A fruit (or a barry) that will give you an amazing boost of energy for your next dance practice or dancesport competition.
Next time you are getting ready for your dance practice or competition consider throwing in a few bananas as a quick nutrient packed snack to be enjoyed before, after or in between your sessions. So, what is it about this fruit that makes it so important for consumption?
An amazing source of Energy
Mother Nature bundled up a perfect energy bar for you in a shape of banana. Just the right amount of carbohydrates will keep you running smoothly and help to keep up those muscles working properly. It’s very affordable, hardly creates any mess, and totally natural and healthy. Eating a banana within two hours before an intensive exercise can help sustain your energy levels throughout a long workout. Grabbing a bite of a banana 30 mins before you go out on that competitive floor will boost your energy enough to last a full 4-5 dance final. Not to mention it will help the muscular recovery afterwards.
Potassium
Medium size banana will provide you with about 13% of your daily potassium requirement. The potassium is important to maintain proper heart function, blood-sugar maintenance and fluid balance. It is an important electrolyte that helps to prevent muscle cramping and plays an important role in muscle growth and development. Since dancers produce a lot of movement, it is important to keep the body in shape. Bananas with it’s high potassium concentration should definitely do the job.
Vitamin C
In order to keep your muscles, tendons and ligaments in good shape vitamin C rich foods have to be key element of your daily diet. One medium banana provides about 14% of your daily vitamin C requirement. Also to mention that Vitamin C helps to prevent common cold symptoms, heal wounds, improves blood flow and is used in a lot of moisturizers. Yep, bananas could also be used as a skin moisturizer.
Magnesium
Magnesium plays an important role in metabolism by helping your body getting the most nutrients from your meals. It aids bone development, wound healing, and prevents heart diseases. A large banana provides about 21% of the daily recommended intake for women and 17% of the recommended intake for men. But you can pretty much double that for dancers, since… you know, competitions and stuff.
Author: Maria Depenweiller, BaSc, PHEc – Nutrition Consultant
Photography: Egorich.ca
Exclusively for Dance Comp Review