sweet potatoes,
cantaloupe, and beet greens supports vision and prevents
fatigue. The vitamin C you get from an orange or a helping of
broccoli will aid tissue repair, improve adrenal gland function,
and enhance your immune system. And these are just a few of
the nutrients your body needs to function properly! Only a small
amount of your daily requirements of each of these nutrients are
provided by fries, soda, or even protein shakes and energy bars.
Basic nutritive needs aside, the combination of intense exercise,
long work hours, and stress that is part and parcel of
patrolling means that you probably need to take in more than the
recommended daily allowance of vitamins and minerals. In her
book, Your Body Knows Best, nutritionist Ann Louise Gittleman
points out that stress alone can act as a nutrient-vampire that
leaches precious magnesium, calcium, zinc, potassium, sodium,
and copper from the body’s tissues.
Living off junk food just won’t cut it. Nutrients are essential
if you want to be your best.
THE MOST IMPORTANT
MEAL
Your mom was right about something
else: You need a good breakfast
every day. Skipping your morning
meal is a giant mistake. Not only does your
metabolism function 25 percent better
when you eat within 1 hour of waking,
your body simply needs the fuel.
For example, let’s say you go home at
night, have dinner at 7 p.m., and then don’t
eat until lunch at noon the next day. You’ve
been without food, essentially “fasting,” for
17 hours! That’s a surefire recipe for disrupting your metabolism
and blood glucose levels. Your body uses glucose, a simple
sugar, throughout the day to provide you with energy, but a
blood-sugar imbalance can turn your thinking “foggy” and
leave you feeling sleepy, weak, or irritable. These are all signs
that you’re running on empty.
Therefore, when you roll out of bed, give your body fiber,
protein, and nutrients pronto. If you’re one of those people who
wake up and say, “I’m just not hungry,” you have to train your
brain and body to think differently in the morning. The best way
to get into the habit of having breakfast is to start small in terms
of adding a new dietary ritual.
Chances are that the first item I’m going to recommend for
your morning menu is something you used to have as a kid: Hot
cereal was good for you then and it’s great for you now.
Oatmeal, the old standby, is still popular with many athletes,
and I’d recommend steel-cut or regular oats even though they
Skipping your morning meal
is a giant mistake. Not only
does your metabolism function
25 percent better when you
eat within 1 hour of
waking, your body simply
needs the fuel.
take longer to prepare than the “instant” kind. (Instant packaged
oatmeal is stripped of nutrients to speed up the cooking time.)
Another excellent choice is a seven- or eight-grain cooked
cereal, and there are a number of these whole-grain combinations
for sale in the natural food aisles of most grocery stores
nowadays. Whole-grain hot cereals are filling, hearty, and will
provide you with fuel well into late morning.
If you’re concerned about the extra time it takes to cook hot
cereal, you can prepare it the night before and briefly reheat it
before you run out the door or eat it cold on the road. Filled with
fiber, protein, essential fatty acids (the “good fats”), and B vitamins,
oatmeal and whole-grain cereals can provide a great beginning
to your day. Throw in a sliced banana for potassium and
some almonds for protein, and you’ve got one winner of a complete
morning meal.
If you’re a devotee of eggs and toast in the morning, that’s okay
too. Just make sure that you use whole-grain bread for the toast,
and when it comes to cooking the eggs be sure to cook them with
little or no oil in a nonstick skillet. Really, folks, the yolks are not the
fat culprit for clogged arteries; instead, it’s
the hydrogenated fat in your Danish or the
margarine you’re using on your toast that’s
the problem. (For more on hydrogenation,
check out the entry titled “Overconsumption
of Processed Foods” in the “Top
Ten Nutrition Mistakes” sidebar on page
26.) Of course, moderation is also important
in terms of the fats you consume with
poultry, dairy, or meat. Although people
have short-term success with high
protein/low carb diets, these regimens aren’t
necessarily well-balanced and eventually can
lead to problems in the long run. A good
rule of thumb is to have several meals each
week that incorporate protein from vegetable sources (e.g., from
soy or nuts) or fish rather than three daily doses of animal protein.
When it comes to the nutritional value of toast, whole-grain
bread is the gold standard. Whole-grain breads (and whole
wheat tortillas) contain vitamins, fiber, and essential fatty acids.
It’s important to realize that just because the bread at the store is
brown doesn’t necessarily mean it’s whole grain. To attract
health-conscious consumers, some companies use caramel coloring
to make white bread look like wheat bread. The artificial
colorization is necessary because the process of making white
flour removes the original wheat grain’s outer layers, which contain
nutrients and fiber that give flour color.
If you’re tired of the old standbys for breakfast, try something
out of the ordinary. I’d recommend salmon with vegetables and/or
brown rice. I know what you’re thinking: “That’s dinner food.”
Many years ago Americans engineered the dessert-as-breakfast
CONTINUED
W inte r 2005 | Ski Patrol Magazine 25