While everyone wants to be a great athlete and have fun at the sport they practice and compete in, very few are prepared to but the work in off the court, in the kitchen. Sure, it’s good to focus on the sport itself and the majority of improvements you make in your technique and gameplay come from playing the game.
However, what if you could improve your volleyball game just by changing up what you eat? Sound interesting? Then read on. This article will discuss superfoods and supplements to include in your daily diet, that have been proven to enhance physical well-being and athletic performance.
Our bodies are similar to car engines in the fact that if you take the time and money to upgrade your car with performance parts and then turn around and put poor grade gasoline in the tank, all those parts won’t make a difference because the fuel is garbage.
The same thing happens in our bodies when we consume foods that have poor nutrient value, we have low energy. Our bodies are addicted in some form to crave for sugar, salt and fat. Consuming foods that are packed with these three things can greatly reduce performance, lead to fatigue and possibly diabetes later in life.
So it’s time to re-frame what you think a solid diet should look like. Once you have established a diet plan, think of adding in these ‘superfoods’. These foodstuffs have amazing abilities that help with everything from detoxifying the body, to increasing cognitive mental performance. Let’s take a look at these marvels of mother nature.
Blueberries
Rich in the anti-oxidant anthocyanins, blueberries are dark berries that taste absolutely awesome! They are great with a little granola and some fresh Greek yogurt, or just as a simple fruit snack in the morning.
Keep your mind sharp with some blueberries and enjoy the enhanced cognitive performance they provide, improving your memory through increased synapse function, helping you think more clearly during the day. Their effect on the brain assists in warding off mental disease such as dementure and Alzheimer’s.
Eggs
Whenever one has the opportunity, one should consume an entire animal. While it might not be practical to eat an entire chicken, it is possible to eat an egg. Eggs have long since been demonized in the nutrition media due to their high-cholesterol. However, recent strides in nutritional science have proven that levels of cholesterol in the blood have absolutely no correlation to cholesterol in food. In fact, cholesterol is a must have in your diet and helps your body function properly, its not clogging your arteries at all.
The choline that can be found in an egg, helps with acetylcholine, which is crucial for memory and brain function. There’s nothing like a fresh egg omelette, with a little spinach in the morning to get you up and going and don’t you dare throw that yolk away!
Asparagus
High in folate, a B-vitamin that enhances mood and reduces fatigue, asparagus are spears of joy that help with the bodies synthesis of the neurotransmitters dopamine, serotonin, and norepinephrine. This great superfood assists you in your mood levels and is great if you are looking to enhance your willpower and stay focused on your new diet plan.
A single cup of freshly steamed asparagus spears will contain as much as 268 micrograms of of folate, which is two-thirds of the daily 400mcg allowance for adult women. Add a nice wholegrain pasta and a few strips of avocado and you have a power meal that will keep you focused and feeling good.
Multi-vitamin
Now we have discussed foods, let’s move on to supplements. Supplements have also be demonized in the nutritional media, with reports of tainted muscle-building supplements. However, there are a few supplements that can make a significant impact on your health and performance.
The first one to think of is a good multi-vitamin. Mutli-vitamins are necessary in today’s modern world where our food is becoming more mass-produced than ever, while the nutritional value of in declines in terms of the vitamins and minerals it provides us.
A good multi-vitamin will help you make the most from your food, just make sure that you buy a chelated version as the bio-availability will be much better.
Amino-acids
If you find yourself without the time to eat, or no food prepared, then just simply reach for some amino-acids. Aminos are the building blocks of proteins. They have the ability to stave of hunger and muscle-wasting that is caused by catabolism in the body as a result of lack of food.
Amino-acids work best on an empty stomach and can have a tremendous effect on keeping blood-sugar stable. They also boost recovery from workouts, so they are awesome to use before and after workouts, or sessions on the volleyball courts.
Conclusion
Using these foods and supplements in your diet will enhance your performance and recovery, that is a scientifically proven fact, the choice is yours as to heed the advice or not. Give it a shot and include them in your diet for the next month and log the affects you notice. You may be surprised at what you notice. Stay fit, stay healthy, love life!
