Hi Nancy,

I have a question about getting calcium from foods vs pills.

I’ve been a lacto-octo vegetarian for about 30 years and I’m a big soy milk drinker. You say calcium-fortified soy milk is a good source of calcium. I don’t see much difference between getting the calcium from the soy milk or from a pill, because the soy milk has had a calcium pill dissolved in it to make it “fortified”. What’s the difference?

Hi Paul,

There's not much of a difference in terms of calcium. But when you get the calcium via soy milk, you at least get the protein and a myriad of other good nutrients along with the calcium. If you just take the pill, you might “forget” to drink the soy milk and you'll miss out on all the good stuff it offers--including high quality protein that vegetarians might not get otherwise.

As you know, eating whole foods is always preferable to taking supplements; so many bioactive compounds are in foods that are not in pills. Supplementing a whole food can further boost the health value.

Enjoy your fortified soy milk!

Nancy

For more information about calcium, protein and supplements:

Nancy Clark's Sports Nutrition Guidebook, Chapters 1. 7 and 11

http://www.nancyclarkrd.com

Yes! Despite popular belief, eating a fruit- or grain-based snack, such as an energy bar, banana, handful of pretzels, or an apple, just 5 minutes before a workout can boost your energy at the end of the session. Research also suggests that eating 15 minutes before you exercise is as effective for boosting your energy as eating an hour before.

Your body can digest food while you exercise. Your muscles get to use the food to enhance your workout, as long as you are exercising at a pace that you can maintain for more than half an hour. Most athletes train at a moderate pace, hence they can benefit from a pre-exercise energy booster. If you’ll be doing a sprint workout, you might want to eat an hour or two pre-exercise, so the food has time to empty from your stomach.

Your best bet is to experiment with different pre-exercise snacks, to determine when you can eat them without causing distress, and which ones settle best and help you perform at your best.

Having a drink of water right before exercise is also a smart idea, even if you will be exercising for less than an hour. Water is also helpful during exercise. Water can turn into sweat In only 10 minutes (in trained athletes). Ingested fluid moves rapidly, so don’t hesitate to keep drinking even towards the end of your workout.

Be wise, fuel well, and enjoy your high energy

Nancy Clark MS RD CSSD

  http://www.nancyclarkrd.com