Nutrition advice from William Trubridge

Today nutritional theory is kind of like religion – there is a diet for every food type: no carbs, all carbs, raw foods, only meat or only grapefruit…  Despite supposedly being a science, dietary theory changes more than women’s fashion.
Are there then any steadfast principles that everyone can subscribe to?  I believe so, and I’m only going to list here principles that I believe apply to all and sunder:
• Balance your body’s pH: acidosis is one of the biggest plagues of western culture: a huge intake of protein (trust me, you don’t need 2g/kg body weight!) and processed foods, all of which have acidic digestive end products forces the body to try and balance acidity itself, leeching out calcium from joints and bones (causing osteoperosis and arthritis).  Allergies, frequent head colds, fatigue and excess weight can all be attributed to it also.  Freediving generates huge amounts of CO2, which makes the body even more acidic, so my first meal after training has to be alkaline-producing (generally fruits) in order to restore balance.  Other than seafood that I spear myself I eat very little meat.
• Reduce simple sugar intake: it’s everywhere we turn in the supermarket – some breakfast cereals are over 50% sugar, and it’s caused an actual epidemic of diabetes.  Simple sugars pass straight into the blood, whereas more complex sugars need time to be digested, so they’re released more slowly, providing constant, longer-lasting energy.  I eliminated glucose from my diet years ago, and it’s allowed my body to take back control of it’s own blood-sugar levels, rather than depend on a ’sugar fix’ from a can of coke, or chocolate bar.  Replace sugar with honey or fruits (which are mostly disaccharides and have associated vitamins & minerals)
• Listen to your body: 8 glasses of water a day?  Only if you’re thirsty.  Big breakfast?  If you’re hungry in the morning.  You need to learn to differentiate between a need, a craving, and simply something you’ve read in a book, health magazine (or blog!)
• Eat food types separately: we only have one stomach, and it can’t do two things at once.  Since protein requires different digestive juices and acidity to carbs or fruit & vegetables, try to split up your eating of food types.  If possible eat fruits between or before meals, so they don’t just ferment ‘on top of the pile.’
• Eat at least one ’superfood’: naturally occurring vitamins and minerals are so much better than synthetic ones (in multivitamins etc).  These foods have them all: spirulina, chlorella, wheatgrass and chia seeds.
Question your eating, take pleasure in treating your body well, and after a while you’ll find yourself craving what’s right for you!

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William Trubridge on the psychology of free diving