How much will a good diet help my BJJ and mma performance?

[1point2]

You know what it's not that a better diet will "help" your BJJ. It will help your athletic performance and there is little if any correlation between the two.

Holy hell. Ignore this idiocy.

Eating right greatly affects your ability to train. I personally saw massive improvements in many aspects of training by taking control of my eating schedule and what I ate.

Even cursory lurking in this forum would have revealed this.

[atom]

properly fueling your workouts is the key.

eat slow-burning fuels (complex carbs, proteins, and some fat) about an hour before a workout to sustain a good work rate. simple carbs you will burn through quickly and crash. Too heavy a meal and the energy required to digest it will slow you down.

eat a bunch of protein and carbs immediately after working out to start recovery while your muscles are hungry. If you want to gain size/strength I also recommend a lot of protein right before bed.

The real problem with junk food, is that it is all empty, quick digesting carbs. Without vitamins, protein, fiber, etc. your body will still crave more food to get the nutrition it needs. Because its so quick digesting, you get a rapid spike of blood sugar, followed by a spike of insulin, followed by a drop in blood sugar which makes you lethargic and cranky.

eating right keeps your blood sugar more steady, energy levels stable, and just plain builds you up.

will it help your martial arts? only in that it will allow you to train harder.

[theotherserge]

A couple of biologist friends of mine told me that some people (elite athlete types) burn fat for energy more efficiently than carbohydrate. I may be misquoting/misunderstanding a little but I think that was the gist.

I don't think you are. The working theory is that our bodies developed on a diet of fat, protein and slow-carbs and the nutrients that came with those food sources. Fast carbs, especially sugars and grains, appeared much more recently in our evolution and many hold the opinion that we shouldn't even eat those "more recent' developments in food technology.

There is a strong trend in athletic diet called "Paleo-diet" or any derivative of that. Fruits, vegetables, meat, nuts; no dairy, no grains: bread, cereal, pasta etc. no simple sugars: no alcohol, no cake, no Ice cream (dairy+sugar!!!)

Basically, its what we already know, what is truly fun in the world is bad for you. :-( I favor a Zone diet because it allows some of these indulgences, I'm not terribly strict about it these days as I'm not prepping for a competition, but I definitely feel the differences when I train.

[sandbag2]

the whole Michael Phelps thing shows how out of wack nutritional health is in America, well that and the 42% +/- obesity rate.

If you're swimming 6-10 hrs a day, you need about 6,000 calories or more depending on intensity of your exercise. You are burning up calories at such a tremendous rate that you can basically eat crap because it never stays in your system that long. Junk food works very well for ultra-endurance athletes because they need the calories to burn up so it doesn't exactly matter if its from a cous-cous salad with lean turkey, sprouts, sliced almonds and etc or its an extra-large hawiian style pizza and a strawberry shortcake dessert.

The average dickhead, or below-average: like Sandbag2, needs about 2,000 calories per day. And that's calories from good stuff like quality meats, veggies, fruit. The same as Phelps would eat if he wasn't in full training mode.

How fucking hard is this for people to get? If you eat **** and way too much of it, and you don't exercise it off, it will effect your performance. RRAAARRRHHHH!!!!:angry4:

I exersise way more than most people. I do at least 1 hour and a half of BJJ, and an hour of MT MMA everyday. The workout is hard, and I'm sure I burn everything off.
If I need all those callories like you said, than I might as well gorge my self with 5 bean and chese burritos and a mexican piza at Taco Bell everyday.
And drink a shitload of soda, like three 44 oz Mr. Pibbs, and 2 cans of rootbeer a day. Which is my current diet. Soda makes me happy, and when I dson't get it, I get crancky.
Problem is, I read some articles on the net about the health risks of soda that scared the hell outa me. scared me so bad I quit. Shits as bad as smoking.

[sandbag2]

You know what it's not that a better diet will "help" your BJJ. It will help your athletic performance and there is little if any correlation between the two.
Well what I said is not entirely true. It will help your half-guard game specifically and align your chakras allowing you to make stronger chi-balls.

There is all correlation between the two. BJJ is a phisically demanding sport, and the better athlete always has a huge advantage, as long as they are the same height and weight.

[atom]

if you're cranky without soda, you're proably dependent on the caffeine.

as long as you're getting your micronutrients and you're happy with your body composition and you're happy with your energy levels, I wouldn't worry too much.

I don't think diet can be optimized, its too biological and instinct driven.

Personally, I try to choose the most nutritious food with the least empty carbs that appeals to me when choosing what to eat. Sometimes thats ice cream, sometimes that fried stuff, but its usually something pretty healthful.

Its your body, do what you will with it. Unless I have to pay for your healthcare in which case I have an interest in encouraging you to eat better.