In 1960 American Nutritionist Adelle Davis suggested that in order to live a balanced life one should “eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince, and dinner like a pauper”. Breakfast is known the be the most important meal of the day, and the name itself explains its importance, it is Break-Fast, within 30 minutes of waking up the body is like a sponge during this period of time is unprecedented to fuel the body with the correct nutrients and quantities for the athlete to be able to push harder when training.
If a good breakfast is not consumed the metabolism of the athletes will slow down and the body will be forced to find other sources of energy including breaking down muscles which is a slow and inefficient process to best fuel training.
This often leads to overconsuming at other times of the day and poor choices regarding snacking. The energy imbalance of a poor breakfast can lead to a negative impact on blood glucose levels, appetite, performance, and potentially weight gain.
It is also crucial to have multiple options for breakfast, especially during camp. If the same breakfast is offered every day, it could lead to a monotonous feeling, and potentially lead to overwhelming the athlete’s mental health.
Tim Spector, MD, medical doctor and professor of genetic epidemiology at King’s College in London states in the Well+Good Magazine that “In the short term, eating the same, nutrient-poor foods can lead to low energy, brain fog, and digestive problems. You’re also more likely to get sick because the immune system weakens. As for the long-term, eating this way has been scientifically linked to a long list of health problems including depression, Alzheimer’s disease, and certain forms of cancer. This is exactly why easy access to nutrient-rich foods is a critical public health issue.”
The staff at The Point interviewed a freshman athlete who will remain anonymous for privacy reasons regarding this matter.
“You know camp is hard it is not supposed to be easy, it is meant to push you, the biggest objective is to get you ready for the season, the days are long, full of hard work, and there is a lot on the body and many other things in your mind. Pputting you in a very stressful situation therefore it is important to fuel your body the correct way.”
What was the breakfast situation like during camp?
“Bagels, Peanut butter, and bananas for breakfast every single day of camp straight for 3 weeks, there were so many bagels that we would throw them away, and some folks would say things like, “I’m tired of bagels” or “I am all set with that” you know what I mean”
How different do you think your performance could have been if you had a better breakfast during camp?
“When you are active for an entire day I think it is very important to have breakfast, so when you are kind of getting some food deficiency in your system because seriously the majority of the people were sick and tired of eating the same thing every day, therefore athletes are not getting the important nutrients they need to perform at the level their coaches demand them to I could definitely say that there was the poor performance.”
