Snacks half health for young athletes

Keep young strong and fit with healthy snacks in the middle athletes and meals before and after the game and tries to provide the right nutrients at the right time. It is also important to limit the ingredients that can affect the performance.

Healthy snacks before a game or training

Help your child feel a strong half time: fuel muscles with carbohydrates an hour or two before an event or sport. Grains, such as pasta or cookies are best for healthy children will play for 60 minutes or less snacks.

For a game or training, a little protein or fiber to slow digestion and keep the energy: Choose fruit or low-fat protein choices such as milk, yogurt or turkey.

Avoid fatty foods (including slow digestion) and high blood sugar such as sodas, sports drinks and sweet foods. These cause a rise in blood sugar. If sugar levels then fall quickly during a game, can slow the child or even dizzy.

From snack ideas before the game:

• Bread, biscuits, tortillas or crackers
• Cereals (because it is not high in sugar)
• Enriched pasta or brown rice
• Popcorn
• Low-fat cheese, yogurt, pudding or milk
• Turkey, chicken, tofu
• Apples, bananas, pears, oranges
• Carrots, sugar snap peas, cucumbers

Snacks half health

During a game, it is important to stay hydrated in order to obtain water flow to continue. When children have a snack during the break, do something easy to grab, eat and digest. Avoid salty foods, as they instead of re-hydration drain. The best choices of half-time snacks fruit because it contains a lot of water and nutrients, and also has a call boy!

Chop half the time:

• Bananas (cut in half for children, so that they can make quickly and eat more)
• Orange slices
• Clementines (be prepared to help small profit)
• Grapes
• Small slices or chunks of melon
• Apple slices (sprinkle with orange juice to prevent browning)

Healthy snacks after a game or training

Immediately after a game or heavy training, children need to replace a lot of liquid, what is lost in sweat. Milk (including chocolate milk) and water are a good choice. If you really sweat and / or too hot outside, have athletes such as sodium and potassium, so that these sports drinks contain electrolytes.

Finally, carbohydrates and protein helps children to recharge and refuel. So a little sugar is fine, do not go overboard; is not advisable to reinforce the idea that sweets are a great way to reward yourself for a job well done.

If you provide a snack for the team, when children have allergies, so that you avoid these dangerous foods.

Post-game snack ideas:

• Fresh fruit (see above mentioned list) or applesauce
• Kebabs or frozen fruit pops
• Nuts, including leather or 100% fruit rolls
• Fruit flavored gelatin
• Granola bars, but beware of high calorie, fat and sugar
• Cookies: The best decisions are figs bars, oatmeal cookies, animal crackers
• Cookies and biscuits: Select full versions if you can corn; Top of peanut butter, cheese or cream cheese with low fat
• Yogurt
• Pudding
• String Cheese
• Baked popcorn, pretzels, potato chips in the oven
• Muffins (low fat)
• Trail mix (with dried fruit instead of candy, beware of nut allergies)

_Sources:

Evers, Connie, RD.

Gotlin, Robert S., DO: Dr. Rob to Raising Fit Kids in New York City in 2008 DiaMedica Publishing Guide ..