How to Eat Well on a Special Diet
If you’re on a special diet or considering one, it’s important to understand your individual needs and why those needs apply to you. And as a runner, your dietary needs will change as your training load changes. So, if you are on a special diet AND starting a new training program, it would be most beneficial to seek assistance from a registered dietitian.
Popular Special Diets
Here are a few of the many popular special diets:
- A vegetarian diet excludes animal-based foods, but can include honey, dairy, and eggs.
- A vegan diet does not include anything that is animal-based, including honey, dairy, and eggs.
- The Mediterranean diet includes many plant foods, fruits, beans, nuts, whole grains and seeds, with fats making up about a third of the total intake (less than 8% can be from saturated fats).
- The Atkins diet is a low-carbohydrate diet that focuses on controlling insulin levels.
- A Ketogenic diet aims to allow the body to burn fat as fuel by reducing carbohydrate intake and increasing fat intake.
- A gluten-free diet eliminates gluten from the diet for people with a gluten allergy or intolerance.
General Guidelines for Special Diets
For any special diet, follow these guidelines to ensure you are eating well within the parameters of your plan:
- Focus on eating a variety of different foods that represent all the healthy food groups in recommended amounts.
- Adapt a healthy eating pattern including leafy vegetables and vegetables of all colors.
- Eat lots of whole fruits.
- Eat plenty of whole-grain foods.
- Include fat-free or low-fat dairy as prescribed.
- Include plenty of proteins including meats, poultry, seafood, eggs, beans and peas, and/or soy depending on the specific special diet plan.
- Limit the intake of certain foods such as added sugars, saturated and trans fats, as well as sodium.
- Drink plenty of water.
With all the special diets and available information out there, remember that maintaining a healthy body weight is essential. Understanding that your own body’s needs could be different than someone else’s should prevent you from trying just any special diet, because it may not be the right plan for you.
About the Author
Kelyssa Hall, CSCS, CES, CEAS I, is an exercise physiologist at Hospital for Special Surgery Rehabilitation and Performance. She graduated from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Kinesiology. She is a certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist with the NSCA, a Certified Ergonomic Assessment Specialist with The Back School, and she is certified with Precision Nutrition. She also holds numerous certifications for specific needs and modalities in the fitness field, including aquatic exercise, Functional Movement Screening, and exercise prescription for cancer patients.