Cal's Nutrition Staff Virtually Works With Student-Athletes To Keep Them Healthy
By: Dean Caparaz '90
BERKELEY – Used to working with student-athletes in person, Cal's Performance Nutrition department is meeting current shelter-in-place and social distancing challenges through its use of video conferencing and social media.
Now that the Golden Bears are continuing their training as well as education from home, that instruction takes on a new dimension.
"Although our athletes may not be training as much as they were on campus, their bodies still need to be nourished for day-to-day functions," Ansari said. "Some will still be training on their own, so they will need to eat to help support energy and recovery and to stay on track with goals that they have worked really hard for this past year. Depending on how much training they're actually taking part in, portions of their intake may change but consistency with their eating patterns – for example, eating three meals and snacks in between – shouldn't be changing much."
Ansari conducted a recent Zoom webinar to give the Golden Bears tips on "Kitchen Essentials," or important ingredients and food to have on hand during the current quarantine, when student-athletes are continuing to train and study from home. She extolled the virtues of different kinds of fresh and frozen fruits and vegetables, proteins, whole grains and starches to an audience of athletes from several Cal teams.
"The goal at this time is to limit how often student-athletes frequent the grocery store and to be able to help them stock their kitchens up with all of their favorite pantry, refrigerator and freezer essentials that will support their performance and overall health," said Ansari, a registered dietitian in her second year at Cal. Assistant Director of Performance Nutrition Yasi Ansari conducted a Zoom webinar
with Cal student-athletes.
Among the fruit essentials she discussed were bananas, apples and berries - which could be added to oats or yogurt or eaten as snacks by themselves - and apple sauce, raisins, dried fruits and canned fruits. She listed vegetables including broccoli, cauliflower and onions as well as canned veggies (i.e., corn, green beans, etc.) along with rice, quinoa, pasta, lentils, deli meats, bread, eggs and more, as items the Bears' should consider adding to their pantries and refrigerators.
Besides certain fruits, Ansari recommended food that combines well with others - such as bell pepper and hummus - and having foods such as avocados, tomato paste, pasta sauce, peanut butter and herbs on hand.
"As a department, we want to make sure student-athletes are given the tools and support they need in order to meet their nutritional needs while at home," Ansari said. "Whether it was recovering from an injury, or building more muscle or increasing energy, we want to see our athletes succeed in meeting their goals. Through nutritional counseling, virtual team talks and/or education via social media, we're here to guide them during this time.
"Some student-athletes may not have access to all the snacks and food options that were available to them while on campus, so we will be providing creative, easy, specific and budget-friendly examples so that they can prepare their own snacks and meals while away from campus."
Volleyball player Jessica Houghton, who was one of several Bears on the webinar, is sheltering in place with her family in the San Francisco Bay Area. Her family, as many have of late, has had its groceries delivered each week. Given the gamble of online grocery shopping – which sometimes results in incomplete orders – Houghton finds the work of Cal's nutritionists particularly helpful.
"Having that seminar was a little bit different from the talks that we normally have with Yasi and Destini straight after training, so it was super, super helpful at this time where you might not be getting all the different groceries that you might want," Houghton said. "It was great for Yasi to explain kitchen staples that are helpful to have at home, so that you can make a bunch of different recipes with them. That was useful, because no matter if you're not getting exactly what you want every week, you still have a couple of staple items you can rely on to make something yummy and good for your body."
McNear's staff posted its webinar suggestions for refrigerator, pantry and freezer essentials to @CalSportsNutrition, and with the success of the first virtual team talk, Performance Nutrition is planning to host another one this month.
