Chef Rohit Tokhi of Kempinski Ambience Hotel decodes the diet and food chart of the Delhi Dynamos team who are currently putting up at the hotel
Are you ready for some foodballIJ” This was the question asked by the chief nutrionist and manager of the Delhi Dynamos team. I knew it will not be easy hosting an entire football team for the next two months. We might know our guests preferences, people who come to visit us in restaurants and banquets but feeding a group of 35 athletes, who might be running a distance of 7.5 to 9 miles in a 90 minute game will be difficult.
The team includes players, coach, manager, physio, nutritionist and doctors. During the league days, practice days and game days footballers/sportsperson are much disciplined eaters. They know what they want and are very specific in their needs. And the best part is they eat together; they sit together and spend time together like a team.
A balanced diet is the key to be in shape and health. A diet with all nutrients and changing the menu daily is the best one. For example, one day consists of rice, beans, beef and vegetables. The other day it is pasta or lasagna and chicken. Different fishes and mashed potatoes are also included with a lot of salad. The proper way is to have meals every four hours. It helps on their recovery, to avoid injuries and to develop player’s skills.
Be it a coach or any player, the routine starts from morning. They have breakfast before 8am after which they proceed to practice venues and are back in hotel by 1pm for lunch, they are back down in the restaurant for a mid day snack at 5pm and down again for dinner at 7pm, a typical day ends with a late night snack in the room.
For breakfast they take cereals, specially muesli (with more grains and less nuts), full fat milk and natural yoghurt. Breads are usually whole grain and multi grain fruit bread (there is no white flour bread in the diet). They also have full fat butter, peanut butter, sesame paste, almond butter, natural honey, fresh juices, eggs (not fried), natural cheeses and smoked chicken or turkey ham. Nuts are a special treat but not cashew or almonds but raw almonds, hazel nuts, walnuts and pistachios. Cakes and fruit breads are welcome but without addition of white sugar, these should be sweetened with date puree or natural fruit addition. Diet should have an inclusion of sunflower seeds, flax seeds and pumpkin seeds.
lunch and dinner comprises of a good selection of lettuces in salad bar, extra virgin olive oil and balsamic is a must. Salad bar should also have a good selection of cheeses and cold cuts such as turkey, chicken and pork ham. Grilled and raw vegetables along with good quality feta cheese are also helpful. There is a major demand of pasta which should be whole wheat and al dente with selection of sauces such as tomato, basil and bolognaise. Even meats/fish and poultry should be fresh and not frozen and as far as fish is concerned they need more of tuna and salmon.
Diet plays a vital role when it comes to what goes into a player’s palate. Since their body weight and health influences directly to their performance and ability on the pitch it is very important to take care of the diet on a daily basis. Every professional player has to follow an individual menu. Because each of them have different needs. We have to provide the amount of nutrients needed for them according to the intensity of each training sessions. Some of them need to improve their strength others have to lose weight.