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Fitness-Boosting If op mal fitness is your goal, there's no ge ng around your diet. That's right, fitness is not all about designing the ideal workout plan, as your diet can easily make or break an otherwise excellent regimen. Knowing which foods and specific nutrients deliver the most bang for your buck in terms of suppor ng your fitness goals can go a long way. First and foremost, however, keep in mind that while pre- packaged processed foods may be convenient, cooking from scratch using fresh unprocessed ingredients is an absolute must if you want to improve your health. Processing tends to denature nutrients, so what you end up with is typically a far inferior version compared to the real thing. Fitness-Boosting Foods and Helpful Supplements Here, I'll review eight of my top picks for "most valuable fitness foods," and the featured ar cle in Men's Fitness magazine lists another 20. I don't agree with all of their selec ons however, such as pasteurized milk and yoghurt, unfermented soy products, and whole wheat bread. The following eight however, are foods and specific nutrients that I believe are among the most helpful, in terms of suppor ng your fitness and overall good health. Aim to incorporate as many of these foods into your diet on a daily or weekly basis, and you'll be off to a great start. Keep in mind that all of the items on this list should be organic, and if possible grass-fed/pastured or wild. If you're like most people—including many athletes—you're probably ea ng too many carbs. Your body's need for sugar is, biologically, very small. And when you consume more than you need, your body turns it into fat. Remember, you do not get fat from ea ng healthy fats—you get fat from ea ng too many carbs (sugar). Hence, what you'll find on my list are primarily healthful fats, which is what you'll want to replace the lost carbs with for energy, along with high- quality proteins and a couple of specific nutrients that are par cularly beneficial for boos ng athle c performance. Remember: you cannot exercise your way out of a bad diet, and the first step toward improving your diet is to cut out as much sugar/fructose and grain-carbs as possible, and replace the carbs with healthful fats, and a moderate amount of high- quality protein. 1: Whole, Fresh Avocado Avocado, which is classified as a fruit, are rich in monounsaturated fat that is easily burned for energy. As I've men oned before, elimina ng grain carbs is one of the best ways to support your health and maintain your weight, but when you cut down on carbs, you need to increase your intake of healthy fats. Avocados are an excellent source, along with organic raw bu er, coconut oil, and organic pastured eggs, just to name a few. Healthful fats provide an ideal form of fuel for sustained energy during a workout. It's far be er than carb-loading for most people. I've previously wri en about the importance of avoiding fructose and grains before and a er a workout, as sugar will negate many of the benefits you reap from exercise. This is especially true if you do high intensity exercises, which will boost your body's produc on of human growth hormone (HGH). Consuming carbs within a couple of hours prior to or a er such exercise will effec vely prevent HGH from being produced. There's also evidence sugges ng that limi ng your intake of protein can be helpful for long-term good health and the preven on of cancer. At the very least, most people are consuming far too much poor-quality protein, such as beef By Dr. Mercola 8 Fitness-Boosting F o o d s a n d N u t r i e n t s Page 44 | Abby's Magazine - www.AbbysMag.com