ATHLETICS

Every diet should be an athletic diet

The diet for the athlete really differs but little from that which should be taken by every person in normal health, the object in all cases being to secure the greatest degree of energy from the least quantity of food. In order to do this, the laws governing the selecting, the combining, and the proportioning of foods should be observed. When the digestive, the assimilative, and the excretory organs are properly performing their functions, the object should be to gain the highest efficiency in food with the least amount of loss or waste. Every diet, therefore, should be made an athletic diet.

In dealing with the public at large, the work of the practitioner will be confined very largely to prescribing for those who, by violation of Nature's laws, have become dis-eased, or in some way physically abnormal, and in these cases, of course, a remedial or counteractive diet first becomes necessary.

General diet for normal athlete

In dealing with the athlete as a special class, however, we must consider him as a normal creature, somewhere between the ages of twenty and forty. We must also consider that his digestion and assimilation of food, and elimination of waste are normal. Under these conditions, the diet should consist of highly nitrogenous and proteid compounds, leveled or balanced by the requisite amount of carbohydrates and fats.

Quantity of fat required at different seasons

If the athlete is training for action in summer, the quantity of fat should be reduced according to temperature or climate. When the thermometer ranges in the seventies and eighties, one ounce of fat each twenty-four hours would probably be sufficient, while if the mercury is down in the twenties or thirties, from two or three ounces may be required to keep up bodily heat.

The following are suggestions for summer athletic diet:

BREAKFAST

Fruit or melon
[1]Corn, or boiled wheat, with nuts and cream
Eggs, whipped, with sugar and cream—lemon juice flavor

LUNCHEON

Break from four to six eggs into a bowl, adding a heaping
teaspoonful of sugar to each egg; whip five minutes; while whipping,
add slowly one teaspoonful of lemon juice to each egg; to this add
half a glass of milk to each egg, and drink slowly
[1]Corn or a potato

DINNER

Fruit, berries, or melon
A salad of lettuce, tomato, and grated carrots; serve with dressing
of lemon juice, grated nuts and olive-oil
One fresh vegetable
An egg or tender fish
A baked potato
Buttermilk

[1]Note: Corn to be prepared as follows:

Cut lightly from cob with a sharp knife and scrape down with a dull one; serve uncooked with a little salt, sugar and cream.

The following are suggestions for winter athletic diet:

BREAKFAST

A baked apple or an orange
One coarse cereal, with nuts and cream
Two eggs, either whipped or boiled two minutes Very ripe bananas,
with dates, nuts and cream (If bananas are not very ripe, they
should be peeled and baked) See recipe, Vol. III, p.677

LUNCHEON

Beans or lentils
Carrots, turnips, squash, or corn
Fish or eggs
A baked potato
Buttermilk

DINNER

Two fresh vegetables
A green salad, with oil
Omelet, with grated nuts
A banana, with nuts and cream, and either dates or raisins
Buttermilk

These menus, like those given for summer, are merely for the purpose of suggesting selections, combinations, and proportions of food that will meet the exigencies of temperature, environment, and work. The quantity of food required will depend largely upon the size (physique) of the individual, the severity of training, and the feats to be performed. It is especially important that these suggestions be well considered at least one day before engaging in any athletic event or work requiring extraordinary physical effort, as the human body appropriates or uses food from twenty-four to thirty-six hours after it is eaten.

Exposure to extreme cold or exertion

If one is to be exposed to extreme cold, an excess of fats should be taken, beginning thirty-six hours before exposure. If much physical effort is to be exerted, the diet should be balanced as to all nutritive elements, with an excess of nitrogenous foods. In fact, these rules should be observed by every one who desires to make feeding scientific, and to make food his servant instead of his master, as our civilized habits have a tendency to do.