When it comes to sports nutrition supplements, do you know what is going into the products your children are consuming? The level of sport and timing of training for children, often means they need a nutritional top up; but how do you know what is safe? In this podcast, nutritional expert, Mark Wolff tells you why the 32Gi range is safe and suitable for your children.
Transcription:
Welcome to this very special and very important podcast with myself David Katz, Mr. Active and Mark Wolff a Director at 32Gi, and an expert when it comes to sport nutrition.
Now nutrition is important not just for adults but across the board. When we look at children, a lot required from a dietary point of view and a nutritional point of view. With everyday life and when it comes to the sport that children are doing. Very important to know what is in products that they’re using.
In how is it safe, is it child friendly? So Mark first of all I think it’s very important to note that you know sports nutrition supplements, first prize natural whole foods but there is a gap there is a need for children who are doing school sports etcetera to use supplements.
Natural clean food over anything
Mark Wolff: Dave I just want to stress before we even talk about “child” friendly nature of some sport supplements. I think it’s very important to state out right that 32Gi we advocate natural food over anything. Especially for children and as far as we’re concerned a child or any parent that’s giving their children food when it comes to sport or activities; should try and create as a healthy natural nutritional environment as possible. Which means natural foods clean foods consistently and as well as obviously very healthy fluids to take in.
Just from experience I mean we have seen that there is quite a lot of pressure when it comes to children’s activities. Sometimes it’s not so easy for a child to eat you know between school and then going into training sessions etcetera.
So a lot of the time kids don’t take in the appropriate nutrients they require. I mean parents have really got control in the mornings before they leave for school and then again in the evenings when they’re back home.
So there, there’s a lot of control over what they do eat, but during the day it’s a lot more difficult to manage. As far as sports nutrition supplementation goes the thing is to keep it as clean as possible.
I tell parents I mean even if it’s a peanut butter sandwich and water it’s good enough. But in some cases where children are doing a lot of high intensity exercise and long sessions; I mean we see it there’s children that do two to three hour swimming sessions a day.
There’s children that play a sport for two to three hours a day and it’s really putting their bodies into a bit more depleted state. It’s difficult for a child to be able to take in nutrients. So we focus on a few things.
How your children can safely keep their energy up
The first thing is obviously energy levels stabilisation. The second thing is obviously hydration both are very critical. Hydration very simple water to hydrate. But very often you might need a little bit more minerals to be able to help with that fluid absorption. Generally when it comes to children we obviously take a very huge stance that you know you do need to try and keep it as natural.
When it comes to 32Gi I often get asked which products are child friendly, and to be honest I don’t like to use that word child friendly. For me it’s which products are more suitable for a child to take. Which are child safe, which are safe for a child to consume, and I look at a number of things.
The first thing I look at is the product should have absolutely zero stimulants in. A child should not be consuming stimulants I’m quite adamant on the fact. As well is that caffeine should only be taken when a child is a pretty older age and definitely not in their youth. Because I think stimulants do impact their youth negatively and I’m talking even just a very natural stimulant like caffeine.
Stabilise over spiking blood sugar
As far as blood sugar goes I’m very much against spiking a child’s blood sugar. It tends to lead to hyperactivity. There is quite a large rate of growth as far as diabetes goes worldwide, specifically it’s quite a frightening increase between the ages of 9 and 11. As far as research is shown and basically that is very often not due to genetics. But also often due to poor diet and again sugar comes in and plays quite a huge role in it.
So what we do is we when we look at the sort of child safe nature of a sports nutrition product. We’ll look at a few things and like I mentioned before no stimulants, not spiking the blood sugar.
Then after that we look at the composition of a product and we make sure that colours are natural. That there’s no non-natural flavourants and that there’s no sweeteners in a product.
To us that makes a product far more suitable to a child than probably other products that are on the market. Which do have unnatural additives, stimulants and obviously products that spike blood sugar. So to us that’s where the fine line is.
I’m not saying that a child should definitely take a sports nutritional product. I think it’s a matter of looking at the activity that the child does. Also what the content of that product is and how it’s suited and meshed into a child’s training activities. But those are the primary things to look at.
Best options if your child needs extra nutrition
So if I’m looking at the 32Gi range I would say that if you look at our endure range. The one thing about our endure range it does not spike your blood sugar.
So from a point of view of raising a child’s blood sugar it’s kept very stable. The products are low Gi and if you look at that as well there are no stimulants in any of the endure range products. Over and above that every single product in that range users completely natural colours and completely natural flavours and there are no non-nutritive sweeteners added.
So from that point of view I’m pretty happy to say that for a child consuming a product like that there absolutely no issues at all. It’s probably better than taking a beverage like a coca cola or even you know a beverage which is sugar water. So it’s just a matter of trying to define you know what to look at in a product before a parent actually makes a product selection for a child.
If we look at another part of our range in the endure range, we looking at our food bars. Our food bars are completely natural cold press bars. In actual fact that is whole food and that is far more suited to a child than anything. It’s basically made of fruit and nuts and we use a P protein isolate in there.
So natural vegetable protein that is completely healthy absolutely no issues at all. That is what we determine to be wholesome food which is very good for a child.
From a make-up point of view it’s got a very decent amount of protein carbs and fats in there. It’s healthy from that perspective and that is what I basically deem to be extremely healthy for a child so consuming that over anything else would be very advisable.
Free from allergenics as well
DK: Now Mark in this day and age as well people always looking at sort of we talk about more natural food but more organic food. I know across your range as well and also looking at people sort of have certain allergies to certain things might go can I use this product. You guys are free from most of these things.
MW: Yes it’s something that’s important which I haven’t mentioned yet is that the 32Gi range is completely lactose free. We do not use any animal derivatives there’s definitely no diary in there whatsoever. All our products are also non-genetically modified ingredients so they GMO free and they actually vegan products.
We only use vegetarian or vegetables based ingredients. So there’s nothing that a parent has to worry about from an allergen perspective as far as the 32Gi range goes.
DK: Now Mark you’ve touched on a few things within your product range and you talked about earlier on when children start doing 2/3 hours, which in high school generally is the case.
Would you put an age on it or would it be on sort of the level and the amount of activity that children are doing? Where they would need this sort of extra nutritional supplementation.
Load will determine how much assistance kids need
MW: Well I think it’s I don’t usually put an age on it because if you have a look at a child and the type of activities they’re doing. I mean we in the sports industry and we see children that are probably aged 12 or 13 and they actually potential Olympic contenders at some stage in their lives.
Their training sessions, two hour sessions a day. They could be training four hours a day seven days a week. I mean that is a large amount of training even by an adult standard.
So when it comes to training sessions like that even a 12 or 13 year old you know upwards I mean just it’s a matter of I guess the kind of exercise they’re doing. The intensity they performing at and really try and manage and stabilise their energy system.
It’s really difficult for a child you know getting up in the morning and training very hard. Then having to go to school; and sometimes in many of the schools a child is not allowed to consume anything until a break.
So coming off a high intensity session early in the morning and going to school. Then having their first lunch break or eating break for example let’s say half past nine and ten o’clock in the morning. It’s quite a gap in between training sessions they had.
So in that case I mean you need to look at a number of things not just the energy level. You need to actually have a look at what the recovery is post exercise for a child. A child does have to recover from exercise; you know into school or from or fuelling from school into exercise if it’s an afternoon session.
Helping them cope with their hectic schedule
It is a very difficult thing and children are very limited. Parents are very limited in trying to structure their nutrition around their children’s activity needs. I think in this case I can’t see a problem with actually providing some sort of a supplement which would assist. Which is quick and easy to make and would assist in helping along those lines.
I know there are a lot of parents out there who are very against looking at sports nutrition supplements. But again there are ways of looking at a sports nutrition supplement and say this isn’t harmful to my child. It doesn’t have any stimulants in it, doesn’t have anything that’s going to raise blood sugar significantly or overload them on the glucose side.
There’s nothing unnatural about this product. There’s no sweeteners in it. There’s nothing funny that says this product falls into an unhealthy segment. If I was a parent and I saw that then I would say you know what okay there is an option out there.
I’ve got a child that actually does an excessive amount of exercise they do need that little bit of assistance. Because without it the worst thing that is a child becomes nutrient deficient or lacks energy. Then it impacts them not just when it comes to sport.
It impacts them in school it impacts them in their emotional status. It’s very critical to be able to nutrify the needs of the child and also be able to support them through all of that.
How you can find out about the products
DK: Well the full product range can be viewed on your website 32Gi.com. But if people go on there and they looking at and they not completely sure about the product.
Whether it’s a scholar, a child or their parents. Is there a way that they can sort of contact you to find out more information? Just to find out more information about what we’ve talked about today?
MW: Hundred percent look I mean we’ve got an info@32gi.com if somebody would like to know anything about any products in our range. We very honest and will state straight away; this is definitely not suitable for a child or this is actually fine for a child.
Or they can email coach@32gi.com there’s a nutritional coach online. He actually will assist and give solid advice and actually honest advice when it comes to sports nutrition.
Even if it means not selling a 32Gi product he’d rather advocate some sort of natural food in place. In order to make sure that that child’s needs are actually met.
DK: Well from myself David Katz, Mr. Active and Mark Wolff, some really important advice there. We hope you’ve enjoyed the podcast; we hope you take it in. Mark has given you those contact details if you want to find out anymore information ask anymore questions.
