At Rude Health, we are committed to producing the highest quality, sustainably produced foods, to keep you feeling your best all day long. We only use the kind of ingredients you'd have in your own kitchen - nothing artificial, nothing refined. The importance of keeping our food whole is so important to us that we just can't stop talking about it.
Last month we invited a group of experts in the industry to our second EAT RIGHT Breakfast to discuss the misunderstanding around grains, gluten, fads and why it all matters. While everyone had a different opinion, one thing that united everyone was a commitment to better education and to encourage people to think harder about the foods they eat and the processing it goes through.
It is particularly important to consider the foods that you eat to support you during exercise and recovery after exercise. Many people are turning towards supplements packed full of unnatural, chemical ingredients and there is a lack of understanding around the negative effects that these can have on our health.
Who better to find out more about this issue from than Angelique Panagos, a leading London Nutritionist, speaker, writer, total foodie and health crusader. She specialises in the management of stress, hormones, digestion and weight. Angelique has "an immense passion for the healing power of food. The food we eat affects every cell in the body, making the difference between feeling ‘all right’ and feeling ‘great’."
We ask her a few questions about what to eat pre and post workout, our brand new Drinking Oats and her top tips for staying in Rude Health...
How important is it to eat
the right foods before and after exercise?
Diet significantly
influences athletic performance; different length of exercise requires
different nutrients and fuel from food.
Adopting specific nutritional strategies in what you eat and drink
beforehand produces a good performance, and what you eat and drink after
enhances recovery. You need to prep your body and keep it healthy to maximise
your mental and physical performance.
What are your ultimate pre
and post workout snacks?
Depending on the duration of
your training session, the closer you are to the start of your training
session, the smaller your meal should be so that it is digested by the time you
start to exercise in order for it to provide fuel for the exercise. Here your best options are:
- Fresh fruit, such as a
banana or apple with nut butter.
- Drinking Oats in coconut
water and a few nuts.
- The Pumpkin Bar
- Carbohydrate gel or isotonic
sports drink if you are exercising for 60 min and more. Always stay well hydrated!
Once your have finished
training, especially a session that is 60 min and longer, you then have a
window of 30-45 minutes after exercising where your blood is flowing to your
muscles and your cells are hungry for glycogen refuelling, here a mix of
protein and carbohydrates is best:
At Rude Health, we like our grains best
whole and unprocessed. Can you tell us more about the importance of whole
grains for our health?
Grains fall under the food
group carbohydrates which is one of the three main components of food.
Carbohydrates are the body’s main source of energy along with playing an
important role in stabilising the digestive system, mental focus, enabling the
body’s cellular communication and a good source of fibre and energy enhancing B
vitamins. The correct carbohydrates are essential for fuelling your muscles
before training, during training and particularly during high intensity or
endurance training.
Are all grains equal?
Carbohydrates are one of the
most misunderstood and incorrectly used food groups. There are two types of carbohydrates, simple
or high GI and complex or Low GI carbohydrates, also known as fast and slow
release respectively. The higher the GI, the higher the blood sugar levels
after eating that food. For example white pasta and white rice produce a rise
in blood sugar almost the same as eating pure glucose and this causes insulin
spikes and leads to tummy fat. Less refined starchy foods – porridge oats,
beans, lentils, muesli- as well as some fruit are lower on the glycaemic index.
They produce a much smaller rise in blood sugar compared with glucose and
therefore give you a more even energy supply. Any unused energy the body is
able to store as glycogen for later use.
Our brand new Drinking Oats
will dissolve into any cold drink such as orange juice, Almond Drink or coconut
water for a perfect pre or post workout snack or breakfast on the go. Why are
oats so great for providing a natural boost of energy?
Wholegrain, unprocessed oats
are high in energy enhancing and stress-lowering B vitamins which help
transform carbohydrates into usable energy. The process of breaking down
carbohydrates to energy requires a whole host of B vitamins, as well as vitamin
C, zinc, magnesium, iron, copper, selenium and CoQ10. Wholegrain, unprocessed
oats are also high in fibre making them low on the glycaemic index scale
therefore providing a steady stream of energy, as opposed to a quick spike and
drop in blood sugar levels from the energy that you would get from processed
and refined carbohydrates.
How will you use your
Drinking Oats?
I would dissolve them in
coconut water for additional electrolytes or add them to a smoothie either as
part of a mid-afternoon pick me up or after a training session.
What are your top tips for staying in Rude Health?
Eat a balance diet! Clearly
all the nutrients we need don't just come from one food group but from a
balanced combination of protein, carbohydrates and fats. Yes I said fats- don’t
be afraid of good fats, we need them!
Get back to basics, connect
with your food and find what works for you. The degree of biological variation
between individuals is too vast to guarantee that the same nutrition will have
the same effect for everyone.
Dump the processed white,
sweet and fluffy foods they are void of nutrients and cause more problems than
what the taste is worth.
Increase your fruit and
vegetables to at least 6 portions of vegetables and 1 fruit a day; you will be
amazed at the health benefits you will feel.
Stay well hydrated with pure
water, have 35ml water per kg of body weight spread out through the day.
What's your favourite Rude
Health food?
I have a few…
The Pumpkin Bar, Brown Rice
Thins, Puffed Brown Rice (for special occasions with berries and coconut milk),
Almond Drink, Coconut Drink, Drinking Oats.
Is there one food you
can't live without?
Almond butter - I eat it on
sliced apples, add it to smoothies or just by the spoonful.
What are your top tips for staying in Rude
Health?
