Nutrition on the road - What, How and Why?

I have a large tablespoon of cod liver oil every morning washed Down With a berocca.

I take it more for the early morning than anything else. I notice a mild difference in how quickly I get out of bed and brain in gear between when I have it and when I don't, but it doesn't help every morning without fail. I wouldn't rule out other factors 100% yet.

Milk is bad for you.

Milk is a complete food

Not really. It depends if you definition of "complete" is "complete" or "contains a lot of stuff you need but not everything."

Breast milk is a complete food for babies. As is formula milk.

Dairy milk is not complete (for any aged humans), it may contain protein, fat and carbs but there are a load of essential vitamins and minerals it doesn't contain.

Milk [...] has been demonstrated to at least equal recovery drinks.

In what terms? Rehydration efficiency? (The recent BBC Horizon program demonstrated an interesting but utterly pointless result in this regard.)

In what terms? Rehydration efficiency?

I have a paper, but the PDF won't load on here: PM me your email if you're interested.

Milk is great for you.

Milk is great for you.

It's not great for everyone...

'The frequency of lactose intolerance varies considerably between different ethnic groups and populations.

The lowest rates of lactose intolerance are seen in white North Europeans, North Americans and Australasians ranging from 4.7% in a British population to 17% in Finland and Northern France.

The highest rates tend to be found in South America, Africa and Asia with approximately 50% of the population affected and almost 100% in some Asian countries.'

I wonder how the Colombian cyclists get on with milk based drinks?

Why i really came to this thread was to find out what you guys take post work-out to deal with any possible Immune system problems that can occur due to prolonged efforts?

Nothing specific straight after, I eat my veggies and fruit through the day. If I've had a poor coupLe of days eating I'll throw a multivit in, but I don't generally take anything for that.

I'd haunt Your breakfast beers.

Cod liver oil is standard daily staple up here. At least once the sun disappears. Its good quality and tastes fine.

I've recently discovered real breakfast beer though. Vørterøl. Which is dark unbrewed beer. Its like fizzy drinkable vegemite Without the salt. Its fecking awesome.

You've not heard of Victor Conte? BALCO Doctor, doped athletes for years and has now gone clean. An advocate for drug-free sport now, mostly dealing with his athletes in boxing and MMA/UFC stuff. No idea who most of them are, but it's worth following him on twitter - he's a bit better at engaging with questions than, say, Antoine Vayer.

I guess you mean stressful/damaging rather than specifically 'prolonged' efforts?

I was recommended spirulina but I rarely bother. Just a good range of foods (inc lots of raw vegetables/salad) etc and some fish oil. And a rest :-)

zinc + vit C

It seems that zinc in particular is particularly effective at reducing the symptoms / length of the common cold and there is some evidence to suggest that the intake of zinc in the general population is less than it should be.

Good dietary sources of zinc are: shellfish and red-meat
Oysters are a massively good source of zinc, Beef is pretty good

http://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/Zinc-HealthProfessional/

Lactose intolerance, exposing people who should've died as babies since 1993. #lookingatyoutooyoupeanutallergyfreaks

Why i really came to this thread was to find out what you guys take post work-out to deal with any possible Immune system problems that can occur due to prolonged efforts?

A pint of chocolate milk for me (it's all about the protein), that seems to stave off the sniffles and lethargy that I used to get after prolonged efforts (Audax for me, so my efforts are 8h+ but it applies just as much to hard-ish 2h training rides). Now I'm doing more running and swimming I try to do the same after any 1h+ effort or 'fast' 30 minute run.

I'm doing two 1h+ sessions in a day (with hours of gap between) I'm unlikely to have a pint of chocolate milk after both, just can't face that much milk in a day.

I'm sure there's a boatload of other stuff I could be taking, but I'm not an athlete, just a plodding idiot that likes plodding for hours and hours on end.

Vørterøl

I now want to try this but having consumed some nordic drinks before it scares me.

Zinc is a good call.

Nuts are good for zinc IIRC. Great in breakfast muesli with iron-rich raisins and apricots.

You're likely hampering your training gains with Vit C (there's also evidence against the other common antioxidants).

http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/87/1/142.full

"The administration of vitamin C significantly (P = 0.014) hampered endurance capacity. The adverse effects of vitamin C may result from its capacity to reduce the exercise-induced expression of key transcription factors involved in mitochondrial biogenesis."

Indeed, I should have been clearer. I wasn't suggesting supplementation, but an increase of dietary vit-c and zinc.

There's an even more recent study that found improved gains by NOT shoveling in recovery shit as soon as you finish as well. Basically, by making it too easy for your body you can lose some benefits. Can't recall specifics though.

worth noting that for vegetarians or those who consume a large amount of legumes that zinc requirements are higher, as the phytates bind to the zinc and reduce its bioavailability

Your a phytate

interesting - is that directly after a hard effort?
I usually only have any "recovery shit" when I get home, which is normally at least 30mins - 1hr easyish ride later.

Humans seem to be the only mammals that have regressed to not having a weaning stage when the production of lactase, the enzyme that digests lactose, switches off.
Until recently the Chinese had relatively little in the way of a dairy industry,
and, I believe that one Chinese taunt at northwest european derived people is that they smell of milk.

I've got literally 0 idea about what the study was called, just the gist of what they had found. If I can find it I'll post it.