Skier's Diet

Whether your specialty is alpine (downhill) skiing or nordic (cross-country) skiing, eating a healthy diet is important to keep you supplied with the energy you need for endurance and performance. The skier's diet should include a good amount of lean protein, an abundance of complex carbohydrates and only healthy fats.

Downhill Skiing Diet

Be sure to eat carbohydrates every few hours to have enough energy to perform the strenuous exercises needed for downhill skiing. This will keep glycogen in your body, so you can maintain high performance. And protein will build your taxed muscles and replenish much-needed amino acids. Healthy fats should be a part of every skiers meal; they slow down your digestion, providing you a long-lasting source of nutrients. These fats also lubricate your joints and are good for your heart and other organs.

And of course, you should always drink enough water to stay hydrated. Because of the cold, you may not realize how much you are sweating on the slopes.

Cross-Country Skiing Diet

Cross-country skiers need lots of carbohydrates and fluids. Even if you aren't an athlete, you should eat just as a competitive skier or runner would. You need to fuel your body to keep up your endurance.

Linda Houtkooper, Ph.D., a registered dietitian at the University of Arizona, says a healthy diet for cross-country skiers is 15 to 20 percent protein, 30 percent fat, and 50 to 55 percent complex carbohydrates. Cross-country skiers need fuel-efficient complex carbohydrates because of the extra calories burned each day. In addition, as with the downhill skiing diet, replenishing your water supply is important, since cross-country skiers perspire heavily.

Replenishing After You Ski

Olympians advise skiers to eat as soon as they can after skiing. John Ivy, a kinesiologist at the University of Texas, says consuming protein soon after skiing or working out will reduce soreness and promote recovery. And according to the cross-country Olympian Billy Demon, "Eating within 30 minutes of a hard or prolonged workout is critical in recovery, And actually within 10 minutes is almost twice as good to replenish glycogen stores quickly."

Foods to Include in Both Diets

Protein should come from foods such as lean chicken, turkey, tuna, salmon, trout, shrimp, extra lean ground beef or other lean cuts of beef, cottage cheese, eggs and egg whites, protein powders and protein bars, skim milk and yogurt.

Examples of complex carbohydrates include oatmeal, yams, beans, rice, pasta, potatoes and whole grain bread. Also add vegetables and fruits to your diet, including broccoli, asparagus, green beans, spinach, cucumbers, peppers, onions, garlic, tomatoes, bell peppers, bananas, apples, pears, grapefruit and all kinds of berries.

Sources of healthy fats include natural peanut butter, olive oil, nuts, flax seeds and flax seed oil and avocado.