4 Performance Nutrition Myths Debunked

Nutrition is not a one-size-fits-all. Something we all seem to know but tend to forget. The latest trends always seem to sway us easily into thinking we should switch our approach to how we feed ourselves. What’s considered “healthy” today might not be tomorrow. What’s considered “taboo” might be the next big thing. The most challenging part of it all is that we all need to eat so this isn’t something we can opt out of doing!

There’s a considerable amount of fantastic information and knowledgeable resources to teach you the basics of proper nutrition. But, how can one truly determine which ones are most trustworthy? Especially when it comes to performance nutrition.

You don’t need to be an elite athlete to care about what you’re putting in your body. If you’ve set yourself a goal and are determined to see it through, what goes into your body can really be a deal breaker as to whether or not you achieve what you set out to do.

Author’s Note: Before starting out as a nutrition coach, I was bombarded with a slew of tips, tricks, and not-so-great advice from coaches, friends, family, and gym acquaintances. It was overwhelming at times to know what to do and I often experienced analysis paralysis. After years of trial and error, I realized I always reverted back to the basics and what the science says. The less I complicated my approach to my nutrition, the more my performance soared. 

If you’re a seasoned athlete or a newbie gym-goer looking to give yourself an edge by optimizing your nutrition, rest assured the following statements are nothing but myths.

4 Performance Nutrition Myths Debunked

1. If you overeat, it immediately gets stored as fat and you have to exercise to “work it off”.

Our physiology (thankfully) doesn’t work that quickly. Sure, if you consistently consume a surplus of calories over a more extended period, you’d start to see changes. However, that one night out with your friends or that big family dinner over the weekend won’t completely derail your progress. 

Food is energy. 

It gets utilized for many things we ask our bodies to do throughout the day. This energy gets used to keep us alive such as breathing, digesting, blinking, and maintaining muscle and bone density—things we don’t consciously think about. It also provides us with enough energy for our day-to-day mundane tasks such as walking, cooking, cleaning, picking things up, opening doors…you get the gist of it. 

What tends to happen is people will only consider calories or their food intake in correlation to exercise. Working out or training to “burn calories”.  Yes, any sort of physical activity will utilize your stored calories, and the more strenuous the activity is, the more your body will need this fuel to recover. 

When you overeat or enjoy a calorically dense meal, freaking out about it and immediately running to the gym isn’t a viable solution. It’s not even a problem that “needs fixing”. Our bodies love to live in a state of homeostasis. A state of balance. When it gets pushed slightly out of balance, the absolute best way to bring it back is to stick to your routine. Going from one extreme to another will create more stress for your body to recover from and might impact your progress in the long term.

If anything, think of this surplus of calories as extra energy to knock your next workout right out of the park. Extra fuel to recover well between efforts, make heavy weights feel light and complete your prescribed training as best you can.

Training is not a punishment. Treating it like such will only end up tainting your relationship with it. Move your body because you CAN, not because you should.

2. Avoid dehydration by drinking lots of water during training.

Dehydration is defined as losing more fluid than you’re taking in. One can likely encounter dehydration while heavily exercising or doing any sort of activity that promotes excessive sweating. However, sweating isn’t just water evaporating from your pores. 

In the midst of sweating, you also lose a fair amount of electrolytes. Replacing this loss of fluids solely with regular fresh water won’t give your body the necessary minerals to prevent dehydration or even take you out of a dehydrated state. Electrolytes play a crucial role in maintaining your body in a state of homeostasis. They help regulate electrical neutrality (a balance between positive and negative ions), and generate action potentials in nerves and muscles (contracting and relaxing muscles consciously and unconsciously). 

The top three most important electrolytes are sodium, potassium, and chloride. Other honourable mentions include magnesium, calcium, phosphate, and bicarbonates. 

Sodium is responsible for conducting nerve impulses, contracting, and relaxing muscles, and maintaining normal fluid levels outside of cells.

Potassium works in accordance with sodium to regulate muscular contractions and is responsible for maintaining normal fluid levels inside of cells.

Chloride sort of plays the role of the middleman. It’s responsible for the regulation of fluid and types of nutrients going in and out of the cells. It also maintains proper pH levels and stimulates the action of nerve and muscle cells.

Now, understanding how these three electrolytes work in such cohesion to promote fluid balance and muscle function, it’s no wonder that replacing any fluids lost during exercise or periods of excessive sweating just won’t cut it. If you’re looking to optimize your intra-workout hydration, mixing in an electrolyte packet into a 28-ounce shaker of fresh water is key to not only preventing dehydration but boosting performance and recovery. 

When it comes to determining how much water you should be drinking and the dose of electrolytes you should be taking in, it comes down to one main factor: body weight and biological sex. Male individuals tend to be able to drink around +1L more than females (due to physical size, kidney size, and hormones). Of course, if you are more physically active and have a higher level of fitness, you may need more water and electrolyte replenishment than someone of the same size. Generally, you should be consuming 30-40mL of water per kilogram of body weight daily. Keep in mind this is based on a sedentary lifestyle and takes into account the natural loss of fluids via breathing, skin evaporation, sweating, and excretion. Once you know roughly how much water you should be consuming daily, adding another 500mL to 1L of water along with appropriate electrolyte consumption can help support the loss of fluids during exercise or physical training.

Author’s Note: Something I like to keep in mind when focusing on my hydration is meeting my baseline requirement for the day and then adjusting it depending on my activity level and the intensity of my training. I also like to keep in mind any caffeine consumption as it acts as a powerful diuretic—which can throw my electrolyte balance off kilter—and I also consider the humidity and heat of my environment. Both of these have personally affected my hydration levels and I notice it almost immediately in my performance. Adding some electrolytes to my water has been a game-changer. My personal favorite is LMNT’s salt packs. Perfectly balanced with sodium, potassium, and magnesium.

3. You should only eat “good” foods and avoid “bad” foods.

The terminology of “good” versus “bad” foods was most likely developed as a marketing tactic combined with misinformation to promote the purchase of certain products. It led people to believe in negative-calorie foods, “clean” foods, and “clean” eating—all of which quite frankly don’t make any sense when it comes to the basis of energy balance and calories. 

The typical belief we see with individuals is that if they “eat clean” and stick to the gym, they’ll start seeing the progress they’re looking for. The issue with this mentality is that it creates a false belief about what food actually does for you from an energetic standpoint. It also demonizes certain food groups which has the potential of creating a disordered relationship to these types of foods long-term. 

Understanding what foods consist of from a caloric and macronutrient perspective is one of the best places to start when looking to level up your nutrition. If your goal is to decrease your body fat, improve your strength or recover better after each workout, eating in accordance with the energy balance required to support this goal is where everyone should begin their journey. 

Once an individual understands the concept of energy balance, taking it to the next level can involve discovering and exploring which foods agree the most with them. If a certain food fits the energetic profile they’re looking to fit but they’re lactose intolerant, of course, it would be advised to find an alternative that suits their body best. Another example of this could be diversifying the micronutrient density of the foods they chose. Sure, if you’re craving a slice of delicious banana bread, go ahead and enjoy! However, most could agree that eating an entire loaf every other day doesn’t create a balanced profile of macronutrients or micronutrients. 

If you find yourself scanning groceries aisle or restaurant menus in search of “good” foods and avoiding “bad” foods, perhaps starting to look at what these foods can do for you from a calorie, macronutrient, and micronutrient aspect could expand your perception of food and can support your fitness goals in a more positive manner. When it comes to nutrition, going about it in a manner that can be sustained long-term. What can be repeated consistently over and over while still getting you the results you want! 

4. Endurance athletes don’t need as much protein as strength athletes. 

Protein is the MOST essential macronutrient to build and sustain muscle mass. Regardless of the sport or physical endeavour, your body requires amino acids to perform and recover. The role of amino acids is better known as building and repairing muscle tissues. However, they do carry out other important physiological functions such as transporting nutrients and regulating neurotransmitters and hormones. There are 20 different amino acids but only 9 are classified as essential;  histidine, isoleucine, leucine, lysine, methionine, phenylalanine, threonine, tryptophan, and valine. Your body can provide itself with the 11 non-essential amino acids by creating them but needs to be supplied with the essential 9 from food sources. The best sources of essential amino acids are animal proteins such as eggs, poultry, red meat, and fish. There are also some plant-based options such as soy, tofu, and edamame products that can fit the complete amino acid profile required. 

Aside from getting enough amino acids, consuming adequate protein is necessary to provide your body with the energy it needs to perform. Depending on the individual’s height, body weight, biological sex, muscle mass to fat mass ratio, and performance goals, this can alter the amount of protein they likely consume. However, it will be determined primarily by the caloric demand of the individual and whether or not they are in a maintenance phase, a surplus, or a deficit. 

The RDA for protein intake in Canada is 0.8g/kg of body weight or 0.36g/pound of body weight. Keep in mind this is the daily recommended intake for a sedentary adult to supply them with enough amino acids. When it comes to pushing your physical performance and recovery, a good marker to use is consuming 2.2g/kg or 1g/pound of body weight. Again, this can be altered based on the daily caloric needs of the individual. 

When it comes to protein intake, what kind of activity you do won’t really determine how much or how little protein you should be consuming. If you’re experiencing muscle breakdown from physical activity, there’s no getting around the fact you absolutely must eat enough protein to repair, rebuild, and recover. 

The takeaway…

No matter your level of nutritional awareness or knowledge, you’re bound to get influenced by the next trend at some point in time. The most important thing to remember is to keep it simple and adhere to the basics. The second you start overcomplicating things or overdoing it, that’s when results become unsustainable or unattainable. Leaning on resourceful coaches is a great way to learn more about what the best blueprint is for YOU and your goals. There are also plenty of science journals online that you can count on to provide you with fact-based research. Take everything you read with a grain of salt and understand that nutrition is a custom journey for everyone.