There is a vital nutrition center on ready-made sports food – Food Holland

The range of ready-to-eat sports foods in supermarkets is growing under brands such as XXL Nutrition, Prep The Food and Muscle Meat. Together with Marije Verwijs, a nutrition and health expert at the Nutrition Center, and sports nutritionist Myrthe Rebattu, the editors of the television program Radar investigated the nutritional values ​​of ready-made sports foods. The Nutrition Center concludes that sometimes there is a lot of salt in the foods, while the extra protein is not necessary for many people.

Analysis shows that the number of calories in sports food is very similar to hot food at home. Sports food contains more than half of the protein someone needs, but most people in the Netherlands eat more protein than they need. The amount of protein recommended by the Nutrition Center varies between 1.2 and 2 grams per kilogram of body weight per day, depending on personal goals. Most athletes do not need a special diet either; A healthy and varied diet usually provides enough protein, says the Nutrition Center.

The Nutrition Center concludes that there is a reasonable level of salt in XXL nutritional food. The supplier says that, in terms of salt content, the aim is 2.1 grams of salt per meal and no more than 3.4 grams of salt. Athletes sweat more than average, which means that more electrolytes, including sodium, are lost in addition to moving. As a result, the target group would not be within the general reference frames for salt intake. Sports nutritionist Myrthe Rebattu criticizes this. “It is true that athletes lose more salt. However, it’s impossible to put a number on this because everyone’s sweat and salt concentration ratio is different.”

The Nutrition Center also notes that there are not many vegetables in the ready meal. The meal contains around 120 grams of vegetables, which is half the recommended amount of vegetables. Rebattu also believes that there are very few vegetables in the food. However, she emphasizes that the target group that eats these ready-to-eat sports foods often eats these foods for lunch and dinner. She believes that it would be beneficial for the manufacturer to include more vegetables and not assume that the customer will eat several sports foods every day.