Laura González, Head of Health and Nutrition at Nestlé and collaborator of “El Bisturí”, responds in the new section “the office” to different questions related to food according to the time of year, among other questions.
With the cold of winter, should you eat more food than in good weather?
On many occasions we think that in the cold we need to consume more calories than in hot weather. But, the truth is that the metabolism is the same both in winter and in summer. For this reason, the calories that our body needs are very similar. In fact, in Spain we do not have polar temperatures that justify the increase in calories.
Another thing is the feeling of hunger that, with the cold, can be higher since it increases as the temperature decreases. However, we should not therefore eat more because that feeling does not translate into a greater expenditure of calories and if we eat more we will gain weight. The consumption of calories should be similar both in winter and in summer unless our physical activity increases. In these cases, the energy needs could increase and also the need for fluids.
Can we say that there are summer dishes and winter dishes?
In all seasons it must be said that we can eat all food groups. What changes is the preparation.
It is true that, in winter, with the cold, we want hot and more powerful dishes and we begin to think about eating spoon dishes, hot and soupy. The truth is that our Mediterranean and traditional cuisine provides us with many recipes for this time of year. They are generally based on the Mediterranean diet based on legumes, potatoes, rice, vegetables … and always cooked with olive oil.
These recipes have the reputation of being very caloric, but this will always depend on how we cook them. For example, legumes have hardly any fat by themselves, but if we cook them with fatty meats or sausages, things change and their caloric content increases significantly. On the contrary, if we prepare them with vegetables, fish … we will obtain very complete and healthy dishes for traditional cuisine suitable for the whole family.
In summer, however, we like more cold or warm presentations such as salads, pasta, rice, legumes … In addition, there is much more variety of fruits, vegetables, fish … making summer a time when traditional gastronomy is more present on our tables and on restaurant menus.
In summer the water needs increase, hence it is especially present at many times of the day, as well as other foods and preparations rich in water that provide freshness, such as cold soups, salads of all kinds, stir-fries, etc.
Regardless of whether the sports are winter or summer, can a professional athlete eat more meat, more fat or ingest protein than a person with moderate exercise or who is sedentary?
It is not recommended that a professional athlete take more meat or more fat or, much less, vitamin, protein or mineral supplements. A healthy diet adapted to energy needs already provides us with all these nutrients. As for sources of protein, it is recommended to complete the vegetables with fish, eggs, dairy and low-fat meats.
In fact, an optimal state of physical form – essential to achieve maximum performance during competition – is achieved with hard physical training and adequate nutrition. An intense workout may require an extra contribution of 1,500 kcal per hour, in addition to the need to replace water and salts such as sodium and potassium lost through sweat.
Some vitamins may require an extra supply (for example, B1, B2, B3, related to energy metabolism and also antioxidant vitamins such as C, E or beta-carotenes).
Glucose is the preferred fuel for muscle and, for this reason and especially in the days before the competition, the diet must be rich in this nutrient, especially providing slow-absorbing carbohydrates (potatoes, bread, rice, pasta …) . This is with the aim of increasing the muscle glycogen concentration and, with it, the glucose reserve. This will undoubtedly lead to an increase in physical endurance.
The protein intake, contrary to what is believed, should not be significantly increased (it should range between 1.5-2 grams per kilo of weight per day). This would be sufficient as long as the end goal is not to significantly increase muscle mass, as can be the case in bodybuilding.
What is the relationship between vitamins and nutrition?
Vitamins are very important nutrients even though the amounts required are very small. They are essential for our body. In general, we cannot manufacture them and they participate in chemical reactions that are essential to maintain
What is the relationship between vitamins and nutrition?
Vitamins are very important nutrients even though the amounts required are very small. They are essential for our body. We generally cannot manufacture them and they participate in essential chemical reactions to maintain our vital functions. They are found naturally in food and do not provide energy.
Fruits and vegetables are foods that provide a large amount of vitamins. Hence the recommendation to eat at least three servings of fruit and two of vegetables a day.
A total of 13 vitamins are known and they are substances of very diverse chemical composition. They are found in foods of a very different nature. We classify them based on whether they are found in the watery or fatty part of food. Therefore we have:
Water-soluble vitamins are linked to the watery part of the food: Vitamins of group B (B1, B2, B3, B5, B6, B9 and B12) and Vitamin C
Fat-soluble vitamins are linked to the fat part of the food: Vitamins A, D, E and K
