Is there any actual evidence that eating plenty of fruit and veg leads to better athletic performance?

I just saw something at work where someone was emphasising the importance of a healthy diet for performance, but pondered on the impressive performance of some people on what might be considered a less than optimal diet.

I’ve seen plenty of studies where the levels of various chemicals within the body have been measured from which various inferences can be drawn, but are there any definitive studies where one group of athletes has eaten more fruit a veg and produced faster times than a control group who have been a stranger to green stuff?

most fruit gives very little nutrition…….fact.

I would have thought that the experiment cannot be ethically carried out in humans since it would mean providing a deliberately poor diet for an extended period of time to test the hypothesis.

I imagine up to a point it hads a large effect but after that point it makes no difference. I would guess this turning point isn’t much different from the point at which you would suffer from diseases like scurvy or rickets.

At the very top of Olympic performance I think it might be the difference. But for normal people, don’t live of chips? LOL

You want to ask a dietician, who have to be suitable qualified to call themselves such, not a nutritionist, who can be any old Gillian McKeith quack.

And didn’t Usain Bolt admit to enjoying a KFC a couple of hours before the Beijing 100m final?

I would have thought that the experiment cannot be ethically carried out in humans since it would mean providing a deliberately poor diet for an extended period of time to test the hypothesis.

There’s more than one way to crack an egg.

Most studies that involve looking at people tend to find a group of 30/40/50/60/70/80/90somethings and asking them about their diet then checking up on them 5 or 10 years later to see who’s dead. If you’ve a spread of people on similar diets over the whole range it’s possible to infer how those diets affect them over the whole 60 years.

Therefore no one has had to change anything about their lives for the study and it’s all ethical and above board.

most fruit gives very little nutrition…….fact

Where’s that fact from?

i thought i had added one of these >>>>>>>> 😉

so ignore me.

Ahhh… fair dues.

😆

IHN – Member
You want to ask a dietician, who have to be suitable qualified to call themselves such

To be fair, anyone can call themselves just about anything !!

Anyway, there is now a professional accreditation and registration scheme for nutritionists and the membership criteria are actually more stringent than those to be a registered dietician,
but don’t let the facts get in the way of your narrow mindedness eh 😆

Try telling that to my pirate friends with scurvy 🙂

Fruit is the best way and in some case the only way of getting vitamins and minerals (most people would call this nutrient) assuming you don’t want to use Holland and Barrat. It is also high in fructose a sugar that would supply energy quickly. They are also very high in fiber. A regular bowel movement would reduce weight and without it you would be uncomfortable. BUT for high-energy exercise you really need to go for an increased complex carbohydrate diet i.e. pasta rice etc while muscle building requires a high protein diet. To sum up a balance diet i.e. veg and fruit but an increase/decrease in protein or complex carbohydrates depending on what you are training for.

Cough
http://www.badscience.net/category/complementary-medicine/nutritionists/

But (ignoring the beetroot and buffering thing), there’s never been anything along the lines of we gave this group of athletes an extra bowl of Broccoli each day and it took 10 seconds off their 10k time?

I think it’s about how F&G and the micro-nutrients contained within help to stave off illness and ensure optimal recovery.

Could be talking BS though.

hilldodger – Member

To be fair, anyone can call themselves just about anything !!

What? like nuclear scientist? Surgeon? Prime Minster? Arms/Explosives Search Dog Handler (bring your own dog)? Film Star?

stever – Member
Cough
http://www.badscience.net/category/complementary-medicine/nutritionists/

Spit
a four year out of date link from a failed medic turned journo/cod author, wow you’ve really got me there!
You keep taking the doctor’s sweet little pills though 😆

maybe you can even google up that fat comic’s YouTube clip for the clincher eh….

I only eat fruit. I have legs like a pretzel 🙂

there is now a professional accreditation and registration scheme for nutritionists

Is the professional accreditation and registration scheme a legal requirement in order to call one’s self a nutritionist? Or am I right in saying that anyone can call themselves a nutritionist?

To be fair, anyone can call themselves just about anything

They can’t call themselves a dietician.

a four year out of date link from a failed medic turned journo/cod author, wow you’ve really got me there!
You keep taking the doctor’s sweet little pills though

I wasn’t aware Ben Goldacre was either a failed medic or cod author. Can you provide a reference?

Dietician is a protected term. To quote the fat comedian, it’s the difference between a dentist and a toothyologist.

I wasn’t aware Doctor Ben Goldacre was either a failed medic or cod author. Can you provide a reference?

FTFY.

Goldacre was educated at Magdalen College School, Oxford then studied medicine at Magdalen College, Oxford where he obtained a first class degree in his preclinical studies in 1995. While at Oxford he also edited the student magazine Isis. He was a visiting researcher in cognitive neuroscience at the University of Milan, working on fMRI brain scans of language and executive function, and then he went on to study clinical medicine at UCL Medical School and qualified as a medical doctor in 2000. He received a master’s degree in philosophy (funded by the British Academy) from King’s College London. He passed the MRCPsych Part II examinations in December 2005 and became a member of the Royal College of Psychiatrists. In 2008 he was a research fellow at the Institute of Psychiatry, King’s College London. As of November 2009[update], Goldacre is a psychiatric registrar and Guardian research fellow at Nuffield College, Oxford.

If that’s failing, sign me up

In the words of Jim Royle: Failed? My arse.

stever – Member
I wasn’t aware Ben Goldacre was either a failed medic or cod author. Can you provide a reference?

well how about from his own website…..

….Really sorry, I’m not really a writer

One book, cobbled together from newspaper columns – Cod author by anyone’s definition

and also from his website

Ben is 36 and currently works full time as an academic in epidemiology

“failed medic” a term used in the medical profession for someone who gains a medical qualification, then sees little or no clinical activity but uses the title to add emphasis to their off-topic activities.

then sees little or no clinical activity but uses the title to add emphasis to their off-topic activities.

But he works full time in medicine, specifically, according to your post, epidemiology.

Anyway, let’s get the question answered about nutritionists – can anyone call themselves one?

Yes.

Going back on topic, there is more and more evidence that eating the 5 a day is actually quite bad for you considering our high sugar modern diets.

Low carb is the way forward! Even Mark Cavendish used a low carb diet running up to the Tour.

somouk – Member
Going back on topic, there is more and more evidence that eating the 5 a day is actually quite bad for you considering our high sugar modern diets.

As I have stated the calories in fruit is made up of Fruitose therefore you would be taking in a lot of sugar but you don’t have to have a “high sugar modern diets” 5 a day diet is about nutrients such as vitamins, minerals and of course fibre.

Low carb is the way forward! Even Mark Cavendish used a low carb diet running up to the Tour.

But not on the tour?? A Low carb diet is a high protein diet no way is that a good way to train for a high cardiovascular exercise. It is called the Atkins diet which causes you to be tired because of the lack of carbs. In fact unlike other diets it works becouse protein is an appetite surpresent. Again this cannot be good way to train for high cardiovascular workouts.

There’s lots of evidence out there. If you send me your details and £300 I’ll show you the good stuff.
I’ll need to Tweet it to you as my email is playing up though 🙂

A Low carb diet is a high protein diet no way is that a good way to train for a high cardiovascular exercise. It is called the Atkins diet which causes you to be tired because of the lack of carbs. In fact unlike other diets it works becouse protein is an appetite surpresent. Again this cannot be good way to train for high cardiovascular workouts.

Interestingly they had one of the team GB cyclists or ex team GB cyclists* on radio 4 last week, and his said that they train on a lot less carbs than they used to and carb depleted training was a core part of their regime now.

*The recollection is spoiled a bit, by me not remembering the person’s name!

IHN – Member
let’s get the question answered about nutritionists – can anyone call themselves one?

Yes: just like IT consultant, graphic designer, software engineer, management executive, personnel officer, photographer, journalist, sports coach etc it’s just a job title and old mug off the street can add it to their CV, set up in business and charge for their services….

It is called the Atkins diet which causes you to be tired because of the lack of carbs

It’s not just called the atkins diet, there are a lot of diets out there. As for the tiredness, that is only for a short period while moving your body into Ketosis. Once your body in in Ketosis then it’s not so bad.

Atkins also only drops your carb levels low for teh first few weeks after that you can have limited carbs to support any training you are doing.

Some athletes have seen an increased performance after following this sort of diet as they don’t experience the sugar crash half way through a ride.

let’s get the question answered about nutritionists – can anyone call themselves one?

Yes: just like IT consultant, graphic designer, software engineer, management executive, personnel officer, photographer, journalist, sports coach etc it’s just a job title and old mug off the street can add it to their CV, set up in business and charge for their services….

..but not like Dietician, which just any old mug off the street can’t call themselves.

there is more and more evidence that eating the 5 a day is actually quite bad for you considering our high sugar modern diets.

Sorry that is utter shite. The bad thing is the high sugar modern diet… not the fruit.

Stop drinking coke, stop eating sweets, keep eating fruit.

Also. I think people on this place need to get some perspective on where there body is and their training levels are, compared to a top endurance athlete.

If you don’t share their body compostion stats, and don’t do a similar training volume, then why do their diet??

Okay, so my point stands; if you ask someone with the job title of Nutritionist for advice regarding your diet you have no guarantee that they are suitably qualified to provide that advice. If you ask someone with the (protected) title of Dietician, you do.

I’m not saying that all nutritionists are quacks, doubtless some really know their stuff. However my view is, I admit, somewhat skewed by quacks such as McKeith, who’s base-less ‘science’ has unfortunately become recieved wisdom.

If you don’t share their body compostion stats, and don’t do a similar training volume, then why do their diet??

Esp. If it doesn’t involve pies.
With respect to fruit, presumably we only need to go back 50 years and this was pretty much a seasonal product. I’m not going to go down the path of saying it’s not natural therefore it’s not right to eat fruit 24/7, because that would be silly, but it doesn’t appear to be natural so maybe does seem worthy of some critical analysis.

I think people on this place need to get some perspective on where there body is and their training levels are, compared to a top endurance athlete.

If you don’t share their body compostion stats, and don’t do a similar training volume, then why do their diet??

Exactly.

I’d also lump into that the use of pre-ride shakes, recovery shakes, electrolyte drinks etc etc. For the average once or twice a week rider like what you get on here, who are probably carryng what could charitably be described as ‘energy reserves’ and rarely, if ever, push themselves to the absolute limit of anything, it’s at best unneccesary and at worst, snake-oil.

Esp. If it doesn’t involve pies.

I train with up to 6 pies a day. When it’s coming up to the national champs I’ll go way beyond this. It’s good to know you can eat more pies than required to beat the competition.

I’d also lump into that the use of pre-ride shakes, recovery shakes, electrolyte drinks etc etc.

IHN – don’t even get me started on this one.