Olympic Athletes' Breakfast: Meat And Nuts Supply More Energy, Mental Focus

How do Olympic athletes start their day? Naturally, they eat breakfast but it's not just a breakfast to sustain the day. It is a breakfast that could give them more and more energy, focus and drive.

So, what food are recommended for Olympian's breakfast? Charles R. Poliquin, a strength coach that has trained professional and Olympic athletes recommends a breakfast that starts off the athlete's day with food that could provide optimal leanness, energy and sustained mental focus. These would be a great idea for hardcore athletes, as noted by Gizmodo.

Poliquin stated that meat and nuts breakfast raises both dopamine and acetylcholine, which are the two most neurotransmitters for focus and drive. He further stated that meat allows for a slow and a steady rise in blood sugar. On the other hand, nuts provide a great source of healthy smart fats that allows sugar to remain stable for an extended period of time. He then suggests a teaspoon of fish oil to lessen inflammation in the body and mitigate the insulin response after eating breakfast.

For a professional strength coach, a healthy breakfast for athletes includes one or two Buffalo meat patties on a day with a handful of macadamia nuts, a large venison steak and cashews on another and eight or ten gluten-free chicken sausages on another. Poliquin said that meat and nuts provide protein but are also high in calories. These are the reasons why he recommends more meat and nuts for athletes for breakfast.

Meanwhile, what does the Olympic-record breaker, Michael Phelps, eat for breakfast? According to Independent, in 2008, Phelps eat about 12,000 calories each day. He eats three fried egg sandwiches with cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, fried onions and mayonnaise with two cups of coffee. He also eats one five-egg omelet, one bowl of grain, three slices of French toast and three chocolate chip pancakes. That's for breakfast only. As of today, Phelps chooses to eat a large bowl of porridge, a large omelet with ham and cheese, fresh fruit and coffee for breakfast. These are enough to sustain an Olympic day training and bag a medal.