Habit #1: Prioritize Sleep
Sleep is a secret weapon. We know that poor sleep is associated with low energy, increased blood sugar, and decreased immune function. Poor sleep can directly impact memory, mood, and grades. But many people don’t know that slight increases in sleep boost sports performance. In a 2011 study of the Stanford men’s basketball team, increasing their sleep to about an average of 8 hours a night improved their 3 point and free throw shots improved by 9 percent in just 7 weeks! And this makes sense—in addition to its importance in muscle recovery, sleep in crucial for consolidating memory of important plays and drills, not to mention academic concepts.
How to help your children sleep better?
- Have a set bedtime that does not vary too much on weekends. If your teen stays up until 2 am on a Saturday and sleeps in until 11 am the next day, it is very likely that she will have a hard time falling asleep before midnight on Sunday and it will take her days to catch up.
- Ideally, put that phone away an hour before bedtime! Even on “sleep mode”, just seeing a phone is incredibly stimulating and can impair getting into a deep restful sleep. Have a family docking location in a central area outside of everyone’s bedrooms. Each family can commit to a “bedtime” for their phone.
- Help your child develop a sleep time routine—reading, bath, shower, listening to music—whatever it is (and it should avoid screens), signals the body to wind down and prep for a deep restful sleep.
- Our sleep rooms should be like a cool dark cave—good shades are a good investment!
- Teens should get a minimum of 8 hours of sleep a night (ideally 9) and younger children 9-10. This can be very hard with sports, homework, and activities. It takes about 3 days to recover from a bad night’s sleep. If possible, prioritize sleep over early morning workouts, especially within a few days of meets, tournaments, and games. Many high school athletic directors are recognizing the importance of good sleep and are limiting early morning lifts and practices.
Healthy Habit #2: Decrease added sugars!
Too much added sugar can lead to insulin resistance, which in itself can set off a whole cascade of inflammation and metabolic disarrangement. Inflammation and insulin resistance are the root cause of many diseases. Decreasing added sugar helps with maintaining a healthier weight, can help with clearer skin, and can improve energy and mood. A big sugar load before a practice, game, or even a test, can lead to a crash of energy and hurt performance.
How much sugar is too much? A good place to start is to aim for no more than 24 grams in 24 hours. That is the budget—24 grams in 24 hours, and even less is better as there is no nutritional benefit to consuming added sugars. Most labels now distinguish between natural sugar (which occurs in milk and fruit) from added sugars (which can be disguised under many names like high fructose corn syrup, concentrated fruit juice, rice syrup, maltodextrin, amongst many others). 24 grams is the same amount as 6 teaspoons of sugar. It gets confusing because we tend to think in teaspoons, but sugar is listed in labels as grams. When reading a label it is not only important to read the amount of added sugars, but also the amount of servings in the container. For example, a 99 cent can of Arizona Iced Tea contains about 25 grams of added sugar per serving—but there are THREE servings in that can! One can has three times the amount of your daily added sugar budget.
The easiest way to keep to your daily sugar budget? Avoid drinking sugary drinks. Your best bet for healthy beverages is always water and plain milk. We all know that soda contains unhealthy amounts of sugar (some 20 ounce bottles contain 77 grams of sugar). But many drinks that we think of as healthier—chocolate milk, sports drinks, sweetened coffees and teas, and concentrated juice contain more than the daily budget in a single serving container. And most sugary drinks also lack fiber—which means that there is nothing to slow its absorption leading to large spikes in insulin. So always choose a real piece of fruit over juice. And be mindful of other places added sugar can hide—sauces and dressings, flavored yogurts, and many “low-fat” processed products.
Healthy Habit #3: The Winning Plate
We are always told to “eat healthy”—but what that means is rarely explained. Almost all diets converge on eating vegetables. The USDA recommends 5 servings a day. The best way to get your daily veggies? Aim for a produce plus a protein for every meal and snack. Even better—aim to have every meal be the winning plate: ½ fruit and veggies, ¼ protein, and ¼ whole grains.
Examples of a winning breakfast:
- Avocado toast with an egg, smashed avocado, salt and pepper on whole wheat toast
- Steel cut oatmeal or plain yogurt with berries and nuts
- Eggs and veggie scramble
Examples of a winning lunch:
- Salad with chicken or hard boiled eggs
- Burrito bowl: ¼ brown rice, ¼ black beans, salsa, ½ veggies (including avocado)
- Turkey sandwich on whole grain bread with cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, avocado and pickles
- Hummus with carrots, celery, and other raw veggies
Examples of winning snacks: produce plus a protein
- Fruit and cheese
- Guacamole with carrots and celery for dipping
- Plain yogurt with nuts and berries
- Peanut butter and celery sticks
Examples of a winning dinner:
- ¼ whole grain pasta with tomato sauce, ¼ chicken, and ½ salad
- ¼ brown rice, ¼ meat or beans of your choice, ½ veggies
- Burrito with whole grain tortilla, meat of choice, cheese, and veggies of choice
If you want to learn more about what you can do to have a successful and healthy year, schedule an appointment with one our OrthoHealth doctors and dietitians. Call 847-324-3020 or respond to this email with OH in the subject line to learn more.
Dr. Lynn Gettleman Chehab
