Dirección General de Sistemas de Información (DGSI)

■ Eat a handful of dried fruit after exercise (with water) to speed up glycogen refuelling.

■ Try them on long cycle rides, but don’t overdo it as the fibre content may upset your stomach.

■ Dried fruit makes a handy snack for eating on the go.

9: Porridge

Why it’s good:

■ Porridge is a low-GI food, which means it provides sustained energy and boosts glycogen stores, with only a low risk of the carbohydrates turning into body fat.

■ Consumed daily, oats can help lower cholesterol, thus preventing blood vessels furring up. They contain beta-glucan, a soluble fibre that mops up the precursors of cholesterol and whisks them out of the body.

■ The fibre in oats makes you feel full relatively fast, stopping feelings of hunger. Thus porridge is filling and satisfying, with a high satiety index value (see pages 67–68).

■ Oats are one of the few grains to contain high levels of vitamin E – a powerful antioxidant that helps protect the heart, reduces the risk of certain cancers, helps prevent premature ageing and mops up free radicals produced during intense exercise.

■ According to a 2003 study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, including oats in your diet regularly will reduce the chances of developing Type-2 diabetes, because oats stabilise blood sugar levels.

When it’s good:

■ Porridge is ideal for breakfast or for eating 2–4 hours before a workout.

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10: Nuts

Why they’re good:

■ All nuts are a rich source of fibre, vitamin E (which helps keep the heart healthy), B-vitamins (which help release energy from food), folate (which lowers the risk of heart disease and helps prevent cancer) and magnesium (important for healthy bones and nerve and muscle function).

■ Almonds provide high amounts of calcium.

■ Peanuts are an excellent source of the antioxidant resveratrol (also found in red wine), which boosts your defences against cancer and heart disease.

■ Brazil nuts are a good source of selenium, a potent antioxidant that helps reduce signs of ageing, boosts the immune system and reduces the risk of cancer. One Brazil nut provides most of a person’s daily requirement of this mineral.

■ Walnuts contain omega-3 oils, which not only lower blood cholesterol but also help promote post-exercise recovery.

■ Although nuts are high in fat (90 per cent of their calories come from fat), this is mainly the mono-unsaturated kind which guards against heart disease and lowers cholesterol levels. A US study found that people who ate 30 g of nuts at least five times a week were up to 51 per cent less likely to develop heart disease. A study at the University of Toronto, Canada, found that people who ate about 28 g of almonds (equivalent to a small handful) a day lowered their LDL (‘bad’) cholesterol levels by 4 per cent.

■ Nuts have a high satiety rating (see pages 67–68) – they satisfy hunger more readily than most other foods.

■ According to research at Purdue University in the USA, when eaten as part of a balanced diet, nuts can help with weight management. A study at Harvard Medical School in the USA found that people who ate nuts as part of a Mediterranean-style moderate-fat diet lost more weight and kept it off longer than those who followed a traditional low-fat diet. US researchers found that eating up to 85 g of peanuts a day lowered blood fat levels by up to 24 per cent without weight gain.

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When they’re good:

Eat nuts for a snack or add to cereals, homemade cakes, muffins and bars, yoghurt and salads. Have a handful of nuts with dried fruit after training to refuel glycogen stores and aid muscle repair. Choose unsalted varieties where possible; salted nuts encourage overeating.

11: Rice cakes with peanut butter

Why they’re good:

■ Rice cakes provide high-GI (fast-absorbed) carbohydrate so, on their own, are good for boosting blood sugar levels immediately after training.

■ Adding peanut butter (low GI) makes this snack even more effective for glycogen refuelling because you mix carbohydrate, protein and fat – which slows down the absorption of carbohydrates, lowers the GI and gives longer-lasting energy. It also tastes good!

■ Peanut butter contains protein, fibre, heart-healthy monounsaturated oils and vitamin E.

■ Also try rice cakes with avocado or guacamole (avocado dip), hummus (chickpea dip), cheese or low-fat soft cheese for a nutritious snack.

■ Spread rice cakes with jam for a high-GI snack, for example, immediately after training, but don’t eat too many otherwise the glycaemic load (GL) may be too high (see pages 7–8).

When they’re good:

■ As a quick nutritious snack.

■ Good for eating 30 minutes before training or immediately afterwards for a blood-sugar boost and rapid glycogen replenishment.

■ Don’t overdo the peanut butter because of its fat content – limit yourself to about 3 tablespoons a day.

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12: Salmon

Why it’s good:

■ Like other oily fish, salmon is a rich source of protein, vitamin A (needed for healthy eyes, skin and hair), vitamin D (needed to form strong bones and teeth) and the long-chain omega-3 fatty acids – eicosapentanoic acid (EPA) and docosahexanoic acid (DHA). It’s also a good source of copper, zinc, vitamin E and selenium.

■ Omega-3 fats reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke, lower blood fat levels and reduce the stickiness of platelets in the blood. The Multiple Risk Factor Intervention Trial, carried out in the USA, found that people who ate modest amounts of oily fish had a 40 per cent lower risk of death compared with other diets. Another study at the Harvard School of Public Health in the USA found that those who ate five or more servings of fish a week had one-third the risk of having a stroke compared to those who ate fish once a month or less.

■ Omega-3 fats can alleviate inflammatory conditions, such as rheumatoid arthritis and joint stiffness or pain after hard exercise. They may also benefit your aerobic workouts by promoting better oxygen delivery to your muscles, reducing blood viscosity and make red blood cell membranes more flexible.

When it’s good:

■ Try to eat at least one portion (140 g) of salmon or other oily fish a week. Try herrings, sardines, fresh tuna, trout, pilchards and mackerel.

■ Choose wild salmon to minimise any potential risk from dioxins and PCBs. Look for the words ‘wild pacific’ or ‘Alaska’ on fresh and frozen fillets or ‘Alaska salmon’ on the lid of tinned salmon.

13: Dark chocolate

Why it’s good:

■ Dark chocolate (with 70 per cent cocoa solids) contains useful amounts of magnesium, copper and iron as well as antioxidant flavanoids.

■ Tests at Kings College in London have shown that dark chocolate has the same antioxidant activity as fruit and vegetables.

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■ _{Research at the University of California found that the flavanoids in dark}

chocolate may lower heart disease risk, and a 2006 Dutch study showed that dark chocolate might also lower blood pressure.

■ _{These benefits only apply to dark chocolate, not milk chocolate, which}

contains less than half the levels of flavanoids found in dark chocolate. Also, adding milk to chocolate or even drinking a glass of milk at the same time as eating dark chocolate dilutes their effect severely. A study at the University of Glasgow found that dark chocolate boosted levels of antioxidants in the bloodstream by 20 per cent for 4 hours but milk chocolate or dark chocolate eaten with a glass of milk did not.

■ _{Check the label for ‘vegetable fat’. Many popular brands of chocolate made}

in the UK contain it – it is hydrogenated fat, a source of trans fats (see pages 13–14) which are linked to heart disease.

■ _{Opt for plain chocolate rather than ‘filled chocolate’ bars containing}

caramel or nougat. An average ‘filled’ bar contains up to 18 per cent saturated fat.