This article first appeared in the Sep/Oct 2016 issue of WGM.
Nutritionist Joseph Chow from Amazing Grace Nutrition and Fitness gives WGM some invaluable advice on what we should be eating and drinking to maintain peak performance during long sessions at the gaming tables!
WGM: How important is it to have a healthy diet and lifestyle if you plan to spend long hours at the tables?
Joseph Chow: Sitting for too long can cause mental fatigue and focusing on the table for long periods of time can make your eyes dry and cause blurred vision. If you plan to spend a long time at the table, healthy diet and living habits are important. A balanced diet and rationed meals can not only maintain your health, some nutrients contained in food can also improve your performance on the table. For example, Vitamin B group can help eliminate fatigue and refresh your mind. Lecithin can help improve concentration.
WGM: Can you give some examples of the sort of food we should be eating in order to maintain focus and concentration at the tables?
JC: Certain food or nutrients can help you be more focused and enance flexibility of the brain, thereby improving your performance at the table. Brain cells communicate with each other through the release of neurotransmitters such as choline, serotonin and dopamine. Eating more food containing neurotransmitters such as eggs, meat, milk, bananas, nuts and so on can help improve your concentration – enhancing your memory and thinking ability.
WGM: In terms of when we eat, is it best to eat before we play or while we are at the tables?
JC: Before your session, you can spend 30 minutes to eat first and then rest for five minutes so that your body has enough time to digest and supplement energy to cope with the amount of activity afterwards. The main meal should be part of a balanced diet. Each meal you should eat adequate starchy food, meat and vegetables to maintain the needs of various body functions. In terms of food choice, you should choose low glycemic index food such as whole grains, dairy and high-fiber food. In addition to maintaining the blood sugar in a steady state and providing enough energy for the brain to use for a long period of time, it also avoids drowsiness after eating high glycemic index food.
WGM: Let’s talk beverages. What do you recommend we drink?
JC: Water, Chinese quick boiled soup and some sugar-free drinks is recommended. Water does not contain calories and helps prevent constipation. With Chinese clear soup, as long as there is no fat or pork bone added in the cooking process, moderate drinking can be a good choice. Sugar-free beverages such as sugar free tea drinks, ginseng tea, Mangosteen water and flower tea can also be some good choices other than water. If you drink some of the high sugar content drinks, sudden rise and fall of blood glucose can affect your concentration at the table.
WGM: How important is hydration in ensuring we perform at our best?
JC: Water constitutes an important component of the human body, accounting for about 60 to 70 percent of adult body weight. Supplementing enough water can not only bring many benefits to the body but also enables us to perform better at the table.
The water content of the blood is more than 90 percent. It helps transport nutrients to body cells to be utilized. For example, choline in eggs – in order to achieve the effect of “refreshing your brain” it needs to be absorbed by the small intestine and then transported to the brain cell through blood. In addition, water can adjust the balance of your body temperature, preventing excessive temperature rise due to a rapid heartbeat when nervous or preventing symptoms such as shoulder pain and dizziness due to low body temperature. If you stay in an air-conditioned environment for a long period of time, water can be easily lost. I recommend supplementing water to maintain proper functioning of the body and ensure you constantly stay in a good state.
WGM: Should we be taking either short or long breaks from play during the day and if so, how often and for how long?
JC: When you are focused at the table for a long time, your brain is constantly in a state of tension. It easily causes fatigue to your eyes and brain. It is recommended to take a five minute break every 30 minutes. You can stand up and do some simple exercises to increase blood circulation so that oxygen can be brought to the brain to keep a sharp mind.
The Amazing Grace team – Stefan, Jolie and Fong
WGM: Are there certain exercises we should be doing either at the table or during a break?
JC: Players should do stretching exercises or simple weight-bearing or aerobic exercises. At the table, tension causes fatigue to the body parts such as neck muscles, shoulder muscles, forearm brachioradialis and so on. You should regularly do stretches so that the muscles or body do not constantly stay in one position, increasing the chance of over strain. Simple weight-bearing exercises, such as leaning against the edge of the chair to do triceps pull-downs or squats, can help. With simple aerobic exercises you can repeatedly draw up the knees around 50 to 100 times.
WGM: What is your opinion on drinking alcohol while playing?
JC: Alcohol, with ethanol as its chemical composition, is a central nervous system depressant. Drinking causes difficulty concentrating, decreased thinking ability, cognitive decline and more. It affects your judgment and greatly reduces performance at the table. In addition, alcohol can inhibit the antidiuretic hormone, causing the diuretic effect to increase. This not only increases the frequency of urination but also causes a huge loss of nutrients in your body.
