Dietitian uses food to make us fitter

Coventry University are this week launching a revolutionary new cookbook and app that can help you use food to get fitter. The Cooking for sport and exercise recipe resource shows you how easy it can be to eat healthy and improve your exercise or training regimes.

This exciting and easy-to-use cookbook makes the science of food and nutrition simple to understand and offers tasty nutritious recipe ideas that work well alongside a healthy active lifestyle.

Created by Dr Ricardo Costa, Senior Lecturer and Researcher in Dietetics at Coventry University, each recipe includes all the nutritional information you need to chose the best meal or snack and when is best to eat it. Brimming with tempting recipes, from creamy tomato pasta to an all-day breakfast panini (with low fat sausages and bacon), and honey and cinnamon energy bars to fatless carrot cake, Cooking for sport and exercise offers nutritious meals and snacks that are tasty but also easy to prepare.

As an ex-professional athlete, Ricardo has been involved in sport and exercise nutrition for over a decade. In this new book he offers a helpful resource for busy people whatever your fitness programme – be it elite athlete training or simply a recreational athlete trying to improve your fitness levels. Breaking the recipes down into useful sections, such as loading up the carbs; don’t forget the vegetables; sport and recovery drinks; and where is the protein, helping users jump easily to the topic they want.

An app version of the book has been created in collaboration with the University’s Serious Games Institute (SGI), offering users the opportunity to download the recipes direct to your mobile device. Alongside all the nutritious recipes, the app also allows you to build up a shopping list of ingredients as you browse the recipes.

Dr Costa said:

Sport and exercise are an essential part of the healthy lifestyle and good food choices can help make a massive difference in the results you get from workouts. By using this recipe resource, you can plan your meals and snacks to get the best possible sport and exercise outcomes, and develop healthier eating habits.

Digital tools and channels are an essential way of engaging people in sport, health and fitness, so I am really pleased we can offer an app as well as book. This imaginative use of new technology can only help in planning your sport, training or exercise programmes.

For further information please contact Sarah-Jane Dean, Communications Assistant, Coventry University, on +44 (0)24 7688 8245 or email sarah-jane.dean@coventry.ac.uk.