As we mentioned in the introduction, the energy approach is only one aspect of nutrition. Eating is primarily about meeting a demand. The body asks, through the sensation of hunger, to obtain nutrients. Meeting these needs means responding quantitatively and qualitatively. It means providing the necessary caloric intake to meet energy needs and provide all the essential elements for various metabolic processes. These nutrients, which do not provide any energy, but are essential for life, are micronutrients. Vitamins, minerals, and trace elements form a heterogeneous group of nutrients that the body may or may not synthesize or store. Vitamin B, C, E, iron, zinc, calcium, potassium… These are all elements that must be obtained from food. We will not detail the sources and functions of each micronutrient, but the majority of micronutrients are found in the plant kingdom.
Thus, the construction of a plate, a meal, or a sports menu must be underpinned by the search for nutritional density. That is, designed with foods high in micronutrients. These are not necessarily the ones we think of.
Let's take calcium as an example. Calcium is essential for good bone health. And when we talk about bones and calcium, we think about dairy products. However, dairy products don't necessarily have the benefits we attribute to them. Could they be the best source of calcium? A priori, no. The subject is vast and complex, but the calcium intake available to the body is not necessarily directly linked to the amount of calcium contained in a food. In fact, calcium availability depends on various factors such as: consumption of vitamin D, potassium, excess or not of animal protein, sodium... The quality of calcium intake is not linear; it's more like a scale whose balance is precarious, and despite appearances, in this balance, dairy products are not necessarily the most competitive. To determine if they are part of the nutritional recommendations for athletes, we must consider their acidifying potential and their digestibility. The PRAL index of milk and cheese ranges from 0.7 to over 30 (for processed cheeses). Again, for athletes, we are trying to lower the body's oxidative stress levels as much as possible, and these foods do not help in this direction.
The digestibility of dairy products also poses a problem. Indeed, the carbohydrate in milk, lactose, is difficult to digest. Lactose is digested by an enzyme: lactase. This enzyme, produced naturally during childhood, allows us, as mammals, to digest breast milk. Logically, like any mammal after weaning, the synthesis of this enzyme decreases and should be accompanied by a decrease in milk consumption. In most cases, this enzyme is no longer expressed in adulthood.
At the digestive level, the regular and massive influx of indigestible lactose can cause various reactions, particularly immune reactions. Here, it is important to distinguish between an inability to properly digest dairy products and a strict allergy, which is a known and detectable condition. Regular consumption of dairy products is, in any case, not as straightforward as one might think.
The subject raises a lot of questions and is often a hot topic. As with all things, it's important to maintain a sense of balance, but it seems that the nutritional advice of the food pyramid, which suggests dairy products at every meal, for everyone, every day, is no longer entirely relevant. For example, the Harvard School of Public Health, with its "Healthy Eating Plate" nutritional recommendation program, recently declared that dairy products were no longer part of a healthy and balanced diet. They also recommend cabbage, spinach, almonds, and dried beans as the best sources of calcium.
You'll understand that the subject is complex and the stakes are high. As part of a diversified and nutrient-dense diet, we recommend limiting the consumption of dairy products, relegated to the rank of "pleasure foods," which should be consumed in moderation.
It is essential to meet micronutrient needs and to do this you must be an active participant in the construction of your plate. Modern diets, with their cultivation methods and health constraints, have become impoverished and can, as we have seen in the case of omega 3, lead to deficiencies. However, we should not be tempted by automatic supplementation with synthetic nutrients. They do not have the same biological value. For example, in a 1998 study, Burton GW et al. showed us that synthetic vitamin E is half as well assimilated by the body as natural vitamin E (Burton GW, et al. Hmm
Human plasma and tissue alpha-tocopherol concentrations in response to supplementation with deuterated natural and synthetic vitamin E
Am J Clin Nutr 1998; 67: 669-84*).
It is therefore important to ensure that athletes have a diet rich in micronutrients of good biological value and natural origin. In this sense, we recommend adopting a nutritional diversification strategy. By offering our bodies as many sources of micronutrients as possible, we give them the best possible chance of receiving what they need.
You can find our Cooknrun energy bars right here: https://www.cooknrun.com/collections/barres-energetiques-et-packs
Tags: Micronutrients, Micronutrients
