FOODS like, beetroot, spinach, rocket and celery are a key component of a balanced healthy diet and count towards five portions of fruit and vegetables per day.
These foods contain a chemical called nitrate which is converted into nitric oxide in our bodies. This helps relax and widen blood vessels, potentially lowering blood pressure and supporting cardiovascular health.
Within sports nutrition, nitrates in beetroot increase oxygen delivery to muscles and improve muscular or cardiovascular endurance. Omega 3 fats play a key role in this process too by helping with the production of nitric oxide from nitrate. Omega 3s known as EPA and DHA are the main ones our bodies need. Fish and especially oily fish are good sources of EPA and DHA. Oily fish includes salmon, mackerel, sardines, herring, pilchards, sprats and trout etc. Fresh and canned tuna no longer counts as oily fish because levels of Omega 3 EPA and DHA are way less than the oily fish mentioned previously. This advice was updated in 2018 where before this tuna did count as oily fish.
The public health guidelines for fish are two portions per week of which one should be oily and the other white or shell. If you don’t eat fish an Omega 3 supplement containing between 450-900mg of DHA and EPA is advised per day. If you follow a vegan diet, it’s a natural algae supplement by way of an alternative.
As a registered nutritionist, I always advocate for whole foods and a varied balanced diet rather than relying solely on concentrated supplements.
• Lee McCusker (BA; MSc; MSc; MSc; ANutr) is a registered nutritionist from Belfast and can be found on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Email: attentivenutrition@ gmail.com
