5 4 3
duringand24to72-hoursaftertheworkoutcombinedthan 25to30-minutesofmoderatecardio.
SPORTS DRINKS ARE GOOD FOR HYDRATION AND REPLACING ELECTROLYTES
Nearly all of those bright colored sports drinks are loaded with sugar and table salt. Carbohydrates are needed for energy and the high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) offered in some drinks is probably the worst carb you can take in.
I won’t go into great detail here. HFCS is very cheap to buy and fattens company’s wallets while fattening many waistlines at the same time. Refined sugar hides under many names to make it sound fancier: fruct ose , gluc ose , dextr ose , malt ose , lact ose and sucr ose to name some. Most sports drinks are loaded with some kind of “ ose ”. Drink with caution, it probably will do more dehydrating than hydrating and cause the need to keep drinking them. You’ll never be truly hydrated from these.
The electrolytes offered in most drinks are very small. The five big electrolytes are sodium, chloride, magnesium, potassium and calcium. Let’s concentrate on salt and potassium. Sodium is cheap to buy and well known, so it’s the most used and in greatest amount. Then there’s potassium, and most drinks have around 30-mg per 8-ounces. A small handful of almonds will offer way more potassium AND magnesium than that. If you’re not superstitious, one quarter of a banana will give you more potassium than a 32-ounce sports drink. And the sugar from the banana is a lot more healthy too. Apples are another great potassium source. If having fresh fruit in the boat is difficult-a bag of dried fruits will do the trick. You will get excellent high quality carbs and electrolytes. For sodium and chloride, I add a pinch or two of unrefined sea salt to my water.
The sports drink companies also add B vitamins “for energy”. The amount and quality of these vitamins really don’t make any difference at all. It just sounds good and looks better on labels. Take a B complex and save some money. The new lower calorie drinks are watered versions of the original. You pay the same money for
fewer ingredients and more water. There is nothing on the market that can hydrate you better than pure water. Up until a decade ago, there was little money in bottle water. Then the bottled water industry exploded.
BOTTLE WATER IS BETTER THAN TAP WATER
Funny thing is that tap water is regulated more than bottled water. Most bottled stuff is filtered tap water from public sources. Bottle water companies are free do to a lot. Some are from great sources and you can taste the difference. Most are marketing, with things like “added electrolytes”. That means they put some salt in the water. Electrolytes are easy to get from unrefined sea salt and fresh fruit and veggies. Running tap water through a home filter is good enough. I usually keep a gallon in the boat while fishing, and add the electrolytes myself with sea salt. I’ll save the extra money for tournament entry fees.
IF IT SAYS “NATURAL” ON THE LABEL, IT MUST BE GOOD
Lead is natural; but I would rather keep it in my jig heads and drop shot weights than mixed into my pasta. It is an easy marketing tool that food companies use to make their products seem better and healthier when they use the word “natural”. Maybe it’s better; maybe it’s not. It is not guaranteed and the FDA is not checking. While searching through the FDA website, I found their stand on companies using the word natural in their labeling: “…FDA has not developed a definition for use of the term natural or its derivatives.” Well, saying there are unnatural ingredients in a product would be a poor business move. Even though there are many. The word natural does not guarantee that it’s healthy and usually raises a red flag for me. Read the ingredients, if you cannot pronounce it, I wouldn’t eat it.
Troy Linder is available for more questions regarding nutrition, hydration and weight loss. He can be contacted at his website www.fit4fishing.com or his email info@fit4fishing.com
Fit 4 Fishing is provided for general information only and should not be treated as a substitute for professional supervision or advice. Consult your physician or health care professional before performing any new exercise or exercise program, particularly if you are pregnant or nursing, or if you are elderly, or if you have any chronic or recurring conditions. Any application of the exercises, ideas, and suggestions in this booklet is at the reader’s sole discretion and risk. The author and publisher cannot be held responsible for any injuries which may occur as a result of these exercises. Exercise is not without its risks and this or any other exercise program may result in injury. The instruction and advice presented are in no way intended as a substitute for medical consultation. The instructor disclaims any liability from and in connection with this program. As with any exercise program, if at any point during your workout you begin to feel faint, dizzy, or have physical discomfort, you should stop immediately and consult a physician. The author and publisher of this document and their employers make no warranty of any kind in regard to the content of this document, including, but not limited to, any implied warranties of merchantability, or fitness for any particular purpose. The author and publisher of this document and their employers are not liable or responsible to any person or entity for any errors contained in this document, or for any special, incidental, or consequential damage caused or alleged to be caused directly or indirectly by the information contained in this document.
ISSUE 1 February 2012
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