Originally published April 1995
Lorna Garden
Athletes, both professional and recreational need a diet high in carbohydrates to replenish glycogen stores and ensure maximum energy levels every day. But have you ever wondered exactly how much carbohydrate you need?
The amount you require depends on your weight and activity level.
Use the following guide from ‘The Taste of Fitness, by Helen O'Connor and Donna Hay' to work out how much you need:
Activity level Grams of Carbohydrate/ kg body weight/day
Light (< 1 hour per day) 4-5
Light Moderate (1 hour per day) 5-6
Moderate (1-2 hours per day) 6-7
Moderate/Heavy (2-4 hours per day) 7-8
Heavy (<4 hours per day) 8-10
NOTE: Activity Levels refer to the intensity as well as the duration of the activity. The time refers to the amount of time you are physically active during training, not the amount of time at training.
Are you meeting your carbohydrate needs?
To calculate your own needs, multiply your weight by the figures corresponding to your activity level and your carbohydrate requirements are between these figures.
For example if you weigh 70kg, and have a moderate activity level, you need between 6-7 grams of carbohydrate per kg body weight which is equivalent to 420g-490g of carbohydrate.
Now keep a food diary for a couple of days, and using the carbohydrate checker below, find out if you are eating enough carbohydrate.
If not, bump up your intake of rice, pasta, cereals, fruit, vegetables and legumes, until you are closer to meeting your daily needs.
Carbohydrate checker
FOOD SERVE SIZE CARBOHYDRATE (g)
Breads, etc.
Bread,
wholemeal or white 1 slice 12
Bread roll 1 roll 26
Pita bread 1 small 32
English muffin 1 average 30
Crumpet 1 average 13
Dry biscuit eg Ryvita, Cruskit 2 biscuits 12
Rice cakes 2 cakes 20
Cereals
Cooked oats/porridge 1 cup 23
All Bran 1 cup 30
Sustain/Muesli flakes 1 cup 30
Weetbix/vitabrits 2 biscuits 20
Weeties 1 cup 20
Muesli 1 cup 40
Pasta and Rice
Pasta, cooked,
white or wholemeal 1 cup 36
Rice, cooked,
white or brown 1 cup 51
Barley, boiled 1 cup 33
Vegetables
Potato, boiled 1 medium 15
Sweet potato, boiled 1 cup 36
Sweetcorn, boiled 1 cup 36
Parsnip, boiled 1 cup 15
Beetroot, boiled 6 slices 15
Turnip, boiled 1 cup 10
Other vegetables contain only small amounts of carbohydrate.
Legumes & soups
Lentils, boiled 1/2 cup 16
Kidney beans, cooked 1/2 cup 12
Salad bean mix 1/2 cup 13
Minestrone soup 1 bowl 13
Vegetable soup 1 bowl 10
Fruit
Apple 1 medium 13
Apricots 6 medium 13
Banana 1 average 28
Cherry 25 medium 15
Fruit juice, 100% 1 glass 15
Grapes 20 average 15
Kiwifruit 2 medium 17
Melon/cantaloupe 1 small 16
Mango 1 small 16
Mandarin 2 medium 15
Nectarine 4 medium 15
Orange 1 medium 12
Pear 1 medium 15
Strawberries 1 cup 4
Watermelon 2 cups 20
Dairy foods
Milk, skim 1 cup 13
Milk, low fat (eg Rev) 1 cup 14
Milk, full cream 1 cup 11
Yogurt, low fat, fruit 1 tub (200g) 26
Icecream 2 scoops (90g) 19
Exceed Fluid &
Energy Replacement 1 cup 18
Exceed Sports
Nutrition Supplement 1 cup 56
Exceed High
Carbohydrate Source 1 cup 60
Sustagen Gold 1 tetrapack 33
Sustagen Light 1 tetrapack 30
Staminade/Gatorade 1 cup 10
Powerade
Sportsplus 1 cup 18
SOURCE: NUTTAB COMMONWEALTH GOVERNMENT 1990.
REMEMBER: You need to have complex carbohydrate foods every time you eat - at every snack and every meal.
To see how these needs are met, let's take a look at how Collingwood football player, Mick Gayfer's met his carbohydrate requirements.
Mick's activity level ranged from moderate to heavy, therefore his requirements were somewhere between 7-10 grams of carbohydrate/kg body weight each day. His usual weight was 87kg.
FOOD CARBOHYDRATE PROVIDED GRAMS
Breakfast:
Wholegrain cereal 2 heaped bowls 260
Skinny milk 2 cups 26
Wholemeal toast 2 slices 23
Jam 4 tsp 19
Orange juice 1 glass 15
Snack
Apple 2 large 47
Lunch
wholemeal rolls 2 52
filled with:
lean chicken 0
salad 3
low fat fruit yogurt 1 tub 26
Apple 1 large 23
Water 2 glasses 0
After training
1 can Exceed Sports
Nutrition Supplement 54
Water 0
Dinner
Pasta 3 cups 111
Tomato/vegetable sauce 5
Bread rolls 2 52
Minestrone soup 1 bowl 20
Fruche 1 tub 25
Snack
Wholemeal toast 2 slices 23
Jam 4 tsp 19
Shake
skim milk, skim milk powder, icecream, topping 40
Total carbohydrate intake 840 grams
FROM 'FOOTY FOOD' By LORNA GARDEN.
