Pre Race Nutrition

Gunther Niklas

Charlene Boudreau, USA Swimming posted an article on USA Swimming's website that focused on pre-race and pre-workout nutrition.

Boudreau uses the glycemic index of foods to help determine what to foods are best to eat before a workout or a swim meet. In the article she also points out that the time before a race will affect food choices.

The glycemic Index was developed to helped diabetics manage food choices. This index can be useful for serious athletes. There are times when it is desirable to eat foods with various glycemic ranges from low-moderate-high. Eating properly before a workout or a meet can help delay fatigue and boost performance. Eating improperly can have a negative effect. For example, it would not be desireable to experience low blood sugar levels during the hour immediately prior to a race. Before a race, low glycemic foods prevent the sharp decline in blood sugar. Therefore, carbohydrates with a low glycemic index have been recommended as part of the race day menu, especially when there is less than an hour to go before the start. During meet days, athletes are encouraged to eat high glycemic index (>60) foods if they have 2 or more hours before their next race. When the time remaining until the next race is less than 2 hours, swimmers should try to find low glycemic index (<40) food choices.

The following table provides the glycemic index ratings of some common foods:


Cereals		Snacks		Pasta		Beans
All Bran	51	chocolate bar	49	cheese tortellini	50	baked	44
Bran Buds + psyll	45	corn chips	72	fettucini	32	black beans, boiled	30
Bran Flakes	74	croissant	67	linguini	50	butter, boiled	33
Cheerios	74	doughnut	76	macaroni	46	cannellini beans	31
Corn Chex	83	graham crakers	74	spagh, 5 min boiled	33	garbanzo, boiled	34
Cornflakes	83	jelly beans	80	spagh, 15 min boiled	44	kidney, boiled	29
Cream of Wheat	66	Life Savers	70	spagh, prot enrich	28	kidney, canned	52
Frosted Flakes	55	oatmeal cookie	57	vermicelli	35	lentils, green, brown	30
Grapenuts	67	pizza, cheese & tomato	60	Soups/Vegetables		lima, boiled	32
Life	66	Pizza Hut, supreme	33	beets, canned	64	navy beans	38
muesli, natural	54	popcorn, light micro	55	black bean soup	64	pinto, boiled	39
Nutri-grain	66	potato chips	56	carrots, fresh, boil	49	red lentils, boiled	27
oatmeal, old fash	48	pound cake	54	corn, sweet	56	soy, boiled	16
Puffed Wheat	67	Power bars	58	french fries	75	Breads
Raisin Bran	73	pretzels	83	grean pea, soup	66	bagel, plain	72
Rice Chex	89	saltine crakers	74	green pea, frozen	47	baquette, Frnch	95
Shredded Wheat	67	shortbread cookies	64	lima beans, frozen	32	croissant	67
Special K	54	Snickers bar	41	parsnips	97	dark rey	76
Total	76	strawberry jam	51	peas, fresh, boil	48	hamburger bun	61
Fruit		vanilla wafers	77	pot, new, boiled	59	muffins
apple	38	Wheat Thins	67	pot, red, baked	93	apple, cin	44
apricots	57	Crackers		pot, sweet	52	blueberry	59
banana	56	graham	74	pot, white, boiled	63	oat & raisin	54
cantalope	65	rice cakes	80	pot, white, mashed	70	pita	57
cherries	22	rye	68	split pea soup w/ham	66	pizza, cheese	60
dates	103	soda	72	tomato soup	38	pumpernickel	49
grapefruit	25	Wheat Thins	67	yam	54	sourdough	54
grapes	46	Cereal Grains		Milk Products		rye	64
kiwi	52	barley	25	chocolate milk	35	white	70
mango	55	basmati white rice	58	custard	43	wheat	68
orange	43	bulgar	48	ice cream, van	60	Drinks
papaya	58	couscous	65	ice milk, van	50	apple juice	40
peach	42	cornmeal	68	skim milk	32	colas	65
pear	58	millet	71	soy milk	31	Gatorade	78
pineapple	66	Sugars		tofu frozen dessert	115	grapefruit juice	48
plums	39	fructose	22	whole milk	30	orange juice	46
prunes	15	honey	62	yogurt, fruit	36	pineapple juice	46
raisins	64	maltose	105	yogurt, plain	14
watermelon	72	table sugar	64

If you have read this article please let coach Gunther know!

The following is a link to the article that appeared on USA Swimming's web site:

Pre Race Nutrition

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