High energy food

[soonny]

I've a soccer tournament coming up and I need all the energy I could get! I heard bananas offers much energy, but some say chocolate does more good. Can anyone help? Is there other foods which contains higher ammount of 'quick' energy?

[Robinia]

I think that cheese on wholemeal bread will give you longer lasting energy than chocolate which gives you a quick boost but leaves your system faster & lower than it started. I'm sure that bananas are better than choc too! Must be an athlete out there who knows?

[apricot]

Bananas replace potassium which is why you see tennis players eating them. For football I would recommend high carbohydrate food such as pasta or rice. Porridge or a good quality muesli give a slow energy release throughout a prolonged period rather than a quick blast of energy. Chocolate is a quick fix

[rja211077]

peanuts i believe have v high energy content. but are salty so will dehydrate you and need to be accompanied by water.

[quattro]

Stock up on your pasta the night before and the morning before the tournament as marathon runners do and then take snacks like bananas (tennis players) or chocolate bars and high energy drinks to replace your sugar levels which make you tire when you expend all that energy Alex Ferguson gives his players Jaffa cakes as a half time snack they are light and easy to digest have a high sugar content and don't hurt too much when thrown!!

[darth vader]

expanding quattro and apricot's responses - there are two types of carbs, simple and complex carbohydrates. The latter is better as it is slow release (cerials pastas breads rice) so will give you energy over longer periods, whereas the former (sugar-based foods) is good for instant energy - glucose is the best source for this so rather than a mars bar take dextrose tablets or drink lucozade (but not the fizzy stuff obviously!)