To eat or not to eat?

[Kajojek]

What is better before doing big dives, eating a small breakfast or going on empty stomach? If eating is better, what kind of foods? Fruits?

 

[rddk]

Never dive with an empty stomach,best thing is eat things that do not make u heavy and that aren't complex for the digestion, for example i eat in the3 morning a glass of milk than some bread with honey chew well the food and u'll not have problems, than is up to ya to check out what u eat and feel confortable after short time, obliviusly avoid foods like coffee and tea or redbull...

 

[diver87]

Milk is not a good idea. It stimulates your slime production... But that is individual.

 

[trux]

Milk is not a good idea. It stimulates your slime production...

According to the document Milk & Mucus from apneanutrition.com, there is no evidence for milk causing increased mucus secretion. Well, if you have an allergic reaction to dairy products, you'll certainly want to avoid it anyway, but otherwise the fear of milk (rather common among freedivers) does not seem to have any rational basis.

 

[Erik]

I need a 2-hr window after eating or I cant dive without getting heartburn. Probably more important is hydration and what you ate the night before.

Cheers,
Erik

 

[project1.00]

Gas-x .. makes a difference

 

[hank49]

On hunting days I eat a huge bowl of oatmeal, a little milk and honey, followed by a 2-3 banana shake with 6 raw egg whites and a little milk. This is at least 3 hours before I get in the water. I don't eat again until I'm done for the day. I drink a lot of coconut water, gatorade and water.
If I eat any meat an hour or less before freediving, bad heartburn. It's like the food wants to come back up my throat. BUT, I can eat whatever before scuba diving. It's only free diving that gives me heartburn.
I don't drink alcohol at all now, but years ago when I did, I would get heartburn scuba diving the next day.

 

[tuna]

Thanks guys...how about coffee? I drink 2 to 5 cups a day...does it greatly affects my breathold?

 

[Gahiel]

caffeine is a CNS stimulant, so it will increase heart rate, along with flushing / pallor. For breath holding i don't think that taking a stimulant ie (caffeine) is a great way to increase your diving time. Because caffeine can exert it's effect in the body up to eight hours after ingestion, it's effects can be very long lasting (although mild depending on the dose) personally i don't think that it's going to improve your breathold, however at our level of apnea, i doubt that it's going to make much difference.

However i could be completely wrong. However drinking 2-5 cups of coffee per day is going to increase your resting heart rate, and by doing that you are going to be decreasing your breath holding times.

 

[tuna]

Ok thanks Gahiel...

 

[cdavis]

Caffeine is interesting. If you have a caffiene addiction, like me, not getting your fix before diving is a bad idea, personal experience.

Logically, at least as far as I understand it (and agree with the above reasoning) caffeine should reduce breath hold ability. However, that is not my experience. Several times I have set pbs for dive time after a relatively large caffeine hit and I've never knowingly experienced a drop in performance. The pbs could be coincidence, but I can't help but wonder.

Connor

 

[blueface]

Caffeine is interesting. If you have a caffiene addiction, like me, not getting your fix before diving is a bad idea, personal experience.

Logically, at least as far as I understand it (and agree with the above reasoning) caffeine should reduce breath hold ability. However, that is not my experience. Several times I have set pbs for dive time after a relatively large caffeine hit and I've never knowingly experienced a drop in performance. The pbs could be coincidence, but I can't help but wonder.

Connor

I have also experienced this. Lots of coffee and then good breath. It does not affect the way I feel too much but it might be easier to BO with lots of caffeine in your system.

 

[tuna]

It does not affect the way I feel too much but it might be easier to BO with lots of caffeine in your system.

May I ask what does BO mean Sir?

 

[cdavis]

BO = Black out. Its why you always dive with a buddy.

You need to read the How to start freediving thread at the top of the Beginner Freediving section.

Connor

 

[azapa]

ahh, the eating question..., in my case:
- Before a Static session or personal best attempt, just water
- Before a long spearing session, muesli, honey, bananas does it fine for me, two hours before the dive.

I feel a good nights rest is as important as what you eat too.

Interesting Milk point Trux, i had always thought it best to avoid due to mucus affecting EQ issues. Will read a little more. Thanks.

 

[tuna]

BO = Black out. Its why you always dive with a buddy.

You need to read the How to start freediving thread at the top of the Beginner Freediving section.

Connor

Thanks very much Sir. I also red the How to start freediving tread before anything else sir...

 

[simonfg]

well man how about some tea man......

 

[blueface]

I try to eat some carbs in small amounts and I drink fruit juice or gatorade throughout the day just to reload my glycogen stores. I don't like metoblising something hard to digest if I know I will be diving.

I would think that High glycemic carbs might be better in the morning before because something Low glycemic (high fiber) would stay in your stomach for a long time.

Dairy is hard to digest. High protein meal would be heavy. I am speaking of a day of spearfishing. For freediving in a contest, an empty stomach might be best but I don't know for sure.

When I eat something I can't do dry statics as well as I can on an empty stomach.

 

[tuna]

well man how about some tea man......

Thanks...I started doing this to lower my coffee consumption...I don't want to blackout without a sign...

 

[Happy]

Hi! What I could recommend is begin revising your diet, do cardio and weight training. Diet should consist of 5-6 small meals a day. Avoid sugar and white flour. Meals should contain clean protein, complex carbohydrates, veggies and fruit. I would recommend fruit in the AM as they still contain sugars. Example: breakfast- 3 egg whites, 1/2 ounce low fat cheese, 1/2 cup fat free cottage cheese, whole wheat bagel with 2 Tbsp. light cream cheese; Lunch: chicken sandwich (no mayo) with whole wheat bread, and veggies; dinner: 4-6 ounces of chicken or fish with 1/2 cup of brown rice and 1-1 1/2 cups of steamed broccoli. Things should never be fried, baking or grilling meat prevents extra calories. Weight training 30-45 minutes 3X/week and alternate with 45 minutes of cardio between weight training days. Identify what your heart rate is at 60-70% of your max and note how you feel; this will help you to know when you are in "the zone" without taking your pulse in between training time. I would also recommend checking out Livestrong.com; they have some great articles. I have had to do alot of research in my time to determine what works "better" for weight/fat" loss. I would also google "caloric intake" for your height/weight/gender". This can give you an idea of calorie intake you are going to be adjusting. For weight loss, I calculate 10-12 calories per pound I weigh to determine my caloric intake for weight loss. It's also better to eat smaller meals throughout the day, in between meals I like to snack on almonds or grab a FiberOne bar-they are 140 calories and high in fiber (which helps your digestive system). I hope some of this helps (=By Bella
Best of Luck!