Basic Nutrition for Endurance Athletes, Part 3: Foods to Boost your Fitness, Putting it All Together

Now that we’ve discussed what nutrients are, macro and micro, we can start to put it into practice with foods! Below is a list of nutrient-dense foods which are rich in micronutrients and also high quality macronutrients. Nutrient density is a term used often in dietetics which describes foods which have  a high quantity of micronutrients per calorie of food. For example, 1 calorie worth of spinach is jam-packed with potassium, vitamin B6 and B9, vitamin C, magnesium, iron, and calcium. Foods which are considered to be energy-dense have less micronutrients per 1 calorie of food. For example, 1 calorie of a cupcake will have very few vitamins and minerals. It is best to fill your food choices with nutrient dense foods and limit energy dense foods, or at least time them appropriately which we will discuss in further blog posts. 

Anyway you slice it, incorporating these nutrient-dense foods are essential to building a strong foundation in which more advanced performance-based nutrition strategies are built off of. 

Print this list off and put it on your fridge, take a screenshot and make it the background of your phone, memorize it!