Why Most Hockey Diets Fail
The most significant problem with counting calories or arbitrary ratios of macro-nutrients in the construction of a diet is that it defies all common and practical sense. While estimations are a good place to start, far too many athlete’s dieticians and nutritionists of all credentials fail to make progressive changes to the individual athlete’s unique bio-metabolic identity. Athlete’s are lumped into various categories such as those who need to lose weight or gain muscle and assumptions are made on eating intervals without giving consideration to how the athlete will truly demand those nutrients as he/she trains, prepares or engages in competitive activity.
Typically, the advice given is something such as “you need to eat every 2 hours and spread out your total estimated protein/fat/carb ratio at various times for each of these meals”. There will be certain times throughout any day for athletes and non-athletes for that matter that our unique bodies will require certain nutrients above and beyond others. Usually the demand for carbohydrates fits better earlier in the day and higher ratios of protein after activity are essential. Some, of course, do better with certain ratios of macro-nutrients than others such as in the case of metabolic typing. What is seen frequently in this case is that the focus becomes giving someone the “right” ratio of carbs and what goes overlooked is the significant demand an athlete has for protein. To me, this is the biggest error I’ve see with the inflexibility of most “out-of-the-box” diets.
It is imperative for athlete’s to make consistent adjustments to their diet to identify what works for them until they have a complete understanding of how their body responds to the food they consume and the plan they are following during their recovery process. If I’ve learned any one thing it is that this will be 100% different for every athlete. What these needs are and supplying them in a dynamic lifestyle is another tremendous consideration. Proper nutritional intake simply will not happen without adequate planning and preparation.
Macro-nutrients are only one part of the equation. Most athletes are and will generally be under-nourished on a micro-nutrient level. The issue here is that there is not a strong enough emphasis placed on this. It is more or less assumed by nutritionists and athletes alike that micro-nutrient sufficiency will occur if caloric consumption is adequate. Unfortunately, the results and data demonstrate this is not the case. Athlete or not, nobody will function and recover with micro-nutrient deficiencies. With a concentration on the right nutrient-dense foods rather than focusing of calories first, the athlete should be able to meet both micro and macro-nutrient needs as well as have the energy they will require. When this happens, the athlete will be putting themselves in an optimal position to recover from the demands of activity.
It is my opinion that athletes need a better strategy and set of resources to help them easily identify their personalized nutritional needs scaleable to any demand and any level of competition.
