Customer Reviews

The Ultimate Sports Nutrition Handbook

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I found this book to be a very good introduction to sports nutrition. It covers a wide range of topics, it presents a good deal of useful information, but it is not so technical that one gets bogged down in details. It will not outline a specific and detailed diet plan, nor will you find every little chemical reaction which occurs in your muscles when you exercise, but you will find general guiding principles to exercise and nutrition. If this is what you are looking for, then this is your book.

This book is a "must have" for not only athletes, but the general public as well as it helps dispel the myths of these fad diets!! Readers will see and understand how the "Atkins Diet 40-30-30" and other high protein, low carbohydrate diets don't work; as well as how these diets came from the 1st 3 days of carbohydrate loading.

Just go look at the food guide pyramid if you want a summary of this book. It will save you money and time. Anyone who says that drinking cokes and juice is a GOOD way to replete glycogen stores has not studied human nutrition thoroughly. Dumping liquid sugar like juice, colas and sports drinks down your throat is not a healthy way of repleting glycogen stores.Mixing sugar with water decreases the amount of water absorbed in the gut. The human body does not deal well with massive amounts of sugar coming in without fiber and all the essential nutrients it takes to process it. I could go on and on. So many sports nutritionists don't seem to understand how stressful exercise is to the body. Exercise increases the demand for all vitamins and minerals as well as protein, fat and carbohydrates. Breads and other starches are always recommended for athletes because as Ellen puts it,"Starches are nutrient dense foods." Bread has a few B vitamins and a couple of poorly absorbed minerals to go along with the carbohydrates. That's it. Not only does it not have many nutrients, bread also contains phytic acid, lectins, alkylresorcinols, and other ANTI-nutrients that cause problems for the human body. Nutrition is far more complex than Ellen Coleman seems to think. Don't waste your time.

I took a Sports Nutrition class in college and "The Ultimate Sports Nutrition Handbook" was our textbook for class. It is a well-organized, neat, and complete book.