Good nutrition ideas?

Jeremy Bender

Platinum Member
It seems I'm getting older faster these days. I started thinking about good nutrition and any particular foods that may help the drummer's body. I know there are vitamin supplements that are supposed to be good for joint and cartilage health, but what about foods for bone/muscle strength and overall general health? Any favorites out there?
 
Not sure what you're doing right now, but a good idea would be to eat mostly organic foods. A lot has to do with what you don't eat. It's one thing to consider what you should put into your system, but also consider what you already put into your system. I had to stop drinking soda so much myself. I've cut way back on red meat and I don't eat or drink dairy foods that come from cows, except a little cheese. But that is because of an allergy to bovine derived dairy products. It gives me body acne for some odd reason or another.
 
We are what We eat. The key point is to maintain good eating habits and enough water consumption (right volume) and go for a stroll, walk.
 
roger that on the water - i wasnt drinking enough & it caught up w/ me.

for food, i like the paleo diet in the "4-hour body" book (really good). so i have been trying cut out all gluten & eat more farm to table. been off milk (not 100%), fast food & soda for at least 15 years. my wife got the book "wheat belly" - just crazy how much gluten is in the american diet & how it is killing us. one eye-opener is how the book is saying gluten is the main contributor to heart & blood-sugar diseases...vs. fatty steaks & bacon (w/ a gluten free diet). i was kinda psyched because i love burned meat.

then hot yoga is a slam dunk...make "endurance" gigs somewhat easy.
 
Juicing is getting really big. Load all those colorful veggies into a juicer with some fruit, some seaweed and algae, pour it on down and go out and conquer the world.
I prefer playing on an empty stomach. Unless there's free food, then I prefer playing with a full stomach lol.

No energy drinks, no soda, no caffeine, no alcohol, no white flour, no sugar.

Water and whole foods provide all the energy you need.
 
I agree with all of the wise comments so far. I've been a vegetarian almost 20 years now and love to juice. I don't as much as I should, but there are some decent juicers out there for $150 tops. And yes, lots of spring water. Tap or even filtered water still has flouride in it. We get enough of that junk from toothpaste and other drinks made with water. Lots of sleep too.

I am a loyal customer of Nutritional Frontiers www.nutritionalfrontiers.com

I use the HA Plus powder on a daily basis for healthy joints, bones, etc. Trust me it really works. Good luck and good question.
 
About a year or so ago I started thinking more about what was going into my body. I was raised on the typical American diet of meat, starch, and sugars for every meal and never thought much of it.

Then I asked myself if eating animal flesh for literally every meal was something the human body should really be doing. Until mass farming and freezer trucks, I think humans probably ate meat a much, much smaller percentage of the time. We certainly were not able to base literally every meal on chicken or beef.

So, I now eat meat maybe a few times a month. I feel immeasurably better just in terms of my general sense of well-being. Now when I go at a steak, I really notice how heavy I feel for the rest of the day, and how hard it is for the body to deal with it. This is not the norm for my body anymore, and I feel it's a positive change.

Then there's the plethora of chemicals and things I don't understand in all the processed foods the grocery store markets to us so hard. If I can't understand what's on the ingredients list of a product, I shy away. One of my main enemies right now is corn syrup, and all artificial sweeteners.
 
People are responsible for being vigilant about what goes into their bodies. I'm convinced that my government wants me to be as unhealthy as possible. Everybody is out to poison me with something it seems, from Red Bull to cigarettes to hard liquor to bad bad prescription drugs. There are so many everyday things like Coca Cola that are so bad for you...nutritional knowledge and the effect that things have on your body is free for the taking on Google and is vital information if you eat.
 
The formula for healthy eating is very, very simple. Michael Pollan put it like this:

Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.

That's pretty well all there is to it.

Source (Sauce): http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/28/magazine/28nutritionism.t.html?pagewanted=all

A digression:

I'm convinced that my government wants me to be as unhealthy as possible. Everybody is out to poison me with something it seems, from Red Bull to cigarettes to hard liquor to bad bad prescription drugs.

Actually, the government wants you to be healthy to maximise your value as a productive unit within the econom... er, society.

However, they care more about keeping their masters - big business - onside. That's just political survival. Big biz do what they want. Occasionally the government delays BB's gratification but not for long if BB really wants it baaad.

Meanwhile big biz tries every manipulative approach in the book to get you eating their cheap, unhealthy and (often) unethically produced food. If you die, then they didn't force you to eat their rubbish - not their problem.

Meanwhile, if you're a small business owner and a baby spills a bit of drink in your shop during a busy time and someone slips on it then you get sued into the poorhouse. Welcome to Land of the Free (and it's Oz branch).

Yes, it helps to be informed. Fortunately it's not hard. If most of what you eat is largely unprocessed plant matter you'll be eating healthily. People always tell me I look young for my age and I tell them it's a tribute to decades of late nights, smoking and bonging on. Seriously, eating healthy food with just 1 or 2 small serves of meat per week, and walking regularly have helped me stay relatively healthy despite my lack of discipline.

People in this society eat waaay too much red meat. It's a proven cancer forming agent when eaten too much.
 
Last edited:
I've been vegan for five years this month and to be honest I can't compare it to anything else because I simply don't remember. But I do know that I never really have any food related health complaints (except for a mild caffeine addiction!) and I have had food poisoning maybe once in the last five years.

All of the people I know who have adopted a vegetarian diet are really glad they did. Especially the guys.
 
Well, i`ve always been a potato couch that never did any sport or exercise and ate a lot of junk food.
About a year ago, i decided that i HAVE to change something because i wasn`t feeling good physically. I gave up drinking Coca Cola and basically any soda`s. I also never drank any "natural juice" sold in stores ever since. The only fruit juice i drink is the one i make my own at home. Except of that, lots of water , tea, beer and sometimes, at parties and stuff, hard drinks. This is all i`m drinking and i`m trying to reduce the alcohol. Oh, and also, i don`t smoke, don`t drink coffee and energy drinks, don`t eat fast food.

I then tought, well, if controlling what i can drink is so easy, i can also control what i eat. And that`s what i did, i eliminated margarine (only use butter now) and everything that contains E`s , i always check what a product contains before buying it. I also changed the meat/vegetables ratio in favor to the greenery.

I also started to make some physical activities: i do push-ups every morning and i commute with my bicycle now. You have no idea how healthy and strong i feel now and i have also lost my back aches and problems! I am 12 months into this fitness regime (or whatever you want to call it) and it`s the best thing i could ever think of.
 
Yeah, push ups are fantastic.

Not all E numbers are bad as such, knowing what number is what is what's important. Sometimes things are listed by either their name or E number, so they are just the same thing under a different name.
 
Yeah, push ups are fantastic.

Not all E numbers are bad as such, knowing what number is what is what's important. Sometimes things are listed by either their name or E number, so they are just the same thing under a different name.

Correct on the E`s, but some of them are harmful, and i avoid them(example E110). If it`s something harmless like E 300 (vitamin C) then it`s ok for me. I try to know my facts as much as possible.
 
All you need is a good general diet. That may look many different ways. Keep it organic and minimally processed.


I eat a typical breakfast of oats, with walnuts sweetened with my favourite honey. I add dried fruits and usually some sort of superfood powder.

For lunch it's a salad or more often a smoothie filled with, teas, herbs and a all sorts of raw superfoods. Mostly ordered from www.rawfoodworld.com

For dinner I never fry anything. Usually grilled meat, steamed/baked fish or soup(home made stock is the bomb) with salad and different veggies. Lots of high grade oils and fresh raw herbs added.

In addition or with these foods I drink a lot of my own formula of Chinese tonic herbs. I use tons of probiotics and fermented foods.With some spices and oils they can be made really tasty.

Between meals it's different teas. Green tea, nettle with mint, more of my home made TCM tonic or whatever else I'm experimenting with at thee moment.

The only real supplements I take are fish oil and plant dreived MSM. There is all sorts of powders and extracts added to anything, though.

For snacks I've completely fallen in love with my own homemade quinoa tortillas(quinoa, salt and just enough spelt flour so they stick together) that I eat pretty much like potatochips with different sorts of healthy dips whenever I crave anything. I also keep some raw chocolate handy.

My grains of choice are oats, millet, quinoa, wild rice and spelt.

I'm careful with juicing expecially sweet fruits, however a juice made of stuff like celery, cucumber, beet and a few carrots can be very helpful both for nutrition and cleansing. A few other great cleansing agents are lemons and cilantro.

This is just an overlook of what I do. Going into detail would take a whole book. Everyone's body is different, though. You have to experiment to find out what works best for you.

Make your own food from scratch from organic fresh ingredients and you know what you're getting. You can be your own quality control. Also choose a salt that you know is pure and free of contaminants.
 
I suppose beer & chips/pretzels wouldn't make the ideal list?

My diet has gone to the pits this past couple years. As a result another 10 lbs have been added to my body. I'm the only on responsible for this.
 
here's a similar thread when i asked basically the same question. it has some good points that haven't been brought up yet. best of luck. i wish i could say i've followed all of the advice but there are still things i need to get with the program on. i do eat a much cleaner diet than most americans...that's about all i can say. the paleo diet and the ha powder are two goals for me.

http://drummerworld.com/forums/showthread.php?t=82154
 
All it takes is choosing to be conscientious, then pick the path you like. The American Heart Association publishes a diet that I like. My daughter is a veggie, and is very healthy. My son does a diet he got from an athletic trainer, and is healthy as hell. Paleo diet folks seem pretty happy, and it's what Crossfit recommends. Just pick something besides eating what America appears to want to serve you. Stick to the outside aisles at the supermarket, and try not to eat anything your great grandmother wouldn't recognize as food.
 
Hi, this is a great question and one that all drummers should think about seriously. I run my own Integrated Health Clinic and am also a semi professional Drummer, so drumming and health are my two biggest passions.

My advice to you in simple terms is you only get out what you put in, so 'crap in, crap out'!

1. Eat only organic foods
2. Reduce pro inflammatory foods, like gluten and possibly milk.
3. Reduce all, stimulant foods and drinks, like tea and coffee and those God awful energy drinks!
4. Hydration is a big key area for me. filtered or bottled water rather than tap water and add a small amount of Celtic Sea Salt to your water, just enough to taste.

There are some basic tips on good foods, but do what works for you and keep a diary of what you eat and you'll soon start to see patterns of foods that work and those that don't.

Drumming is a very physical job and so fueling the body for the job is paramount. Great question though, so good you made me join this forum!

Have fun!
 
Welcome to the forum!

Organic foods - are you meaning items specifically advertised as organic? I ask because organic produce is almost impossible to find where I am. And when I do see it, it's hugely expensive. My diet already consists of mostly fresh veges/fruit and grains, is taking the step to exclusively organic food worth it?

What does the sea salt do?

What are other examples of inflammatory foods?
 
Back
Top