Superfoods in Sport

I get asked all the time how our gut and “superfoods” play a role in sport performance. While there is so much misinformation out there, there is also some great research out there on this topic specifically. 

Let’s dive in.

First off, ‘superfoods’ is such a cliche term. No specific foods are deemed ‘super’ as they all play a role in our day to day and provide nutrients to our body. 

However, let’s put a definition to superfoods in sport: foods that enhance sports performance.

According to the latest research, these include: cherries, blackcurrants, pomegranates, and blueberries. 

What is it about these foods specifically? They each have fruit-derived polyphenols which according to recent research, shows a positive effect on overall performance and recovery from sport.

Consuming 300mg/day of polyphenols hours prior to performance can enhance performance while consuming 1,000mg/day for 3 days prior to performance enhances our bodies recovery system (aka muscle soreness was reduced). 

However, how does this translate to serving size of each fruit above? Our nutrition labels don’t state the amount of polyphenols in products so we broke it down below:

• Pom Wonderful has 1000mg in 1 serving (250ml) 

• PAS Nutrition’s Cherry Bomb product has 600mg in 1 serving

Further, there are recipes that we can make ourselves to get in the amount our bodies need as well. Message us HERE for these 3 recipes! 

• Brownies: each brownie serving has 987mg of polyphenols 

• Berry Compote with yogurt: 468mg polyphenols

• Smoothie: 980mg polyphenols 

As always, there is no right or wrong here. Just simple education. A big thing we focus on at Worley Nutrition Group is educating and empowering. There is so much misinformation out there and we see it all the time in our office. Education is power and hope you continue to take this in to account as you fuel your body! 

Reach out if you want more specifics and plans tailored to YOU!