Ask Scott: Eat fruit first, types of protein and avoiding post-exercise vomiting

Top rugby coach Scott Pearson answers your health and fitness questions...

Hi, I read how you should eat your proteins first then eat your fruits & vegetables. I only eat raw green veggies I also eat every 4 hours so I can keep my insulin level from raising I eat only fruits, veggies, boils beans, eggs white six day a week with no carb. I do have one cheat day which Saturdays. No meats at all only Saturdays just fish & turkey. which is better fruits or proteins first on empty stomach. I'm 50 years old, 6 ft and 165lbs.
 
As described in one of my previous articles, I believe that it is generally better to eat fruit at the start of a meal, rather than at the end (ie. in a dessert). If you eat fruit after other food it will tend to sit in your stomach as your earlier food digests more slowly. As fruit digests more quickly, its passage is blocked by your earlier meal, it then ferments, creates gas and you get bloated. Try eating your fruit on an empty stomach or before a meal and you shouldn't feel any bloating.

Here are some of the hints and tips on eating fruit:

• If you drink fruit juice drink only fresh fruit juice, not cordials or juice made from concentrate.
• Cooking fruit destroys all the vitamins.
• Eating the pulp or whole fruit is far better than just drinking the juices as the additional fibre is good for you. 

If you are preparing to train I would recommend that you take some kind of protein roughly an hour before the session. This is to create a positive nitrogen balance within your body and prevent muscle breakdown during your work out. After about twenty minutes of training you may want to drink some carbohydrates (don’t do this if you are trying to lose body fat).
 
After a session, take carbohydrates onboard first to replenish your body’s glycogen stores, before getting more protein on board to recover and repair fatigued muscle, etc.
 
Eating fruit and vegetables immediately before or after training is not a priority as your body will not be as good at using their micronutrients (vitamins and minerals). It is more concerned with the macronutrients (carbohydrates, proteins and fats).
 
I hope this helps.

My training consists of 1 day cardio, usually running, then 1 day of weights. On weight day I have protein shakes in the morning and following the workout. On cardio days I don't have protein shakes. Would having protein shakes on cardio days make a difference to fat loss, as my goal is to have more lean muscle mass?

Protein has no direct effect on fat loss or gain whatsoever.

However it will affect your preparation for training and how effectively you recover from it. Proteins are the building blocks of the body (particularly muscle) and ingesting enough at the right times (through an adequate diet with additional supplementation) will lead to an increased muscle mass. Someone who has an increased muscle mass will need more energy to maintain it and is therefore far more effective at reducing body fat.
 
Generally, people don't get enough quality protein in their diet, so I would recommend that you take a look at that first (see my previous articles on adequate nutrition). Once you feel it is up to scratch then - and only then - you can begin to supplement your intake with protein. There are two different kinds of protein I would recommend:

• The first is called whey protein and is the most common kind of protein supplementation on the market. It has a high biological value meaning that it is readily absorbed by the body, making it the 'quick release protein'.
• The other is called casein protein and has a much lower biological value and is absorbed gradually by the body. This isn't as common as whey, so you may have to look around for a good quality supplier. Remember, with supplementation you usually pay for what you get. Do some research and buy quality.

Take whey protein in the morning (with breakfast) as your body grows and repairs during sleep, it will therefore need to replenish its amino acid stores, I would also take some roughly an hour before you train in preparation for your session (it doesn't matter if you are doing weights or cardio). At the end of the day use the casein supplement (some brands market casein protein as a night time hot chocolate style drink). This will give your body a slower release of protein through the night and help you repair damaged tissue and adapt to any training you have done.
 
Obviously you need to be in control of the rest of your nutritional intake too, taking care to watch the amount of fat and simple carbohydrates you eat if you are to reduce fat as well as increasing muscle mass.
 
The best of luck.

My 13 year old is sick after competing in 800 or 1600m runs, could you tell me why and how to avoid it? She does not drink fizzy drinks 24 hours before hand and tends to only eat up to 3 hours before a race.

As a Strength & Conditioning Coach to a professional rugby team I have seen my fair share of players vomiting during and after intense training sessions, I keep a special 'Sick Bucket'placed prominently in my gym for just such occasions.
 
How soon does your daughter eat before racing? There is a higher degree of exercise induced nausea after eating, so I would recommend that you eat at least 3 to 3.5 hours before competition. The meal should include good quality protein (chicken, fish, etc) and complex carbohydrates such as wholemeal rice or pasta. Try to avoid fatty or spicy foods as well as red meat (as it takes longer to digest).
 
Does your daughter 'cool down' after competing? She should do.

It has been suggested that exercise induced nausea could be caused by increased endorphin levels, which are released while exercising. Endorphins have been associated with nausea and vomiting, so this theory is plausible, but unsupported by scientific evidence. In addition to this, your girl is competing at two distances which will cause a large rise in lactic acid in the muscle as a waste product to such a prolonged high intensity activity.

It might be a good idea to reduce the rush of endorphins and lactic acid after a race by enabling the body to calm down by performing a good quality cool down. Rather than just stopping after the race, take time out to gradually reduce her heart rate; continue to move for around five minutes, gradually reducing the intensity, you can finish the last couple of minutes just walking. After this, follow a full body stretching routine - as well as further relaxing the body and helping to calm her down it will also improve her flexibility.

Finally, just a note about another rare cause of exercise induced nausea: water logging (over hydration). Although extremely rare, drinking too much water before, during, and/or after exercise (or at any time) can cause nausea, diarrhoea, confusion, and muscle tremors and, in extreme cases, it can be fatal. I must stress again that this is extremely rare and takes excessive amounts of water in the system. Generally I would recommend taking on as much water as you can as the vast majority of people are chronically dehydrated.

Good luck.