Nutrition and Supplements
and other things I focus on to keep me performing at my best (read to the end)
Nutrition, Supplements and Wellness
Nutrition optimization, much like exercise, depends a little bit on what your goals are. My current goals are to fuel my body to be as strong and healthy as possible for skiing while also focusing on optimizing recovery, mood, and brain function.
People ask me quite frequently about what my diet is like and if there are things that are ‘off limits’ for ski racers. I usually answer no (with the exception of alcohol in season for me personally), but the truth is that I focus more on what I’m trying to include in my diet more than what is off limits. In general, I prioritize adequate protein consumption, proper fueling and refueling pre, during and post workout, and making sure I’m getting my superfoods, greens, legumes, beans, berries, seeds, nuts and other widely accepted healthy foods.
I want to note that I am super, super fortunate to have grown up in a household that has pretty much always eaten very fresh, nutritional meals, so my diet is naturally pretty clean. THANK YOU MOM! But there are still things I’ve learned and changed in my nutrition and supplement routines as I’ve become more curious and informed on what’s best for my body and WHY :)
Protein is super important! I think most people know this, but it really can’t be overstated. If you’re trying to build or maintain muscle mass (which is super important as we age) you need to be getting lots of protein. Athletes are recommended to eat the same amount of grams of protein as their bodyweight in lbs. That’s a lot of protein!
Another thing I have been focusing on more recently, is timing of meals and when I’m eating what. For example, sugar on an empty stomach will spike your glucose way more than sugar after a meal.
Finally, something I’ve noticed having a bigger impact as I get older is fueling properly for recovery post workout. When I was younger, I could workout all day, not drink water, eat, or not eat, whenever I wanted and not feel a difference. But these days, I can tell when my body is dehydrated or missing nutrients and not able to recover as quickly. Noticing this has been influential in me reading more and more on fueling and supplementation for athletes. Supplements in particular are super interesting to me as I have started to learn more about how our energy systems work in conjunction with my workout programming (I also tutored AP Bio this past year which increased my curiosity). To learn how to get stronger, I needed to understand how our bodies work, and once I understood that better, I learned about the different ways supplements have the potential to aid in all of our different systems (anaerobic (ATP and Glycolytic), aerobic, metabolic etc.)
It was about this time last year that I really started to dive deeper into fueling and I also started my sponsorship with The Feed, which is an online store for all your sports fueling and supplement needs! The owner of The Feed, Matt Johnson, is also a great friend and mentor and had previously helped me solve some parasite related gut issues a year prior (have tons to say on this if anyone is struggling), and this was also part of the impetus for learning more about what’s going on inside me :)
I’ve learned so much about sports nutrition and fueling since I’ve started working with The Feed and luckily I get a lot of credit on their website as part of my sponsorship, so I am able to splurge on the supplement front. A couple things that have made a big difference for me are:
Beta Alanine: Probably the most noticeable supplement I take for skiing. It helps prevent lactic acid build up and I can now run an entire downhill course without feeling ‘the burn’ in my legs, whereas two seasons ago I would feel the lactic acid about 3/4 of the way down the course (this has massive impact!). While this might also be due to better training and stronger muscles, I truly think the Beta Alanine makes a huge difference and it is one of the most studied supplements on the market. It works by binding with histidine in both the brain and the muscles, which enhances carnosine levels in the body by up to 80%. By increasing carnosine levels, beta-alanine can prevent the acid build-up that contributes to fatigue when training. There is a load and peak period so I probably would only recommend this for people training for a certain competition.
Creatine: Creatine is an amino acid which regenerates ATP supplies during exercise, delays neuromuscular fatigue, and increases phosphocreatine supplies after exercise, which helps build muscle strength and power. ATP fuels the functions of almost every cell in the body so creatine is actually quite beneficial for many reasons. A lot of recent studies demonstrate huge benefits in mood and depression with creatine supplementation. It’s particularly beneficial for women to take creatine because our bodies need more creatine (ATP) to help with hormone-mediated neurotransmitter changes related to menstruation. This article talks a lot more in depth on the benefits of creatine supplementation for women. The most common ‘side effect’ or concern for taking creatine is increased water weight, but this only happens when (historically powerlifters) took huge amounts at a time, but if you take 3-5 grams daily most people will see zero negative side effects (including the increased water weight). Creatine is also one of the most studied and supported supplements on the market, and I would highly recommend it for everyone, especially women.
Collagen: This one is very ‘trendy’, but can be super impactful for joint and tissue health (especially in female athletes :)). It is super important to have really high quality collagen that has Type I (for soft tissue repair and reducing inflammation) and Type II (for protein and joint pain), and to make sure your collagen is high quality. As an athlete, you need the collagen protein strands to be a specific length in order for them to enter into your body and promote soft tissue repair. Most collagens on the market are not high quality (or just untested) so they are really just an expensive protein power.
Magnesium: Magnesium plays a role in so many important functions in our bodies and I think everyone should be trying to get more magnesium: preferably naturally (its in all the healthy things of course: leafy greens, spinach, beans, nuts, dark chocolate!) or in supplement form. Because magnesium is a mineral you might get an upset stomach if you take about the recommended daily dose of 350 mg. Studies have found that magnesium in the aspartate, citrate, lactate, and chloride forms is absorbed more completely and is more bioavailable than magnesium oxide and magnesium sulfate. It is also my new favorite supplement because it has had the biggest trackable impact on my sleep. If I take this before bed I get noticeably higher HRV and more minutes of Deep Sleep compared to when I don’t take it.
Recovery Drink/Snack after workout: This one also seems like a no brainer, but getting more exact with what and when you’re eating around workouts has helped me prevent soreness and accelerate muscle recovery time, which essentially just means I can train harder more often. The primary goal of post-workout fueling is to get amino acids back into your muscles which means eating protein and carbohydrates (the ratio of protein to carbohydrates depends on the type of sport you're doing). It’s also important to try to east anti inflammatory foods after workouts to help increase muscle recovery (tumeric, omega-3’s, green tea, etc.)
Other important supplements I try to take regularly for general health: Vitamin D, Omega-3, Turmeric.
I know this seems like a lot, (and it definitely is), but I really enjoy learning and acting on these things. It also makes me feel good to know that I’m doing everything I can to help my body perform the best it possibly can on the race slopes. I’ve talked a lot about confidence and race day mentality and how important it is for me to be in the start gate and look back on the hard work and feel like I did everything I could, and supplements have become one of the things that add to my confidence. Also, the placebo effect is incredibly strong! So even if taking all these supplements are net neutral, I think I’m still benefitting in confidence and placebo :)
Finally, I wanted to mention again that I think the most important thing is being intentional with what your goals are and how you’re going to get there. I also think that when we’re intentional with what we want, we take the time and thought to learn more about something. There’s a big difference in the absence of information or knowledge versus the inability to act or execute on that knowledge. For me the goal has been to learn as much as possible and then make intentional decisions based on that information. For example, I know that refined sugar is bad for me. If I truly wanted to be as physically healthy as possible, I wouldn’t eat any refined sugar. But it brings me a lot of happiness mentally, so, I’ve chosen to continue to eat it, but in limited ways that I feel comfortable with ie. after dinner.
I don’t think it’s ever possible to optimize on all fronts (in all aspects of life) - so every athlete, every person needs to make those decisions for themself on what to prioritize and what to sacrifice. I will say that I am a huge advocate for making as informed decisions as possible, although I do acknowledge that some people prefer to live in ignorance, which is also by essence, perhaps, their decision :)
(I ran an instagram poll once that asked in naivety is a choice and most people thought it was, which did surprise me a bit.)