USA Hockey Adult Hockey

This isn’t a lecture, so don’t worry. Nobody is here to tell you, oh wise and passionate adult hockey player, that you should never indulge in a postgame beer or dive into a plate of wings.

However, this is a reminder: as we age, nutrition becomes an increasingly vital component not just for our overall well-being but for the very things that make us functional athletes – up to and including joint health, vision and strength.

Dave Ellis, a longtime sports dietician who has worked with USA Hockey, said “aging athletes have unique challenges.” He makes a compelling case for all of those things and provides sensible lifestyle advice for how to be the best player possible.

But first, let’s not forget that your decision to play hockey is a wonderfully healthy thing to do – so keep up the good work.

Joint Health

The aches and pains associated with aging are often attributed to joint problems.

“Joint health is huge – and joints are poorly vascularized tissue compared to muscle,” Ellis says.

Combating that is tricky because “when you use joint-specific (products), sometimes you don’t feel it until you stop doing it,” Ellis says. It’s not like the jolt you get, say, from a cup of coffee.

That said, the subtle things you can do are fairly easy. Ellis advocates eating foods rich in Omega-3, such as salmon, and is a big believer in fish oil as a way to promote joint health.

“Finding a great, safe source of fish oil is a great thing for an aging athlete,” Ellis says. “It’s good for inflammation and aches in the joints.”

Vision

Ellis says fish oil is also beneficial for vision.

“In terms of your neurological efficiency, there is a fatigue aging – and fish oil has a positive story there, too,” Ellis says.

He adds that a product called EyePromise has shown via research that it can help with vision, while he also advocates getting zeaxanthin via supplements or leafy vegetables to help the eyes. Good vision helps with reaction time, which is critical in hockey.

“It’s mainly been a big baseball deal,” Ellis says of products and supplements that promote vision, “but hockey is another fast sport where you’d better be able to process quickly.”

Strength

The bulk of the work that needs to be done as we get older has to do with strength. Whether you’re in the category of “already there” or “it’s coming,” the effects of aging – particularly after we reach the age of 35 – are proven, Ellis says.

Luckily, there are ways to combat it – and a couple of those ways relate to the things we put in our bodies.

One way is by getting high-quality protein in our diets and spreading it out over the course of the day, Ellis says.

The latter part is fairly self-explanatory, but the part about high-quality protein requires some explanation. Ellis says protein high in leucine is better for strength – and that the sources of the leucine-rich proteins should come from animal, plant and dairy sources.

Whey protein isolate is a great dairy source of leucine, with close to 2,800 milligrams per ounce of protein. Parmesan and goat cheese are also rich in leucine. As far as meats go, leaner cuts like bison and chicken breast are high in leucine. Many soy-based products, including soy protein, are great plant-based sources, as are kernels of pumpkin and squash.

“If you can diversify your protein sources and you know how to pepper in the high-leucine sources, you can fight the battle,” Ellis says.

But the simplest – and yet perhaps the hardest or at least trickiest – way to maintain muscle as we get older is by getting more and better sleep, Ellis says.

What does that have to do with nutrition? Plenty.

“Obviously there’s a problem with cavalier use of stimulants later in the day that can delay the onset of sleep,” Ellis says. “Also, too many beers when you get off the ice make you relax and fall asleep quicker but it’s not the deep restorative sleep and messes that up. You can overdo the post-hockey alcohol and it can compromise sleep.”

In addition, spicy or greasy foods late at night can trigger acid reflux and leave you vulnerable to waking up in the middle of the night. Sleep apnea is another major problem, and in some cases it’s triggered by carrying too much weight.

“One of the major underpinnings of aging is sleep – it will cost you on reaction time, muscle and wreck your endurance,” Ellis says.

So think about what’s going into your body – and think about how it will impact you in both the short-term and long-term. Being proactive will pay dividends on and off the ice.