Guest Post by Glenn Macnamara | Fast food is good for you!

Feb 9, 2011 by Capoeirasa    1 Comment     Posted under: Guest Posts, Uncategorized

Yes, you read correctly!

Contrary to popular belief, fast food is healthy! That’s because of the way, I define “fast food”!

Many of us need “food on the go” due to our busy lifestyles. We often make the incorrect food choices because of the time factor. For me, fruit is the best “ fast food” to Take Away. Fruits are quick, easy and cheap AND contain valuable nutrients,vitamins and good amounts of what I call “useful carbohydrates” or Unrefined carbohydrate(in other words, Not processed)

Look at this for “value for money”:

• You will pay less than R10 for a bunch of 10 bananas at most grocers.The average banana contains about 27 gms of carbohydrates.
• In comparison, the average energy bar (processed too) costs over R10 and will have about the same amount of carbohydrate (depending on the brand).

Some other notable “fast fruits to go”

• An average raw apple contains 21 gms of carbohydrate.
• Figs are packed with carbohydrates. 1 cup (teacup) will provide your body with 130 gms of carbohydrates. This is slightly more than 2 bowls of cooked oats!
• Dates are another fantastic “quick food”. They contain 130 gms of carbohydrates (also measured in 1 cup)
• Prunes are also vey high in CHO- yielding 101 per cup.

Now as far as the prunes, dates and figs go I am not suggesting you eat a cup of each a day! (Not sure your digestive systems will thank me for that!). However, it is very easy to consume half a cup a day for example..especially over the length of a day.

A cup of seedless raisins gives your body 115gms of carbohydrates. As far as eating in endurance races, then you can see how convenient it is to use raisins, dates and figs. Pineapples (raw) have 19gms, 1 grapefruit has 21gms. Many athletes eat oranges in winter. 1 orange yields almost 26 gms. When we look at fruit in this way, it becomes very easy AND convenient to get highly nutritious food into your body for a fraction of the price with NO ADDED PRESERVATIVES OR GUILT!

As athletes we constantly strive to balance our Energy Expenditure with Energy Input (ie Food). Fruit helps us come much closer to a healthy balance.

My advice would be to aim to eat 3-5 fruits per day. Am I suggesting you ONLY eat fruit? No, I’m not suggesting this option at all. What I am appealing to is our ability to make choices. Fruit can form a valuable part on our diets. In many people’s hectic lifestyles, they choose less healthy options.

There are ways of Eating “on the go” meals where fruit forms a component of the quick meal. One example would be some fruit combined with a yoghurt so you achieve a protein and carbohydrate intake in the same meal. While I am no fan of too much processed food, low GI bread with cottage or cream cheese and fruit is another example of a quick ”On the Go” meal.

About Glenn Macnamara

Glenn is a professional triathlete. To date he has represented SA in 29 international events including 10 World champs and competed on 4 continents. His top results internationally include a 4th place at a World Cup event in Japan, 5th in Malaysia and Ohio(USA),6th in France and Colorado(USA) amongst others. Glenn is also a freelance as a writer and works as a coach and speaker,  having done talks at corporatres such as Eskom,Audi, Nedbank,FNB amongst others as well as overseas in Alabama,Ohio, Kuala Lumpur, Belgium and the UK.

Got anything to say? Go ahead and leave a comment!

Subscribe to receive new blogposts