Foods to Avoid

Because athletic teens exercise so much, they need a healthy and balanced diet. They should try to avoid foods high in trans and saturated fat, salt, caffeine, and high glycemic or sugary foods.

Trans/Saturated Fats:

- increases risk of heart disease (clogs arteries)

- increases "bad" cholesterol

Not only does saturated and trans fat cause you to have long-term problems, but they also cause an athlete to be drained of energy and lethargic. Saturated fats have no real value in your body when burned as energy, and if that's all you eat you won't be able to exercise At your full potential. Saturated fat is found mostly in animal products and trans fat is found mostly in manmade products.

fat

Too Much Salt

- develops high blood pressure

- develops heart disease

- develops edema and kidney stones

When you eat too much salt, it can affect your body negatively. Consuming too much salt also causes you to need more potassium to balance out the salt you have eaten. The average american eats twice as much salt than the recommended portion because of overly seasoned and packaged food. Salt is also said to cause dehydration if you consume it in large enough quantities.

salt

Caffeine

Caffeine has no known long lasting negative effects, but it is not healthy for an active person to consume too much of it. "Caffeine is a diuretic, meaning it cause a person to urinate (pee) more." This means that if an athlete consumes too much caffeine it can cause them to get dehydrated from peeing out all of their liquids. Caffeine also causes an athlete to become "jittery" or jumpy and makes them lose sleep. It is best to just stay away from caffeine altogether. It is found mostly in coffee and chocolate.

caffeine

High Glycemic/Sugary Foods (simple sugars)

High Glycemic foods also have no long lasting affect on athletes, although they are sometimes rumored to cause diabetes if eaten too frequently. Athletes should stay away from high GI foods because they are devoid of nutrients and only cause the athlete to crave more after eaten. Because they are devoid of nutrients, they cause your body to use nutrients to process it, and it ends up causing your insulin and blood sugar to spike. High GI foods are found mostly in white processed bread and grains, candy/sweets, and starchy vegetables (simple sugars).

high GI