MEDIA RELEASE – Fuelling frontline healthcare employees with sports activities diet methods
A crucial facet of managing the COVID-19 pandemic is that healthcare employees prioritise their very own well being in order that they will successfully handle others. Along with the very important Private Protecting Gear (PPE) they require, it additionally consists of being adequately fuelled and hydrated to make selections in excessive stress conditions, much like an athlete on a sporting subject, however with much more at stake. Utilizing sports activities diet methods is an extremely efficient method to do that!
Whereas some sports activities dietitians may not be as busy proper now with our AFL, NRL or different elite athletes, our President and Superior Sports activities Dietitian Simone Austin, is giving her time and diet recommendation to assist our emergency care employees. “They should be consuming and consuming, taking care of their well being, to carry out at their finest, identical to the athlete’s we work with do”.
“It’s like coaching for a marathon, these employees have a protracted journey, probably months nonetheless forward. They should get well after shifts, usually having been on their ft for lengthy intervals of time. It is rather like an athlete must get well after a coaching session, to allow them to get able to go once more”.
We all know the position food plan can play in enhancing sports activities efficiency (1), equivalent to spreading protein all through the day, maintaining glycogen shops topped up and staying effectively hydrated; all aimed to carry out at one’s finest repeatedly. That is what we’re asking lots of our emergency healthcare employees to do.
A food plan together with wholegrain carbohydrate for gasoline, protein for restore, wholesome fat and naturally loads of greens, fruit and nuts for the nutritional vitamins and minerals is what each working physique must keep away from going into disrepair. That is additionally crucial for the well being and efficiency of our emergency employees.
Usually meals will probably be missed resulting from restricted time and busy schedules, making the standard of our snack meals much more essential. Wholesome snacks are very important and infrequently the a part of our food plan that we put the least quantity of effort into, grabbing extremely processed, simple to entry snack meals from a merchandising machine late at night time.
An intensive care nurse from one in every of Melbourne’s frontline hospitals reached out for some recommendation round what snack meals would assist them with this marathon forward. Simone Austin says, ‘make some snacks mini meals as meals we make at mealtimes are normally extra deliberate and nutritious.
You might have:
- a bowl of soup with toast,
- half or a complete sandwich
- microwave scrambled eggs with some veggies thrown in
- left over dinner from the night time earlier than
- bowl of porridge
It would imply a bigger serve of lunch and splitting it into two half lunch serves, changing the snacks altogether’
An instance day might be: 6am breakfast, 10am first lunch, 2pm second lunch, 6pm dinner, 8pm snack and swap occasions round if on night time shift.
However when you like your snack occasions then Simone suggests selecting much less packaged meals and grabbing:
- a handful or two of nuts
- a bathtub of yoghurt
- fruit (recent, dried or canned) e.g. a punnet of berries to snack on
- corn on the cob
- raisin toast with banana and a glass of milk (or latte)
- Can of fish, crackers and cherry tomatoes
Retaining hydrated can also be important for focus. Refill a water bottle for to and from work and don’t ignore your thirst, it’s telling your physique you want extra water. The occasional espresso I’m certain would even be loved!
To everybody on the market, nourishing your physique will nourish you bodily and mentally and all of us want that now!
Useful resource: click on right here to obtain Factsheet PDF
References:
ENDS
Contact info:
Marie Walters, Government Officer, Sports activities Dietitians Australia, marie@sportsdietitians.com.au, mob 0416 188 246
