The Ultimate Healthy Diet for High Performance Swimmers

We swimmers like to know what the pros have to say about things. That way, we can emulate them and become slightly more awesome ourselves.
We already know that a certain Olympic breaststroker swears by the Underwater Audio iPod shuffle. So we buy one. We know that another Olympic swimmer loves Speedo, so we buy one of those, too. What about diet? What do the pros have to say about how we should eat?

Natalie Coughlin’s Dietary Staples

Natalie likes to eat plant-based sources of calcium to keep her bones strong. Some examples are:
Almonds, collard greens, and dried plums.
She also likes to eat yogurt as a dairy source of calcium. Her favorite “on the go” snacks are nuts, dark chocolate and dried fruit. She also eats lots of eggs for vitamin D.
She even raises her own chickens. Which I thought was interesting because I do too. But I never realized eggs have so much vitamin D.
Very interesting.

Fat Kids at Heart can Still Be Swimmers

USA Swimming claims that fats have received an unwarranted bad reputation. Fact: Donuts and bacon are not the only sources of fat in this world.
Although, they may be the most delicious.
Plant-based fats are absolutely recommended for swimmers. Nuts, seeds, avocado, olives, olive oil, other plant oils (vegetable, canola, sunflower, etc), peanut butter and other nut butters, and ground flax seed and flax seed oil all make the list.
And there are many animal-based fats that are recommended too: fatty fish (salmon, tuna, mackerel).
 

Your Thoughts

Which of the above mentioned foods are you a huge fan of?
Any other food endorsements for swimmers?
Any tips or tricks? Please share in the comment section below:
 

News Flash: Phelps Can Eat Anything he Wants

It has been reported that Michael Phelps eats a 12,000-calorie-a-day diet to keep up with his calorie expenditure.
Let’s be real, he performs at a higher intensity than the normal person or even most athletes. And he trains way more than the normal person. So, these rules don’t apply to you.
He eats by his own dietary manual.