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June
Newsletter

In This Issue
Fueling for the Heat
Seasonal Produce

Nutrition Energy

In the News!

 

How to Tame Your Hunger

Triathlete Europe

Lauren Antonucci, MS, RD, CSSD, CDE, CDN

 

Eight Spices that Have Healthy Benefits
Fitness Magazine

Limor Baum, MS, RD

 

Nutrition Q&A

Triathlete Magazine, July 2013

Lauren Antonucci, MS, RD, CSSD, CDE, CDN

 

Nutrition Q&A

Triathlete Magazine, June 2013

Lauren Antonucci, MS, RD, CSSD, CDE, CDN

 

Nutrition Energy

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These utensil sets are a great reminder (to yourself) that you are worth your commitment to your health and our logo will inspire you to stick (mostly) with your nutrition plan!!

 

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Newsletter Editor:

Kimberly Hoban, RD

 

Issue: #34June 2013

Fueling for the Heat

 

The summer heat is finally here bringing its extra daylight, morning sunshine, and possibility of countless outdoor activities. While summer is a great season to exercise, it also ushers in the dreaded heat and humidity. An increase in temperature requires athletes to pay special attention to their fueling and fluid needs while exercising, in order to stay healthy and achieve exercise goals.

 

During exercise, heat builds up from your muscles, raising your body temperature and triggering the body's protective mechanism- sweat- to cool itself off and keep from overheating. The average athlete sweats at a rate of 1-1.5L/hour...and although we know that sounds like a lot...sweat rate can actually exceed that for endurance athletes on a hot day. Sodium, an electrolyte essential for the maintenance of blood volume, keeps body temperature and heart rate from rising too high. Sodium is lost at an average rate of 500-1500mg/1 liter of sweat. So, if you are a heavy or salty sweater, or not accustomed to exercising in the heat, your sodium losses can skyrocket and put you in danger of hyponatremia (abnormally low sodium levels). Counteract this danger by consuming both adequate total fluid and adequate sodium during exercise. An easy way to do this is to consume an "endurance" sports drink, which contains 200mg sodium per 8oz, at a rate of 6-8 oz per 15 min (or more as determined by your sweat tests).

 

Unfortunately, thirst is not a good indicator of the amount of fluid your body requires. Many athletes have reported to us that the warning signs of dehydration- light headedness, fatigue, headache, and nausea- often appeared sooner than expected, and before they really felt thirsty... at which point it becomes much more difficult to "catch up" and successfully rehydrate the body. With dehydration comes detrimental physiological effects, including increased heart rate, raised body temperature, decreased blood volume, heightened perception of effort, compromised mental concentration, delayed stomach emptying of fluids, and gastrointestinal distress.

 

Research has shown that losing as little as 2% of your body weight through sweating can impair exercise performance. If you have trained hard and your body, muscles, and mind are ready for a race, the last thing you want is for something as controllable as your hydration to derail your success.

 

So what is an athlete to do?

  1. Conduct periodic sweat tests in training, in order to determine your individual sweat rates throughout the year.
  2. Practice taking in enough fluid (mostly containing sodium; i.e., your favorite sports drink), at a rate that will almost meet your sweat rate.
  3. Be sure to take in 2-3 cups of fluid about 1-3 hours before an training session or race.
  4. "Top off" your fluid status, by taking in a final 8 oz of water or sports drink 1 hr pre training session or race, and possibly another 8oz 5-10 min pre race if exercise will last over 1 hr.
  5. Create and stick to a hydration plan during exercise in the heat...in order to ensure all of your hard training pays off.
  6.  

As always, we are here to help if you want more info on how to safely devise a hydration plan for your summer sports.

Best,

-Lauren Antonucci, Amaka Anekwe and Lauren Thomas

Seasonal Produce

Looking for an easy way to reach your summer nutrition and weight loss goals? The answer is simple, focus on seasonal produce. It is not only delicious, but easy on the waistline and with a ton of health benefits to the body!

  

Summer has finally arrived, bringing with it a colorful array of fruits and vegetables to sink your teeth into. Not only do fruits and vegetables add a visually-pleasing pop of color to your meals, but they will also provide your body with a variety of nutrients to keep you healthy.

  

Take advantage of yummy, seasonal produce by adding them to salads, sides, and main dishes. You will be amazed at how much better you look and feel by focusing on indulging in fresh, seasonal produce rather than restricting foods, counting calories and "dieting!"

Summer fruits to add your shopping list include: peaches, watermelon, plums, figs, blueberries and blackberries. While corn, eggplant, zucchini, summer squash, arugula and avocados are prime vegetables for the summer season.

 

Below are two quick, easy, and healthy recipes that incorporate summer seasonal produce.

 

Whole Wheat Pasta with Arugula

 

Serving Size: 4 Servings (1 serving: 1  c. pasta, 1 oz. cheese)

 

-2 tbsp. Olive oil

-1/4 tsp. crushed red pepper

-2 garlic cloves, minced

-1 c. cherry tomatoes

-1 lb. of arugula

-8 oz. of your choice of whole-wheat pasta

-1  tbsp. red wine vinegar

-3/4 tsp. salt

-1/2 tsp. freshly ground pepper

-4 oz grated Grana Padano cheese

 

  1. Heat 1 tsp. of oil in a pan over medium heat
  2. Add red pepper and garlic. Saut garlic until lightly brown (be careful of burning the garlic)
  3. Add arugula. Saut until arugula is wilted.
  4. Take contents of pan and put into a large bowl. Cook whole-wheat pasta and add to the bowl.
  5. Add the cherry tomatoes, the rest of the oil, red wine vinegar, grana padano cheese, fresh pepper and salt to taste. Mix together well and serve warm.

 

-Using whole-wheat pasta instead of regular white pasta will increase your fiber intake leaving you feeling satisfied and full.

-Grana Padano cheese is not only low-fat but delicious and a great source of protein.

-Have left-overs? No problem. This meal is great served cold as well so take it on a picnic outside and enjoy the summer weather!

 

Berry Smoothie

 

Serving Size: 1 serving ( 1 c.)

 

-1 c. mixed berries (raspberries, blueberries and blackberries)

- c. water

- c. low fat plain Greek yogurt

-1 tsp. Honey

  1. Combine all ingredients in blender
  2. Blend until desired consistency and drink immediately

 

-These summer berries are full of disease fighting antioxidants. They help prevent some diseases such as cancer and cardiovascular disease as well as aging!

-Using Greek yogurt keeps you feeling full

-This smoothie is a great source of protein so enjoy this cold treat after a work-out with out any guilt!

 

Make sure to add some of these seasonal produce to your next shopping list. You will not only feel, but look great for the summer months ahead of you!

  

-Deanna LaGreca

Please continue to let us know what you think, send us topics you'd like to see covered in future newsletters and feel free to pass along to friends & family!

 

Sincerely,

Lauren Antonucci, Director
Nutrition Energy