A good diet is integral to how dancers look, feel & perform

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A dancer needs to remain fit at all times. Your health can mean the world to you, so it becomes important that you take good care of what and how much you consume.
A dancer’s diet changes with the intensity of his/her rehearsals or practises. Often, when I meet aspiring dancers and dance enthusiasts, they keep asking me diet-related questions.
For a dancer, diet goes hand in hand with how we look, feel, and perform. But, how do we find out what’s best for our body? We often get nutrition advice from our friends, family, teachers, studio owners, magazines, the Internet etc. Unfortunately, a few dancers have access to a professional nutrition expert, who understands the dancer’s special dietary needs.
I recently happened to bump into my old nutritionist friend Pooja Bhargava, who has now opened her own consultancy F.U.N. in Mumbai. We sat down and chatted for old time sake; that is when I mentioned my column and how I wanted to advice dancers on the right diet. She helped me write this piece today.

DOs
Eat a well-balanced diet of three meals, plus two-three healthy snacks per day. Include plenty of fruits and vegetables, nuts, low fat dairy or calcium-fortified products, lean meat, fish, or vegetarian alternatives like soya, vegetable protein and whole grains.
Our bodies and brains run on fuel called glucose, which is another word for “sugar”. In the morning, our fuel supply is low and needs to be replenished. A light breakfast that includes a starch, dairy, or fruit will bring glucose levels up and give you the energy you need to start the day.
Taking a daily multi-vitamin with minerals is important, it’s not always easy to get all the nutrients we need in a day. As a safe backup, taking a standard daily multi-vitamin with minerals ensures that you are getting the Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA), or the amount scientific research has found to be safe and adequate for all healthy people, including athletes and dancers!
Drink water throughout the day to maintain adequate hydration. Limit your intake of protein and energy drinks.
Snack carefully says Pooja; it is okay to have snacks once in a while when access to less processed whole foods isn’t available. Plan ahead! For instance, a peanut or almond, cashew, soyanut, etc butter sandwich on whole wheat bread provide comparable nutrition and is far less expensive.

DON’Ts
Remember eating less will make you lose weight. In fact, under eating can slow your metabolism, deplete your energy level, and increase body fat storage. If you find it difficult to eat before dance class, have at least a light snack of, for example, fruit and yogurt or crackers and hummus. After class, have another snack — perhaps a half or whole-nut butter, peanut, cashew, almond, tahini, soynut sandwich and fresh or dried fruit or trail mix.
Some dancers over do supplements, so be careful; taking too much of an individual vitamin or mineral supplement may do your body more harm than good by interfering with your body’s normal metabolism. Eating a well-balanced diet can provide all the essential vitamins and minerals your body needs. Do not drink a lot of soda, diet soda, or alcoholic beverages during dance breaks. Both can deplete amounts of certain nutrients in your body. Excess soda intake affects bone health, while alcohol in excess of one or two servings per day can potentially harm the body in a number of ways.
According to Pooja, relying on supplemental foods to replace regular meals or between-meal snacks is also a bad idea. Many are high in sugar and calories; some contain high amounts of sugar alcohol, making them low carb that can create discomfort such as stomach upset, bloating, gas, etc.
Hope all you dance lovers and dancers find these tips handy.