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Medical Meanderings
Nutrition and Athletics
By GLENN W. MORGAN, M.D.,
Philomath Family Medicine. P.C.
Your are what you eat , right? Right ! Athletes need to build
up their muscles which are made of protein, right? Right!
Therefore, athletes should eat lots of protein, mineral and
vitamin supplements to achieve the greatest muscle mass
and increase their strength, agility and endurance, right?
Wrong! Protein, mineral and vitamin supplements are
useles for athletes who eat a nutritious diet. Muscle mass is
increased only from muscle work, not from any food
supplement. Likewise, agility and endurance only come with
athletic training.
The ideal diet for an athlete, then, is one involving the four
basic food groups - meat, fruit and vegetables, breads and
cereals and dairy products. Additionally, often expensive
food supplements are not necessary if one has twelve
servings of the four basic groups in three regular meals a
day. Likewise, there is no place in athletics for anabolic
steroids (male hormone pills or injections) which can have
many harmful effects. Vegeterian diets can be quite
nutritious, though they require understanding and planning
to get adequate protein in conditioning programs. As
mentioned, the athlete should have three full meals a day.
Morning and noontime meals are especially important to
generate energy for afternoon training sessions. High school
and college athletes commonly fail to achieve this.
Family mealtime is less common in our society today.
Eating has become a "catch as catch can" thing - fast food
chains, ready prepared frozen dinners and canned
mishmashes. The busy athlete-student of today often
shortchanges eating time, rapidly gobbling such high calorie
concoctions at odd hours, or skipping meals altogether. It is
very important for meal times to be relaxed and pleasant,
enjoyed with other people. Also, the hour or so after meals
should be restful, to allow for digestion as blood supply shifts
away from muscles to the stomach and intestines. Learning
good eating habits will help the athlete throughout the rest of
his or her life.
Losing Weight
Certain sports, such as gymnastics, distance running,
wrestling, swimming, and figure skating demand top
conditioning and loss of body fat to a minimum - often as low
as 5 percent of body weight in men and 10 percent in women.
Percent body fat can easily be calculated by measuring the
thickness of the skin fold under the triceps muscle on the
back of the upper arm. Those who need to lose weight should
do so well in advance of the time of competition. They should
not lose more than two or three pounds per week. A good
program would be as follows: 1) eating three nutritious
meals a day, without between-meal snacks, large portions,
second helpings, or high-calorie desserts (about 2,000
calories per day total); 2) daily exercising for one to two
hours. This 2,000 calorie per day diet will support muscle
growth and provide energy for conditioning, while at the
same time will be 1,000 to 1,500 calories short of total calories
burned per day. Therefore, since it takes 4,000 calories
burned to lose a pound, a two-to-three pound weight loss
could be expected per week. If an athlete needed to lose
fifteen pounds to achieve ideal competing weight, he could
realistically expect to take at least six weeks to arrive at his
weight goal on this program. Those people who try to go on
strict reducing diets of 1.000 calories or less per day end up
losing muscle mass which will cause diminished strength and
endurance.
The athlete should check his weight only once a week to
monitor progress. Too frequent checking leads to
discouragement because water shifts can make weight
appear to increase while dieting. A diet record for a few days
can also be helpful. Here, the athlete keeps track of
everything eaten for several days to see if he really is eating
the correct type and amount of food.
Weight (iuln
Some sports, such as ftball. weight lifting and weight
events in track emphasize weight gain. Again, only by
gaining one to two pounds per week while actively working
out daily will the weight gain improve performance. Just
increasing fat without building up muscle mass and
conditioning does no good.
A common problem during the athletic season is failure to
consume enough food energy to maintain competing weight.
Some very aetive people burn up 6.000 calories a day with a
vigorous training schedule. Although they need a little extra .
protein, the ma jority of their extra calories should come
from the high energy breads-cereals and fruits-vegetables
groups. Failure to eat enough calories causes accidental
weight loss and decreased athletic performance as the
season progresses. If calorie requirements are high, five or
six meals a day may be needed.
Body Water And Salt
Body water and salt are essential for numerous cell
functions. All the body's transport functions (moving oxygen,
nutrients and waste) are dependent upon water. The massive
amounts of heat generated by exercising js lost through
water by sweating. Although this sweat tastes salty, the
actual amount of salt lost is not great. Therefore, salt tablets
are not needed and may actually be harmful by raising body
salt levels too high. They have no place in athletics. If body
water and salt levels are abnormal, serious problems and
even death can occur within a short time.
The ideal beverage for an athlete is plain, cold water.
Athletes should drink water before they get thirsty in
competition, if possible. If they wait until the brain indicates
thirst, thev will already be mildly dehydrated. The same is
true for all of us on a hot day when we perspire. Drink to
prevent thirst, instead of waiting for it to occur. Loss of as
little as 2 percent to 3 percent of body weight will result in
high temperature and heart rate, along with increased
fatigue and poor performance. The American Dietetic
Association recommends that about two hours before
competition, the athlete slowly sip about 21 ounces of cold
fluid. Then 10 to 15 minutes before the event, he should drink
another 14 to 17 ounces of water.
It is obvious that nutrition plays a key role in the success of
the athlete. After all, you are what you eat, right?
If you have questions about this topic, ask your family
pnystcian.
Local 4-EPers
participate
JLJL.L
A number of Morrow County
4-H'ers traveled to Salem to
participate in contests at the
state 4-H events, as well as
two older girls working as
student staff there.
Julie Grieb. Lexington, and
Joan Doner ty. lone, were
among the college-age stu
dents employed by 4-H to keep
things running smoothly all
through the state fair. Julie
worked in the 4-H building,
and out in the barns with the
livestock events. Joan was on
. duty in the 4-H building where
all homeec. exhibits, contests,
and related events are housed.
Diann Morter, lone, repent
ed her county championship
main dish for the state fair
crowd, with aromns of the
delicious crab casserole entic
ing the audience to stay
around for samples.
Kimberly Hughes, Heppner,
and Angie Evans, Irrigon,
showed their garments and
style in the second of three big
fashion shows in the 4-H
auditorium. Each of the more
than 100 girls participating in
the fashion show had earned
top honors and blue riblons in
their home county, which then
allowed them to be a part of
the state fair revue.
Dawn Timms. Irrigon. trav
eled to Salem to earn blue
ribbons in both western equit
ation and showmanship, in the
411 horse show which started
even txfore Morrow County
Fair.
The opportunity to partici
pate in 4-H state fair events is
earned with blue ribbons at
county fair., and gives local
4-H members an opportunity
to see the many other things
4-H'ers are doing throughout
Oregon. Several others who
were eligible to participate in
the state event were not able
to do so because of school
events and activities.
Nancy Brownfield cTLT
" J BLUE MOUNTAIN
COMMUNITY. COLLEGE
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6-16
'NO t wm m a mttm
IUCC women attend Fall Ouster
Ten women from the lone
United Church of Christ joined
with women from The Dalles,
Enterprise and Condon for the
Fall Cluster meeting on Tues
day, September 29. The meet
ing was held in the Condon
Church as one of six fall
Oregon seniors score higher on SAT test
Oregon scores on the Schol
astic Aptitude Test have
increased. State School Supt.
Verne A. Duncan announced
recently at a press confer
ence. Last year's college bound
seniors in Oregon scored 431
on the verbal test. That's three
points higher than the pre
vious year and seven points
above the national average of
424.
On the math test, Oregon
seniors scored 469, four points
higher than the previous class
and three points above the
national average.
The national scores on both
tests remained the same for
the first time in 12 years, while
the Oregon scores on both
tests increased for the second
time since 1972, the first year
state scores were compiled.
"Naturally, I'm encouraged
by the increase," Duncan
said. He said the SAT is seen
by the public as the Dow Jones
of education performance.
"The SAT gives the public
something to hang its hat on,
but an increase or decrease of
several points should not be
overplayed." The scores are
on a scale of 200 to 800.
Duncan said Oregon seniors
outscored their national con
temporaries on nine of the 12
achievement tests. The Ore
gon average on all achieve
ment tests was 573. That's 41
points higher than the national
average.
"The SAT measures a
student's apparent potential
for success in college, while
the achievements tests mea
sure what a student has
actually learned," Duncan
added.
Some 13,033 Oregon seniors
took the SAT. That's about 250
more than the previous year.
Oregon boys outscored girls
on both the verbal and math
tests. Boys scored 436 on the
verbal, four points above th
previous year, while girls
scored 427, three points high
er. Boys scored 496 ons the
math test, one point higher,
while girls scored 445, six
points higher. Nationally,
boys scored 430 on the verbal
test and 492 on the math test,
and girls scored 418 on the
verbal and 443 on the math.
Duncan said the Oregon
students who took the SAT
said they had taken more
English, math, foreign lan
guage, physical science and
social studies courses than the
previous class.
cluster meetings throughout
the state.
State President, Anne Gor
don of Hillsboro conducted the
meeting. Rev. Ann Smith of
Portland was the inspirationul
leader on the theme "The
Emerging United Church of
Christ; The Past. Present &
Future."
Plans for hosting a woman
from a Third World country
during 1982-83 were discussed.
The purpose would be to
become aware of the role of
women in the world and to be
linked with women around the
world in common tasks.
Katherine Lindstrom. East
ern Oregon representative,
was present and will attend
the November 16 meeting of
the State Board.
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PUBLIC
MEETINGS
Wed.. Oct. 21 - Pioneer
Memorial Hospital Board,
Hospital, 9:30 a.m.; Morrow
County Court, Courthouse,
Heppner, 10 a.m.
Mon.. Oct. 26 - Morrow
County Planning Comm.,
Courthouse, Heppner, 8 p.m.;
Heppner Fire Dept., Fire Hall,
7:30 p.m.
Wed., Oct. 28 - Heppner
Public Library Board. Library,
8 p.m.; Morrow County Court.
County Building, Irrigon, 10
a.m.
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