Cook Eat Compete

Definitely putting this one on the menu of my imaginary restaurant for athletes:

Caramelized Fall Harvest Sauté🍁🤤

Seared veg sausage with sweet red apple, crisp red cabbage, tender fennel, and toothsome dino kale all sautéed until deliciously caramelized, sweet and savory. Finished off with a steamy splash of apple cider vinegar and tangy dijon. Topped with crunchy toasty pecans and herby fennel fronds and green onion 🫠🥲

This dish provides protein for muscle repair and tons of antioxidants from a rainbow of produce to support better recovery from training. There are energizing carbs to fuel up glycogen stores from apple and the veg sausage, but definitely add more for harder/longer training days.(maybe some garlicky grilled whole grain bread on the side??)

While I have no restaurant to serve this to you in, hopefully this gives you a delicious idea for fueling and nourishment at home 😊💪🏽🔥

Ultra umami bowl with chewy noodles, soy sauce caramelized red onion and garlic, crispy seared tofu, earthy dino kale, and a super savory black garlic vinaigrette 😍🤤
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Or…
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Vegan bowl with fiber-rich whole wheat noodles, protein-rich tofu, antioxidant-packed vegetables, and a sauce with healthful fats 🧐🫤
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How we talk about food matters! Especially when trying to encourage healthful, balanced food choices and behaviors. Focusing on the nutritional benefits or health aspects of food *does not* sell us on a dish in any way remotely close to focusing on the flavor and sensory aspects of food. This is important!
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A study in 2019 by Turnwald et al. showed just how powerful language and labeling of foods can be. In several college dining hall settings, they looked at how basic, health-focused, or flavor-focused wording for vegetables altered amount chosen and consumed.
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There was a 14% increase in choosing veggies with flavor-focused wording vs. basic wording.
The crazier part was the 29% increase in choosing veggies with flavor-focused wording compared to health-focused labeling.
And, they found a 39% increase in vegetable consumption with flavor-focused vs. health-focused labeling.
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This tells us that getting people to eat more healthful foods likely doesn’t happen by telling them a food is good for health. What if we put more focus on how delicious a food is, or the cooking techniques used to develop flavor, or the great texture a food has? We are much more likely to reach that person in their moment of choice where taste is top of mind.
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RD and Chef friends and colleagues: how can we challenge ourselves to better ‘sell’ great nutrition by writing menus, signs, etc. that appeal to all-important taste?

It’s hot!! 🥵
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That means extra attention is needed to stay well hydrated to feel your best and support performance in the heat. Hydration is often thought of as just fluids, but electrolytes are an essential piece of hydration too. Specifically, sodium is the main electrolyte we should be thinking about getting enough of. It helps retain fluid in the body and is needed for proper muscle contraction. 💪🏽
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Yes, sports drinks are a great way to get sodium (and of course fluids and carbs), but there are tons of easy food-based ways to get sodium too. Below are some of the most common high-sodium foods to think about as delicious tools to support great hydration strategies.💧