The Irony of the “Official” Olympic Sponsor

First off, I understand that sponsors make the business world go round.  However, it really is amazing that the “official” sponsor of the Olympics is McDonald’s.  This is not because this type of food (fast food) should never be consumed by anyone or that McDonald’s is the cause of obesity; it is because this type of food is not recommended for athletes!

Just think about race cars participating in big events like the Indy 500.  The drivers want to put in their cars the best quality of gasoline possible to keep their engines running smoothly to win the race.  This same concept applies to the bodies of all Olympic athletes.  Nutrition greatly affects performance outcome.  If you were an Olympic athlete would you really want to risk your dreams and goals on sub-pair food, which provides little nutritional value?  NO!  You would want to put the best quality of gasoline in your engine and get the gold!

Contrary to the billboards you may have seen, Olympic athletes are not reaching for a Coco-Cola or a McDonald’s burger and fries before, during, or after an event or training session.  Most at this point, have a nutrition strategy that provide them with the key nutrients needed to sustain weight, repair muscles, and support daily energy needs.  I would hope most people are not really thinking that if Olympic athletes are eating McDonald’s I can also eat it all the time too.  Even if the athletes did want to eat at McDonald’s the energy (calories) they are burning off daily is significantly greater than the calorie needs of the average sedentary person.

Want to learn more about the nutrition needs of athletes?  Check out these posts:

1)  Top 10 Marathon Nutrition Tips

2)  URINE OR YOU’RE OUT!

3)  Crossing the Finish Line with Good Nutrition

(Photo Source)

Tagged as: Althetes, American culture, food quality, McDonald's, Olympics