by Sports Editorial Staff
Tahini and blueberries for breakfast, food that is “highly digestible for the intestine at all times”, explains the Ayurvedic nutrition specialist. And nuts, olive oil, fatty fish and avocado
If you win the Dakar for the fourth time, and moreover at the age of 61, you are not just a great driver. You must also have some secrets. And that of Carlos Sainz (father of the Ferrari driver) is certainly to have a biological age of a maximum of 45 years. Thanks to obsessive physical preparation – to run in the desert you need to be more than fit, mentally and physically – and above all a “millimetre diet”, entrusted for five years to Gemma Bes, director of the online master’s degree in Sports Nutrition and Training of the School of Sport of Rafa Nadal, another very long-standing Spaniard in sport.
«He is an intelligent man, I imagine as an entrepreneur and other things, but as a sportsman
He knows his body perfectly and still wants to improve it because he has the tools to do so – explains Bes to Marca – It’s extraordinary, I see him improving more and more: he could run until he’s 70. When I met him for the first time, we slightly modified the two eating habits, we introduced slightly dehydrated food, simple cooking, rest during digestion and a little fasting so that the intestine, which is our second brain, you don’t work all the time.”
So, in a thirty-year career, Sainz has not only worked on muscles — the neck, shoulders, legs and hands are essential for a driver in such a race — but also power and endurance with numbers that could make any athlete envious ( «there are stages in which I reach 165 beats per minute for several hours», he said).
Then, the help of Bes: «What I propose is not magic. Breakfast with toasted sesame butter toast, tahini (Sainz didn’t know it): it works wonders, because it is caloric and long-lasting, and a blueberry compote, for example. Good fats that are vital.”
Sainz consumes no more than 2,000 calories daily, but he can double or triple it during a stage «and he can see it increase further due to stress: today we know that glycemic peaks exist, which is why a strong breakfast during the race is needed, naturally completed by liquids and electrolytes », and by a «“first aid kit” of food inside the car during the long stages to be completed».
Then in the evening, at the bivouac, dinners are as simple as possible, «never try anything new: no risks and bottled water. Carbohydrates don’t count so much, but the pilot keeps an eye on every gram of protein, in a menu with vegetables and full of antioxidants, polyphenols and anti-inflammatories – says Bes, who specializes in Ayurvedic nutrition, energy cooking and naturopathy, and also in psychoneuroimmunoendocrinology — All in one list. Everything is quality.” Like rice, for which the Spaniard sometimes brought the appropriate rice cooker.
In short, food that is highly digestible for the intestine at all times, this is fundamental, as are the routines for going to rest and getting up. Sleep, rest, is the best aid for recovery, because coffee is not always necessary for an energy boost, the body gives it to us.”
And away from the races? «He IS immune to temptation. It is very rare to see Carlos take a chip or something forbidden during pre-Dakar promotional events. Almost all year round he follows the agreed schedules and knows where he can relax (the rules): nuts, olive oil, fatty fish, avocado, seeds, these fats that are the flagship of the Mediterranean diet.
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January 20, 2024 (modified January 20, 2024 | 2.27 pm)
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2024-01-20 12:33:44
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