Tip of the week by Gloria Averbuch - Fruits & Vegetables

Soccer nutrition is also good nutrition. That is, consuming foods good for your game means enjoying foods good for your health as well. Below is useful information on some of the most valuable building blocks of your sports diet, the carbohydrates provided by fruits and vegetables. In addition, Women’s Professional Soccer players consume large amounts of fruits and vegetables in their diets.

Fruits and vegetables are also excellent sources of carbohydrates. But some players have trouble figuring out how to consume the recommended daily 2 cups (500 g) of fruits and 21/2 cups (600 g) of vegetables. As one 22-year-old sheepishly remarked, "I'm lucky if I eat that much in a week." The trick is to eat large portions. Most soccer players can easily enjoy a banana (counts as one cup fruit) and 8 ounces (one cup) of orange juice in the morning. That’s already the minimal 2 cups of fruit for the day! A big bowl of salad filled with colorful tomato, carrot, and pepper can account for the minimal recommended 21/2 cups of vegetables.

Fruits: Recommended Daily Intake—2 or more cups (500+ g)
  
Here’s what counts as “one cup”; hungry soccer players can easily consume double portions and achieve the recommended intake of two or more cups per day:

Orange Juice 8 ounces 240 ml

Apple 1 small 100 g

Banana 1 small 100 g

Canned Fruit 1 cup 240 g

Dried fruit 1/2 cup 80 g

Vegetables: Recommended Daily Intake—21/2 to 3+ cups (600 to 700+ g)

Here’s what counts as “one cup” (plan to eat double!):

Broccoli 1 medium stalk 200 g

Spinach 2 cups raw 60 g

Salad Bar 1 average bowl 100 g

Spaghetti Sauce 1 cup 250 g

Excerpted from Food Guide for Soccer—Tips & Recipes From the Pros, with Women’s Professional Soccer, by Gloria Averbuch and Nancy Clark, RD. Available on www.amazon.com or www.nancyclarkrd.com