Foods you should eat more of

Can you have too much of a good thing? Not when it comes to the foods I'll present in this weekly blog. The more frequently you incorporate these into your nutrition plan, the better your results from exercise training will be. See last week's post for #1.

2. Sardines
Most folks don’t eat foods that are rich in omega-3 and calcium. Just one 90 g tin of sardines will provide 10 times more omega-3 than tuna and over 300 mg of calcium - more than one cup of low-fat milk.

In comparison to tuna, another bonus is that sardines are lower on the food chain which means the levels of contaminants such as mercury are much lower than other cold water fish.

3. Quinoa
Quinoa (pronounced keen-wah) is referred to as a grain because of its taste and cooking qualities but it’s actually a seed. Quinoa is high in protein (up to 18%), and is almost a complete balance of the amino acids that humans need. Quinoa is gluten-free and high in iron - a mineral many athletes are deficient in.

Quinoa is versatile, simply use it any time you’d normally eat rice, pasta or couscous. The seeds may be sprouted, or ground into flour, and are often sold made into products such as pasta, or as rolled flakes for breakfast cereal that can be nutritious gluten free alternatives to wheat based products.

Cooking Quinoa: Quinoa needs to be rinsed before use, to remove a bitter taste the plant produces called saponin, as a protective coating. Use 1 cup Quinoa to 1¾ cups water, bring this to the boil and simmer for 10 minutes. Turn the heat off and leave for 10 minutes before removing the lid. Quinoa may also be toasted before cooking in the oven or in a dry frypan, giving it a lovely roasted flavour when cooked (continue as above after toasting). Uncooked Quinoa may be added to soups and stews as you would rice.

Dr Paul Cribb is an award-winning sports scientist, author, personal trainer and the creator of mp-body.com – the first ever science-based, research-proven, nationally accredited body transformation program. Learn more here.