This all sounds all awfully like a body-building thread. Not to step on anyone's toes over here but this is a hockey thread and if anything, a thread for nutrition on athletes, not a thread on how to improve aesthetics or build bulk/size.
For the athletes, the hockey players and people who want to generally live healthier lives they should follow something along the lines of the Paleo diet. I do not care if you follow it to the T and get off the path here or there but majority of your intake should follow their simple rules.
Quite simply.
Organic foods.
You have your greens, your veggies and your proteins. You intake mostly (% speaking) proteins and fats and little carbs. The carbs thing is interesting though because the more active you are, the more carbs you might need and that is fine.
Its funny to me that we were once a humanity of natural farming and natural living then we got off the beaten path because some people wanted to make easier profits and others wanted quicker food and along the way we threw out all the common sense. Some examples of this are GMOs, or how we feed our cows cow meat (hence the creation of mad cow disease) and we store our chickens in unhealthy situations. Basically we are then eating unhealthy animals... Most just stick them with some antibiotics and for those who are wise, they could see the issues with that.
Anyway not to digress into all that (* I recommend listening to the Joe Rogan Experience Podcast with Joel Salatin to understand more)
Back to the diet (which to me, means simply what you intake and not what your avoiding)
I like the Paleo path because its creative and smart. People say it must be HELL to give up or avoid stuff like cookies and pasta. Have you guys ever looked into some of these recipes? Its fantastic. Easy too.
Paleo Pancakes... 2 eggs per banana. Stir/Mix/Blend. Put on a pan and watch the baby cook to a delicious treat. Put on some raw honey/manuka honey, REAL Maple Syrup (not that fake Aunt J's high fructose syrup) and maybe some organic grass fed whip cream and call it a morning. Dayuummmmmm
I hate when people call these type of nutritional diets a fad... because for the first time in a long time this is the first diet that many other groups of people are admitting to its benefits or agreeing with in their lifestyle.
The crossfitters, the paleo experts, the bulletproof biohackers, the hollistic doctors and many MD doctors as well now and much more have their own strict belief but its all very much the same at the core.
Stay away from processed foods. Frozen foods.
Eat your veggies and your greens.
Limit to avoid sugar, even fructose which should just be limited to.
Eat healthy and be varied in your protein (grass fed)
Butter is a healthy fat... fat is great for you and doesnt make you fat or unhealthy
I get sick and tired of looking up healthy trends on the internet now or see a healthy article these days and see it only be justified by calories. Calories in does not equal calories out. There is common sense to that that is true but there are millions of other variables that take place too.
Like your hormones and the chemical make up of your body which by the way can be effected by eating crappy foods.
Like the vitamins/nutrients/minerals involved in foods or that we lack (70% of America is malnourished apparently. This does not mean 70% are poor but that we dont get the adequate nutrition daily)
And much more...
Eat 1000 calories of good healthy meat and potatoes/veggies and soup or whatever
then eat 500 calories of snacks, junk food, sugar and baked goods
There is a difference. Huge one.