Today's Nutrition Seminar

Today I went with Erin and Laurie to a nutrition seminar at the U of S PAC Centre. While a lot of the information is repetitive, I don't think of it that way. I think of it as reinforcing. I find it really easy to get lazy and fall off the good nutrition wagon, so something like this keeps me conscious of all I need to be doing and I always learn something new, too. Another benefit to this particular seminar is that the nutritionist, Heather Hynes, works with athletes and so there were a lot of recommendations for very active people. This helps me better understand Luke's nutritional needs for when he's home in the summer.

This time, the new things I learned are that we should have at least 2 servings of fish per week. One serving = 1/2 cup. Even though I might have known to increase the amount of fish I eat, what I didn't know is that when choosing canned tuna, we should choose "light tuna" instead of "white tuna" to reduce our mercury consumption. Apparently, "light tuna" is yellowfin tuna, which has lower levels of mercury. I always buy white tuna. I'll be switching.

We also learned that Chocolate Milk is now considered the ultimate "recovery fluid" to consume after physical activity. Better than water or sports drinks. Here's why (found here: pdf - If you do any research, you'll find lots of information about this on the internet) ...

Chocolate Milk: An Ideal Sports Recovery Drink

• 90% water for hydration
• Carbohydrate to replace depleted muscle glycogen
• Protein to build and maintain muscles
• The optimal protein to carbohydrate ratio to refuel tired muscles
• Calcium and phosphorus for strong bones
• Potassium to help muscles contract and regulate body fluids
• B-vitamins to help convert food to energy for exercising muscles
• Great taste readily accepted by athletes encourages consumption