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 Game Day Diet |
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GAME DAY DIETARY IDEAS
FOODS TO AVOID ON GAME DAY:
-Red meat (in any presentation), dairy, fried foods, potato chips and other greasy snacks and processed sugar/sweet snacks - All of these can cause kids to feel sluggish, sick, or cause cramps if eaten prior to rigorous exercise.
-Candy, sodas and tea (iced or hot) - Candy has loads of processed sugar. Sodas and tea contain caffeine, which is a diuretic and promotes water loss. The carbonation in sodas can also cause gas and discomfort.
Broccoli, cauliflower, cucumbers, red cabbage and tomatoes - Although vegetables are generally good on game day, these vegetables can cause gas and discomfort, especially if eaten before rigorous exercise.
BEST BETS FOR GAME DAY:
Best bets for the day of the tournament: fresh fruit, vegetables (except those listed above), baked or broiled chicken or turkey, and small amounts of bread or cereal. White cheese is also okay. For dinner the night before the tournament, lots of carbohydrates would work well. This is the night for the big pasta dinner with garlic bread!
A great game-day snack is a special high-carb snack mix. Just combine dry Rice and Corn Chex cereal, raisins, Craisins (dried cranberries), unsalted mixed nuts and a plain M&M candies (not too much). Yes, the M&M candies do have processed sugar, but it is offset by the high carbohydrate content of the other ingredients.
If your player has a “good-luck” game-day food which does not fall into this category, don’t withhold it completely. Instead, allow it small amounts.
A FEW WORDS ON SPORTS DRINKS:
Sports drinks are very popular, but they, too, can cause problems on game day. The amount of sugars, minerals and carbohydrate concentration in these drinks varies widely, and sometimes they can cause very bad cramping if ingested at full strength during rigorous activity. This is usually because the body is not used to having such a concentration thrown at it all at once. They are generally better handled by the body if they are consumed on a regular or semi-regular basis…and not just during and after sports activities. However, If cut with water to half-strength, most sports drinks are okay. Water is still the best bet for in-game consumption.
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