Top Must-Avoid Foods for Cross Training Athletes

Top performing athletes understand pretty well that nutrition is important if they are to gain a competitive edge over their peers. Through proper and well-planned nutrition, athletes can meet their goals whatever they are. In the 80/20 diet rule, it’s said that body fitness and optimal health is 80% what you eat and 20% exercise. This rubber stamps the importance of diet not only in sports performance but also in our lives as a whole. That said, there are certain foods you should as an athlete. This is because they derail your CrossFit workout performance and set you back. Among these foods include:

Diet Soda

Diet soda contains artificial sweeteners which have no health benefits to the body. A study was done by Purdue University revealed that consuming artificial sweeteners through drinks such as diet soda can expose your body to health risks and weight gain. Also, these sweeteners are more or less like tricksters to the body because they trick it into thinking that you have taken lots of food thus making it produce insulin for fat storage.

Canned Soup

The convenience that comes with canned soup makes it a favorite of most people including athletes. However, the bad news is these soups are highly processed and loaded with sodium which takes a toll on your health. Even though the body needs sodium to function well, excessive intake of this mineral through canned soups can have a severe effect on your blood pressure levels. You can opt for homemade soups instead.

Rice Cakes

Despite the long-held belief that rice cakes are good for snacking, nutritionally speaking, they are empty. These little crunchy snacks will severely affect your blood pressure, and their low-calorie count doesn’t even help in giving you the much-needed energy to fuel your workouts. The glycemic index of rice cakes is 91 which is closer to that of pure glucose which is 100. Foods that are high in glycemic index put your body at risk of developing insulin resistance type 2 diabetes and elevated sugar levels.

Sugary Cereals

Athletes may be active, but that doesn’t give them the leeway to consume sugary foods including sugary cereals. This is because including these foods in your CrossFit diet spikes insulin levels which in turn prime your body to store more fat. This stresses the body and lowers your overall performance. Intake of sugary cereals raises your blood sugar levels which fall afterward making your body yearn for more sugary foods thereby snowballing your health into a much bigger and unmanageable crisis.

White Bread

White bread may be popular, but its nutritional content is wanting. This is because the white flour used in making the bread is stripped off its nutrients including fiber, essential Vitamin B, and wheat germ. This leaves behind a processed food product which raises insulin levels when consumed. This is dangerous for an athlete because the dips in energy and the weight gain contributed by white bread can severely affect your CrossFit training schedule.

Other foods athletes should put on their must-avoid list include microwave popcorn, granola, alcohol, nutrition bars, pasta, bottled salad dressing, packed deli meat, and pretzels. Instead of craving for these foods, they should look for their healthy alternatives.