Rafael Nadal He takes a knife, sticks it in the Nutella jar and spreads a nice slice of bread on it.. Repeat the process a few times during breakfast at the hotel. For lunch, a giant plate of pasta awaits you at the club. At dinner time, after his game, he eats an entrecote with fries with a couple of Coca-Colas. in a famous restaurant in the center of Paris.
That was, broadly speaking, Nadal’s eating routine in his first years of reign at Roland Garros. “He used to eat a jar of Nutella and drink three liters of Coca Cola a day”, tennis player Janko Tipsarevic even said. He probably exaggerated the Serbian player a little, but the truth is that Nadal spent many years eating whatever he wanted, without caring about sugar, fat or carbohydrates.
However, as the years went by, the Balearic tennis player came to understand that a balanced diet was essential in elite sport, that it was mandatory if he wanted to have a long and successful career. Therefore, in its efforts to remain excellent, In 2013 he decided to hire the services of a nutritionist, Gemma Bes, to help him eat better, prevent injuries and recover better. It was a difficult decision because athletes do not usually change what works and Nadal had an impressive career.: By then he had already won more than ten Grand Slams and reached number one.
Nadal’s new nutritionist
“I am a person who has become more aware over the years. Today the world is more focused on how to take care of oneself. Chen I started, when I was 12 or 13 years old, the knowledge of health, nutrition and supplementation was much lower than it is now.“Nadal himself said a few weeks ago during an event in Madrid. “I realized the importance of nutrition much later. When someone gets used to doing things as a child, it is something that evolves naturally. It has cost me a lot of effort. Today I am very aware that taking care of yourself, taking care of your body, is vital. Not only to practice sports, but to have the health and vitality necessary to be happy,” added the Spaniard.
When Nadal spoke those words, at the end of October in Madrid during the presentation of his new line of food supplements, Gemma Bes had already stopped being his personal nutritionist. That position has been held by Nuria Granados for a few months. Responsible for the nutrition area of RCD Mallorca for almost five years. Granados was invited to the presentation party for Nadal’s new business, just at a time when the Manacorí did not know if she was going to compete again. Now it is a reality: he will reappear in Brisbane after a blank season and on the verge of 38 years old. And the changes he has made in his eating habits have been fundamental to stretching his career to the maximum..
Granados has found a very mature athlete who is very concerned about every food that reaches his plate. “Knowing the difficulty of making changes to anyone’s diet, The fact that Rafa continues to be willing to accept changes when he has earned everything he has earned by eating a certain way is another example of his humility and greatness.“, their new nutritionist, who has a doctorate in Nutrigenomics, responds to Relevo.
Nadal’s anti-inflammatory diet
“It is not about radically changing anything you have done, but about making readjustments, replacing some foods with others that you also like but that are much more nutritious, increasing or reducing quantities, adjusting your intake on the track. … Some changes require much more effort than others or even prior mentalization time, but it doesn’t cost you anything to accept the changes.“, Add.
In recent years, the former number one has followed what is known as an anti-inflammatory diet, with lots of green leafy vegetables, red fruits and healthy fats. “Currently the basis of Rafa’s diet consists of fish, vegetables, salads, rice, potatoes and nuts.“, indicates Nuria Granados.
“The advice I give you is primarily aimed at covering nutritional requirements according to the circumstances of the moment in which you find yourself. Now in the preseason, body composition goals are established, protein intake is increased and distributed throughout the day.; During the competitive period, carbohydrate consumption increases or if you have to recover from an injury, you try to provide the most appropriate nutritional support. “The ideal is for the diet to be as personalized as possible.”
Non-recommended foods and chocolate
If before Nadal ate entrecôtes, pizza and fried foods weekly, now he takes care of everything almost to the millimeter. “The foods not recommended for Rafa are the same as for the general population: foods with very little nutritional density or even with ingredients that subtract more than they add. I am referring to all these ultra-processed products with very low quality ingredients, with unhealthy fats such as trans fats or with an excess of added sugars,” says Nuria Granados.
“At night before I was a spectacle with chocolate. I would eat dinner, brush my teeth and then relapse again. Now I drink less at night”
Rafael Nadal
Additionally, there are other foods that are very limited in your diet. “He doesn’t eat meat, sausages or cheese”, adds the nutritionist about the 22-time Grand Slam champion. “It is said that there is one way to eat and an infinite number of ways to eat and the objective is to try to cover the high nutritional requirements of the elite athlete and this can be done by giving a choice according to personal preferences. For example, Of the four protein-rich food groups that are considered healthy, Rafa opts for fish and nuts“.
Nuria Granados’ work does not end when it comes to determining what food she should eat or avoid. She also analyzes how they fit to adjust everything. “If when analyzing intakes a deficiency of a certain vitamin or mineral or an imbalance between proteins, fats and carbohydrates is detected, readjustments are considered.“, indica.
There is a food that is not recommended that Nadal, however, is not going to give up. It is true that it is increasingly limited, but chocolate is and will be one of its escape valves. “I have very good self-control on the court, I never get angry, I don’t throw my racket, but it’s difficult for me in that regard. The night before was a show with chocolate. I ate dinner, brushed my teeth and then relapsed again. Now I drink less at night. It tastes better with milk, but it’s less healthy…” Nadal himself said with a laugh in ‘El Hormiguero’ in 2020, when he confessed that even his wife hides the Nutella jars at home from him. “Sometimes I find the little Nutella bottle behind everything…”
What does Nadal eat on match day?
Nuria Granados, 60 years old and who in her career has advised soccer players, tennis players, cyclists, triathletes, swimmers and athletes, also explains the diet that Nadal follows on days when there is competition. “On match day, carbohydrate consumption increases, protein consumption moderates, and fat consumption decreases. Fiber consumption is also reduced. If the general recommendation is to eat whole grains, on match days you opt for refined versions,” he details. “Carbohydrate consumption is completed before, during and after the match with the options within the range of supplements intended for athletes: cereal bars, gels, sports drinks, gummies, recuperators…“.
Nacho Encabo is a sports editor at Relevo, a specialist in tennis and the Olympic Games. Born in Madrid, he studied Journalism and Audiovisual Communication at the Rey Juan Carlos University and began as an intern in the sports section of El Mundo in 2011. Knowing German shortly after opened the doors of the dpa agency, where he worked as a special envoy to the 2012 London Olympic Games and the 2014 Sochi Winter Games, the 2016 Euro Cup in France and the 2018 World Cup in Russia. In addition, adding Relay and the rest of his career, he has covered the four tennis Grand Slams, the Davis Cup , athletics world championships, Formula 1 Grand Prix and countless LaLiga and Champions League matches. He has also worked as a reporter at El Independiente and traveled to the Tokyo Olympics on the Spanish Olympic Committee team. …
2023-12-28 15:09:16
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