Golf After 50: Top sports nutritionists answer your questions

May 4, 2003

By Hershel Sarbin and Jim Brown
Golf After 50 Editors

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Whether you are over, under, or around the age of 50, food always seems to be on your mind. Of all the subjects we cover in Golf After 50 , we get more questions about nutrition-related topics than any other. Here are some of those questions, with answers from the top sports nutritionists in the country.

Question: I am a senior female golfer. I want to gain weight, but I'm lactose intolerant. What foods would help my game?

"The best way to gain weight, specifically lean muscle weight, is through a program of strength training and increased calories and protein," says American Dietetic Association spokesperson, Dr. Chris Rosenbloom. "Begin by eating three meals each day and add 500 calorie snacks or mini-meals mid-afternoon and mid-morning. A convenient solution for you might be milk-free liquid supplement (like Boost or Ensure) or peanut butter, crackers, and juice. At mealtime, put more 'stuff on stuff' -- use butter or margarine on toast and breads; spread peanut butter on toast; add jam or jelly to biscuits; and use mayonnaise on sandwiches. Add chopped hard-boiled eggs to salads and use regular (not light or fat-free) salad dressings."

Question: I get mixed messages about the Atkins diet. How do sports nutritionists feel about it?

Most of them are still pretty skeptical in spite of recent positive publicity about the Atkins diet. Rob Skinner, director of sports nutrition at Georgia Tech, is one of them. "In terms of losing weight, there is no question that the Atkins Diet works, but there is no evidence that the weight stays off permanently. In fact, I think 99 percent of those who get off the diet put the weight back on. Also, the Atkins diet is low is calcium, magnesium, potassium, and vitamin C. It is high in saturated fatty acids and cholesterol, so you might be trading short-term weight loss for long term health."

Question: What are some breakfast foods I should avoid before playing a round of golf?

It's hard to find anything in the literature about golf-specific foods, but what you eat can affect how you play. Ellen Coleman, author of Ultimate Sports Nutrition, says to limit high-fat breakfast foods such as bacon, sausage, and cheese because fat takes longer to empty from the stomach and may make you feel sluggish and heavy. Salty food can cause fluid retention and a bloated feeling. Instead, include orange or cranberry juice, pancakes, toast, low-fat yogurt, bananas, cornflakes, nonfat or 1 percent milk, and muffins among your breakfast choices.

Question: Sports drinks or water during a round?

Sports drinks are probably a better choice, especially if you sweat a lot during a round. They contain sodium, potassium, and chloride ... water doesn't. And if the flavor makes you take in more fluid than you would drinking water, that's a plus. But sports drinks are not an absolute necessity for most golfers. Water replaces fluid losses and that is the most important consideration. Drink lots of it and don't wait until you're in the middle of a round to start.

©Hershel Sarbin Associates, 2003.

We keep hearing from the experts that Atkins is a bad diet because you lose weight when you're on it and gain the weight back after you quit. In this case there's a 99% failure claim- how frightening!

What the experts keep missing is that you aren't supposed to quit. This is supposed to be for life even if your carb intake on maintainace will be higher than it was (at least for most people) during the weight loss phase. Of course, if you go off ANY diet and go back to your old eating habits that got you fat in the first place, you're going to gain the weight back. It's not rocket science, but yet all these experts seem to keep missing the obvious.
It really scares me that these experts that answered the question from that lady in her 70's who wants to gain weight are advising her to eat more sugar (ensure, jam, juice, etc...). Are they trying to turn this poor lady into a diabetic??? Yikes!