For many of the players, they are practicing and playing longer than they are used to, and at a higher level of play where the pace of the game demands a higher intensity than they have played at up until now. Also, given the heat, its important that they are eating/drinking healthy and nutritious foods and getting enough rest.

Just some thoughts about nutrition:

Most of the food products that are sold in a typical grocery store are full of preservatives, taste and texture additives, and chemical dyes. In general, and especially for an active child, try to avoide pre-packaged foods that come pre-made (TV dinners), in powder form (sauce packets), or in colorful wrappers (chips, etc).

Breakfast: what to avoid

• sugary cereals (frosted flakes, lucky charms, etc) loaded with sugar and little else
• anything that says "instant" on it
• processed meat (sausages)... has a lot of preservatives and chemicals
• fruit "Drink" (upon inspecting the back, only says like 25% juice or some rediculous number... the rest is sugar)

Lunch: what to avoid

• too many "fun" foods... fried chicken, pizza, HOT DOGS (meat particles and chemical additives)
• anything greasy, white bread, "fun" drinks
• like Kool-Aid (basically sugar, coloring, and water), sugary desserts (hostess cupcakes, twinkies)
• PROCESSED CHEESE (velveeta, kraft singles... STAY AWAY!! almost nothing but chemicals)

Dinner: what to avoid

• AVOID SODA! yes it tastes good now and then but its high fructose corn syrup, chemicals, and water. The ingredients in diet soda cause cancer in lab animals.
• microwavable dinners, deep-fried food, fast food, anything with a lot of salt
• excessively sugary desserts

Snacks:

• avoid excessively sugary, salty, or fluffy (picture a birthday cake, refined white flour) foods. Very little nutrient value and put stress on the kidneys and liver to process
• STAY AWAY FROM ICING (basically cake icing is animal fat with sugar and coloring. Not what kids need!)

Soccer food: what to avoid

• sugary drinks, despite cool ads and marketing, theyre all sugar, coloring, and water
• sports bars, again, theyre designed to taste good and have many additives in them

Contrary to commercials, advertising, and popular culture, these foods, while being "fun, tasty, and trendy" actually put an extra burden on your kidneys, liver, lymphatic system (your "internal piping system" that removes toxins), unbalances metabolism, and affects hormone balance. Not something I want 6-8 year old kids developing nutrition habits for the rest of their lives.

Suggestions:

Breakfast: lowfat milk, cereal that contains NO sugar, apple sauce, oatmeal, dried fruit, fresh fruit, whole grain bread / bagel, lowfat cream cheese, 100% fruit juice (check the back to make sure it says 100%)

lunch: whole grain bread, all-natural peanut butter, fresh fruit, fresh vegetables, lean, unprocessed meat, whole wheat crackers, 100% fruit juice, whole grain bagel

dinner: whole grain pasta, mixed vegetables, cooked lean meat, chickpeas, kidney beans, salad (dark, leafy greens aka spinach, or green peppers) fruit

Snack:

• all-natural peanut butter on a celery stick
• whole grain bagel with melted all-natural cheese
• hummus and pita bread
• FRUIT OR 100% FRUIT JUICE

Soccer nutrition: WATER WATER WATER WATER WATER WATER!!!!!

These are just some ideas. I’d like to suggest that at our team social events and after games, we give the kids HEALTHY food. I find it interesting how in our society, we reward good things with unnecessary, unlhealthy food.

Basically, stay away from anything with excessive amounts of SALT, SUGAR, and REFINED WHITE FLOWER (white bread, doughnuts, etc)

I know we’re not all perfect in regards to nutrition, but lets give the kids some good nutrition habits early in life and encourage them to develop the good habits now. I’m sure we can come up with some healthy snack ideas for after games and for team social events.