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Jordan Higgins
Mrs. Hofmann
ENGL 1102
April 22, 2014
Note to Reader:
Main things I worked on since last revision were adding a section about my interview with
Michael DeGraffenreid, who is a Crossfit certified trainer and owns a gym. I also moved some sections
as noted above to what I feel makes it flow better. Further revision from here can include sentence
and section flow and proper wording, as well as word choice throughout the essay. Does the new
section added contribute to the transition I tried to make between athletes and fine details about
health such as phytonutrients? If not, what could be a good way to tie these together?
Nutritional Outlooks
Ive always had a high respect for nutrition. Our daily habits are what make us. As an athlete
myself, I have a good amount of nutritional knowledge and experience. I value it highly because of the
positive effects I see on my life and my health. It makes me feel better. If I feel better throughout my
day, I am happier and more productive. When eat junk food, I can feel it in my energy levels, fatigue,
alertness, you name it. However when I eat a healthy breakfast, lunch and dinner, take organic vitamins,
and drink lots of water, I feel a world of difference. Its almost comparing apples to oranges.
I considered myself an amateur athlete when I played college football at Benedictine College.
On the contrary, Ive always considered elite athletes as those who are capable of competing in the
Olympics, or professional sports. Obviously, elite athletes have a more strenuous workout regimen than
amateur athletes and non-athletes. Thats only part of the reason theyre at where they are though.
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Proper nutrition is generally accepted as another major factor for success. Much of my personal
nutritional knowledge came from coaches, trainers, as well as classes. I had a good nutritional base.
However, I know plenty of college athletes who do not eat the healthiest, but are still high performers in
their sport. That being said, how do elite athletes view nutrition differently than amateur athletes, and
why?
Yes, it is assumed that performance is highly dependent on nutrition itself, but disregard that for
a moment; does an athletes value placed on nutrition affect his or her level of performance? Or is it vice
versa, where his or her performance affects his or her value of nutrition itself? In other words, do
athletes, elite or amateur, perform well because of increased nutritional knowledge and experience, or
do they get increased knowledge and experience because they perform well? Perhaps both are true at
the same time?
Nutrition is a broad subject, as is nutritional knowledge. The knowledge itself can be quantified
a bit more easily. I inquired about nutritional knowledge, based upon any athlete compared to your
every day person (non-athlete). Doctors from Texas Southern University in Houston conducted a study
among college athletes and non-athletes. These experts had the study pool take a 50 question test that
assessed nutritional knowledge. Females scored higher than males on average and, shockingly, non-
athletes actually scored higher than athletes (Sowell A67). I assume that on average, athletes will always
have more knowledge since they interact with it more on a regular basis. It is noted in the study that a
majority of athletes get their nutritional knowledge from trainers, coaches, and sports magazines. It
makes you question what the conductors of the study mean by nutritional knowledge. Why do non-
athletes know more than athletes? If it means strictly book knowledge, then it is still surprising that
athletes know less than non-athletes. After all, the test they took was 50 question multiple choice. This
study did not account for personal experience, just how X affects Y, if you will.
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I also inquired about athletes and the use of medication and supplementation. According to
another study of 3,887 athletes in The American Journal of Sports Medicine, on average, every athlete
uses almost 2 supplements and 1 medication. This trend varies with age and sport type. Athletes of
African or Asian ethnicity were reported using less than half the supplements and medications than
everyone else. It is noted that The final ranking in the championships was unrelated to the quantity of
reported medications or supplements taken. (Tscholl et al. 134) Basically, supplementation does not
have any significance on performance. Athletes who use much less or dont even use at all still win
championships. So far, the trends seem to be contrary to popular belief. Yet another study was done by
the Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition on a sample of 818 elite Finnish athletes to
compare supplement usage from 2002 to 2009. In 2002, 81% of athletes took supplements when in
2009, only 73% did (Haikkinen et al.). Even though the trend is lowering, that is still significant
supplement usage. It seems that if elite athletes do value nutrition differently than others,
supplementation and medication do not matter quite as much as perceived. Most athletes I see do take
something to help their bodies, but like shown in the studies, it may not be just for performance.
Perhaps its to help with daily lifestyle, which can indirectly affect performance. So what about other
components of nutrition, such as ones daily diet, which contributes to that lifestyle?
Like mentioned earlier, most people consider elite athletes as exhibiting extreme nutrition
discipline. I had this notion that they are nutritional experts and know the ins and outs of everything
that has to do with nutrition. This idea was soon shot down once I read the blog of Nichole Porath.
Nichole is a marathon runner capable of Olympic competition. Her nutritional knowledge has been
developed quite a bit (as it does with any expert), but that wasnt always the case. She ate a lot of
processed food and frozen, microwavable meals, before she made the mental switch to start cooking
organic meals, which took much willpower. My previous mileage before the nutrition switch was a high
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of 90 miles/week, which left me feeling tired and spent. I was now able to train at 100 miles/week in
back-to-back weeks without the same feeling. (Porath, My Nutritional Journey) She also noted that
she did not bruise as easily and healed faster. What a change! I notice similar results. Whenever I train, if
I eat more processed and refined foods, I feel less energy and do not perform as well. When I eat a lot of
greens and colors, I feel great and recover rapidly! So regardless of Nicholes discipline over nutrition,
she was still able to run 90 miles per week. However, once she changed her mentality and became more
conscious with what she was putting in her body, she noticed increased miles per week and felt better. I
call that a win-win. And for what? A simple paradigm shift?
Now Nichole is one athlete with a team to help her train. How do team sports, such as soccer or
hockey approach proper nutrition? Many athletic teams also regulate diet for the athletes and try to
provide the most nutritious meals. Swide Magazine is a Dolce & Gabbana luxury magazine online. They
cover everything from culture to nutrition. Swide Magazine conducted an interview with AC Milans
nutritionist. AC Milan is a professional Italian soccer team. The nutritionist interviewed mentioned that
above all else, discipline is fundamental. For food preparation, food should be cooked at non-extreme
temperatures, vegetables should be raw or steamed, and red meat should be either rare or medium
rare and fish should be baked (for the best final nutritional value) (Swide Magazine). Thats very
specific. Apparently the way that food is cooked determines how much nutrients are left in it. AC Milan
is very aware of where the food comes from too. The selection of excellent raw ingredients rich in
vitamins, minerals and amino acids, enables you to put nutritious food on the table that allows your
body to function at its best (Swide Magazine). AC Milan also notes that they try to combine foods of
different color to enrich flavor. When it comes to diet, elite teams spend a lot of effort to ensure that
proper food is being supplied. Although athletes dont do this themselves, some of this expertise
probably rubs off onto the athletes. If theyre around well-structured diets prepared for them, Id guess
they get a pretty good idea of why those diets are the way they are.
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From another point of view, I personally interviewed Michael DeGraffenreid. Michael is a
certified Crossfit trainer and owns 300 Functional Fitness, a Crossfit-inspired gym in Wichita, Kansas.
Michael collaborates and plans workout regimen with available diet support to 70 clients, which are
mixed beginning athletes to elite. He also is partnered with Josh Berry, a top Crossfit Games competitor,
who designs the workouts and also suggest diet tips. At 300, Michael and Josh promote the Paleolithic
diet. Paleo consists of eating like our ancestors; lean cuts of meat, fresh greens, fruits and vegetables,
nuts, seeds, berries, fish, etc. Michael explains, Paleo is not a fad diet, but a way of life. Its been
around for thousands of years Regardless of who you are, whether youre a beginner athlete or an
advanced athlete, your body needs the proper fuel to perform For Crossfit, you need high efficiency
fuel for a high intensity environment If youre a Ferrari, you need high efficiency fuel. Michael also
notes The greatest bodies, leanest athletes, highest performing athletes are very in tune with their
body. I wouldnt say all of them have the strictest diets in the world, but they know what their body
needs to perform so that they can be at their best (DeGraffenreid). These athletes employ techniques
to aid in diet. For instance, a lot of people have a food journal. They do this to see why eating X food
results in a good or bad performance, energy, etc. In the end, this helps them scientifically pinpoint what
food is doing what to them. If they eat a lot of meat with a lot of fat and some refined foods and noticed
a bad workout, they can easily go back, identify the cause, and adjust for the next day. (DeGraffenreid).
That does takes some discipline. I feel it would be hard personally to keep track of everything I eat;
because I eat a lot, being six foot four! Im sure if I did, it wouldnt be anything close to Paleo. Just
before conducting this interview, I had a frozen pizza. I definitely felt a bit of personal guilt afterwards.
Outside of that I eat peanut butter, bread, yogurt, the occasional fast food. None of this fits with the
Paleo regimen. Paleo doesnt mess around. There may be exceptions, but it seems that most advanced
athletes ensure they intake healthy meals.
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Speaking of healthy meals, is there something to colors within the foods that we put in our
bodies? If you ask anyone off the street, athlete or not, they can tell you basic components of nutrition.
You have your vitamins and minerals, and then you have carbs, protein, and fat. Thats all you need,
right? Thats not what scientists at the Nutrilite Health Institute think. Nutrilite has studied nutrition
within foods for over 75 years, since they created the multivitamin in the 1920s. Nutrilite scientists
today are still identifying unique, plant-based nutrients. They discovered that these phytonutrients were
categorized according to what color the food is that contains them. For example, EGCG is only contained
in green fruits and vegetables ("America's Phytonutrient Report"). So thats great. But what does all this
matter? After all, these phytonutrients arent common knowledge. A good reason for this is the fact that
no dietary standard is set for the intake of phytonutrients in our current nutrition system through the
U.S. Government. After all, how do you quantify something that doesnt make a significant difference in
nutrition? Phytonutrients are not essential to basic health, and therefore are not common knowledge.
Nutrilite also reports that 76% of Americans have a phytonutrient gap. Many people are not conscious
of what they eat and therefore do not track what they are missing in their diet. However, as the experts
will tell you (as can I from personal experience), optimum nutrition is the difference between 1
st
and 2
nd

place in the arena. What you eat makes a difference on how you perform. Maybe not right away, but
over a span of time, what you put in your body makes a world of difference.
Despite this science that has been conducted, few athletes know about these additional
components of nutrition. Why? When I mention phytonutrients in conversation, some people think its a
new fad diet or product. Michael DeGraffenreid even notes that out of his 70 clients he trains, maybe 5
know what a phytonutrient is (DeGraffenreid). Little do they know, phytonutrients are a major
component of optimal nutrition for optimal performance. Phytonutrients are the nutrients that cover
the fine details of our health and are less accessible today than ever, because of a combination of
processed foods, longer shelf lives, and even just cooking food frequently and breaking down those
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phytonutrients. When asked whether he thinks knowledge of phytonutrients and how they work within
the foods we eat would aid in competitiveness among athletes, Michael responded yes. Absolutely.
Any athlete that wants to be the best is looking for a competitive edge, whether its in regards to their
training, or when it comes to their diet, If theres something that can give them an edge and they
firmly believe in it (and it wasnt dumb science, and theres truth behind it), I think they would do
anything to get their hands on any type of competitive edge that was legal (DeGraffenreid).
Overall, elite athletes seem to be very aware, almost to the fine print, of nutrition and its
components. Although supplement usage has gone down over the years, proper nutrition still plays a
very important role for elite athletes. These athletes seem to be very aware of what they put in their
bodies, why, when, and all the details about nutrition overall. They may not have the specific nutritional
knowledge, such as what lutein (a phytonutrient) does for your eyes, but they may have a good idea
that raw vegetables contain a lot of phytonutrients that are very helpful. If nothing else, they know that
colorful fruits and vegetables with lean meats yield the most effective fuel for performance. These elite
athletes take the knowledge from credible sources and apply it to their regimen, and benefit from it.
There is a reason these athletes are elite, and work ethic is only part of it. It looks like how they use
nutrition is what makes the difference.
Jordan: youre on the right track here. Keep going. See me as needed.





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Works Cited
"America's Phytonutrient Report." Nutrilite.com. Nutrilite Health Institute, n.d. Web. 31 Mar
2014. <http://www.nutrilite.com/en-us/Media/AmericaPhytonutrientReport.pdf>.
DeGraffenreid, Michael. Personal Interview. 20 Apr 2014.
Haikkinen, Anni, Antti Alaranta, Ilkka Helenius, and Tommi Vasankari. "Use of dietary
supplements in Olympic athletes is decreasing: a follow-up study between 2002 and 2009." Journal of
the International Society of Sports Nutrition. 8.1 (2011): n. page. Web. 25 Mar. 2014.
<http://www.jissn.com/content/8/1/1>.
Interview by Hugo McCafferty. "Nutrition is key to Milan's high performance." Swide Magazine. .
07 Feb 2013. Web. 10 Apr 2014. http://www.swide.com/sport-man/sport-interview/nutrition-is-key-to-
ac-milan-footballers-an-interview-with-the-nutritionist/2013/02/07.
Porath, Nichole. "My Nutrition Journey." Nichole's Running Journey. N.p., Oct 2013. Web. 24
Mar. 2014. <http://nicholerunning.blogspot.com/p/nutrition.html>.
Sowell, K, S.M Ahmed, and J.P Warber. "The Nutrition Knowledge of Collegiate Division I Male
and Female Scholarship Basketball Players Compared to a Random Sample of Non-Athletes at an Urban
University." Journal of the American Dietetic Association. 106.8 (2006). Print.
Tscholl, P, JM Alonso, G oll, A Junge, and J vorak. "The Use of rugs and Nutritional
Supplements in Top-Level Track and Field Athletes." The American Journal of Sports Medicine. 38.1
(2010): 133-40. Print.