Re: People diet for endurance (long reply)

["Robyn Levash" <questarabians@inreach.com>]

<<<I suffer from extremely low blood pressure and my blood sugar can be
normal one minute and drop like a boulder down a ravine the very next.>>>

I had the same problem, among other problems. Here's what has worked for me:
I've eliminated all dairy products, oils, and animal products from my diet,
and have turned toward a plant based diet for about a year now. I have tons
more energy, more staying power, and do not get nearly as tired as I used
to. My every day career is building houses. It is long exhausting hours so I
cannot afford to be tired.  I also reserve a few hours of the day to ride,
and play with the horses (this keeps my sanity). Endurance rides are my
funtime/ vacation ( I know not exactly relaxing is it?) Just did a tough 50
mile ride yesterday , and felt consistently great the whole way threw. I
used to feel like crap a lot of times at the lunch stop when I ate the way I
ate before. A lot of people worry about not getting enough protein, calcium,
ect. when on a plant based diet. It is important to eat a variety of foods.
Just like it is ideal for horses to eat a variety of plant sources. Fruits
and vegetables are loaded with vitamins and minerals. Beans, nuts, and dark
leafy vegetables are loaded with calcium. Yes milk is loaded with calcium
too, but it is also loaded with calories and cholestrol. Just think of
horses and cows. They get everything they need nutrional wise from plant
sources. They get all the calcium they need to support their large bone
structures from plant sources alone. Just like too much calcium and protein
is not good for them, it is not good for us. The typical American diet is
rich in fat (calories), calcium, protein, and artery clogging cholesterol.
What is also interesting is that foods from animal sources  are high in
cholesterol . . plant sources have NO cholesterol.

I just had a blood panel done about six weeks ago, and it came back very
good. My protein and calcium levels were right smack in the middle of the
required ranges. My cholestrol level was on the lowest range.

 What I try to also stay away from on ride day is excessive sugar, as it
will make me feel draggy. I drink water with no elytes. I eat  a lot and
frequently,  like every 2-3 hours. At rides I tend to eat alot of fruit,
vegetables, salad, pasta, vegetable soups, I make a garbanzo bean salad
spread for sandwiches (this is great for the lunch stop). I eat oatmeal with
bananas and rice milk with a little brown sugar in the morning of the ride
(actually every day). Oatmeal is filling and keeps me going through out the
day --- there is a BIG difference when I don't eat it in the morning.  I eat
a variety of foods, and have found several delicious recipes to eat like the
good stuff --- pizza, burritos, Mexican foods, Chinese foods, soups, vegan
burgers ect.. This was my biggest challenge at first because there was no
way I could live on salads alone --- I would starve to death! I was very
surprised to find that there are actually many great healthy food alternates
that IMO taste better than the things I used to eat like non-dairy ice
cream,  Boca Burgers, Rice milk ( I personally don't care for Soy Milk),
ect. I really had no idea the great tasting healthy alternatives that are
out there. Yes, it was tough for me to adapt to this plant based diet at
first, but believe it or not your taste buds do change. Also, the more you
learn, and the better you start to immediately feel --- the results speak
for themselves. The foods that used to make me feel bad (or didn't know made
me feel bad until my body was detoxed)  became no longer tempting anymore. I
have done experiments, and have found that if I try to go back to eating
what I used to eat, 95% of the time,  I feel horrible, or get royally sick.
I completely believe that it's true " We are what we eat."
Another great thing is that the grocery bill is considerably less. Yes, some
health foods, and healthy alternatives are expensive, but if you make your
own meals for the most part then you'll find you get a lot of food for the
money:)
If you'd like to learn more,  I highly recommend  reading Dr. John Mc
Dougall  books. He has a few   National Best Seller books that are available
in any bookstore. They are very enjoyable to read, and make a lot of sense.
What I like is that he provides scientific research/ data for what he
says --- it's not like a lot of these fad diets out there that are based
purely on opinion and fluff.

Yeah, I also find it funny now that most of us spend so much time and
concern learning about how to optimize our horse's diet and performance, but
we tend to forget about learning how to optimize our own health and
performance. To tell you he truth,  I never really thought twice or even
cared about my diet until I started getting a health problem that gave me a
huge "wake up call."
Well, this is just what has worked for me.
You all take care and happiest of trails,
Robyn
---- Original Message -----
From: Carolyn Burgess <carolyn_burgess@hotmail.com>
To: <Ksmuts@sarcc.co.za>; <ridecamp@endurance.net>
Sent: Friday, September 21, 2001 6:57 AM
Subject: RC: People diet for endurance (long reply)


> <<<I suffer from extremely low blood pressure and my blood sugar can be
> normal one minute and drop like a boulder down a ravine the very next.>>>
>
> Kristene:
>
> I have asked this same question, and have gotten minimal response.  It
> appears that most endurance riders don't care about their own bodies as
much
> as they care about the horse.  My concern is that if I am not cared for,
how
> can I possibly care for my horse.  I have the same problem that you do,
and
> I've found that carbo loading is not the way to go.  My blood pressure
> hovers around 100/60, on a good day it is 110/70, and I also have blood
> sugar issues as well.
>
> To maintain good blood pressure, you will need to electrolyte and hydrate
> yourself.  That means a combo of water and electrolyte fluid, or in your
> diet, if possible (I can't do it by diet alone).  The best electrolyte I
> have found is Gatorade.  Powerade does not have as much electrolyte as
> Gatorade, but Gatorade really is not sufficient either, but it is the best
I
> have found so far.  I have been told about other electrolytes used by
> endurance athletes of other sports (super marathoners, triatheletes, etc.)
> but there electrolyte beverages have other stuff that I don't think you'd
> want. You need to be well hydrated all of the time, and especially before
a
> ride.  I like to drink 16 oz of fluid per hour, a mix of 3 bottles of
water
> to 1 bottle of Gatorade.  This means that I need to have someone at the
> holds to swap bottles.  I buy 16 or 24 oz bottles of water and Gatorade
and
> my Snugpax can hold these bottles in place of the Snugpax bottles.  At the
> hold, I pull the empties and replace with fulls.
>
> Food is another issue.  With low blood sugar issues, carbo loading can
make
> you worse not better, because there is no staying power, or slow release
> into the blood stream.  You get a big shot of sugar and then the plummet.
> To control blood sugar in our situation, you can give yourself a "shot" of
> sugar (should be a complex carbohydrate as straight sugar is not good for
> us) with a bagel or other carbo source, but follow with a vegetable
protien,
> that will slow release, like peanut butter (just ground peanuts, not
Skippy
> or Jif, which has sugar) which not only has complex carbohydrates, but has
> protien and fat.  You need all three elements to maintain blood sugar
> levels. Foods like beans, peanuts, sunflowers, are good.  Just make sure
> that if you eat something like orange juice, to give your blood sugar a
> shot, that you follow with something that will be releasing suguar to the
> blood as you come down off of the orange juice sugar high. Also, people
like
> us need to eat continuously in small meals, to maintain blood sugar.
>
> Even though I am not a diabetic, I tend to eat like one, with the
exception
> of the addition to complex carbohydrates to the diet.  I like food for
> dinner like: steak, chicken or fish, lots of vegetables like portobello
> mushrooms, zucchini, green beans, asparagus (low carbo veggies), I might
> have some corn on the cob or a baked potato with butter, and bread, and I
> would start hydrating with Gatorade and water at this time.  Breakfast the
> day of the ride would maybe be eggs or yogurt, some fruit like a banana.
I
> would take some kind of snack with me for the ride, like sunflower seeds,
> pumpkin seeds, and I would probably have a peanut butter sandwich for
lunch.
>
> I'd really like to hear if others have a better source of electrolytes for
> humans.  Gatorade only has sodium and potassium in it and I can get the
> equivalent by salting foods using either regular of light salt.
>
> Carolyn Burgess
>
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