Find out what are the best foods that runners should eat to improve running performance.
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As runners, it's important to take care of our physical health, and that includes our gut health. It may come as no surprise, As runners, its important to take care of our physical health, and that includes our gut health. It may come as no surprise, but what we eat can affect our running performance, both positively and negatively.
So based on this, here is a list of foods we would recommend you to eat, as well as the benefits they bring not just for health, but also in terms of performance.
As much as some of us may dislike having oatmeal by itself, Oats are actually a great source of food for runners. Due to them being classified as a complex carbohydrate, despite their easy digestibility, they release their energy in a steady stream. This means that compared to other foods, when you eat oats, the risk of getting a sugar crash during or after your runs is at a minimum.
In fact, some popular combinations to accompany your boring bowl of oatmeal include bananas, berries, fruits and nuts if you’re trying to lose weight. If you’re trying to bulk, you can opt for more high calorie options like peanut butter, chocolate and other sweet or savoury options to spice up your bowl of oats.
Alternatively, you can also choose to consume your oats through other ways, such as cookies, biscuits and even oat-based noodles.
While red meats (beef, pork, lamb etc.) are high in protein, they take a longer time to digest and usually have a higher fat content compared to lean and white meats (chicken, fish, etc.). This means that they tend to result in higher chances of getting an upset stomach. In the case of leaner cuts of red meat, such as lean beef steak, we recommend having them as post-run meals since this allows runners to get a high amount of protein with a lower fat content.
We also highly recommend lean fish as a choice of meat for runners despite its fat content because lean fish contains what is classified as “good fat”. This “good fat” can help prevent heart disease as well as other common ailments that “bad fat” can cause, such as high blood pressure, diabetes and strokes to name a few.
It comes as no surprise, but your daily fruits and vegetables are important to you gut health as a runner. Whether its an apple a day or some carrots and spinach to add fibre to your diet, they serve many benefits. We recommend bananas, berries, oranges and spinach. Due to the potassium in spinach and bananas, they help to replenish the electrolytes we lose after our run. Both options are also easily digestible and provide a post run energy boost.
As for oranges and berries, due to their Vitamin-C content as well as high nutritional value, they can help reduce inflammation in the muscles post-run.
If you are looking to improve your running performance, try to include oats, lean meat and sufficient fruits and vegetables into your diet. This will give you a healthy balance of nutrients and proteins, while also getting your body prepared for your next few runs!
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So now that you know the different types of food that are best for runners, we encourage you to try and mix them into your pre and post run meals, as well as your everyday meals. Overall, this can give you a happier, healthier, more balanced lifestyle.If you’re interested in ways to help improve your runs and make training fun, you can check out our other articles, or sign up for our newsletter!
