What's good chow for athletes? Ask Amy.
Sports dietician Amy Goodson ’03 keeps an eye on what Frogs, Rangers eat
by Jessie Milligan
Sports dietician Amy Goodson ’03 provides nutrition advice to TCU athletes and the Texas Rangers baseball team, among others, as part of her job as a registered and licensed dietician working for the Ben Hogan Sports Therapy Institute.
What’s the best nutrition immediately following grueling and extended bouts of exercise?
Low-fat chocolate milk. Just 8 ounces. Right away.
That’s according to sports dietician Amy Goodson ’03.
Goodson gives nutrition advice to TCU athletes and the Texas Rangers baseball team, among others, as part of her job as a registered and licensed dietician working for the Ben Hogan Sports Therapy Institute. The institute is part of Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital Fort Worth.
As part of her work with TCU, Goodson gives sports nutrition talks, consults with individual athletes, plans pre-game and post-game meals, writes menus for athletes in training, and has created a nutrition guide as well as a DVD on grocery shopping.
The low-fat chocolate milk? Goodson says it has protein to repair small tears in lean muscle tissue, it has potassium to replace lost electrolytes, it has carbohydrates to boost energy and it helps replenish lost liquids. She encourages athletes to follow up the milk by eating within an hour of a game.
Her work isn’t limited to athletes. Goodson consults with new executives as part of required physicals. She talks at schools. In March, she started writing AskAmy. The public sends in e-mails with nutrition questions and Goodson's got answers.
“There’s no norm for the questions. I’ve had people asking about diets for gout, organic farm eggs versus regular eggs, high fructose corn syrup, everything,” she says.
Send her questions at www.texashealth.org/AskAmy.