LA JOLLA, Calif. -- As Gabe Avillion and Macune Gilruth of the men's volleyball team wrap up their workouts at Spanos Athletic Performance Center, they start to chat about soy. The two student-athletes have heard differing opinions and wonder how much is safe to consume. Before turning to Google or Siri for the answer, they quickly have one that they can trust, thanks to UC San Diego's sports dietitians.
Jasmine Chu and Rachael Mack often find themselves answering questions about nutrition from curious student athletes, as their office is located in the Spanos training room. The location is ideal for the two sports dietitians, who are able to answer questions for student-athletes which may otherwise go unanswered.
“'My teammate said that soy is bad for me, is that true?' We get asked things like that a lot,” Mack shared. “We do individual counseling and set up office hours, but those conversations that happen in passing are often more impactful because it's something that they're interested in and we can directly answer it. That's a huge piece of what we do; we have to be available and accessible.”
Being accessible to the athletes is important to Chu and Mack because of the pivotal role that nutrition plays in the athletes' overall health.
“Nutrition is one thing that works in conjunction with all of the other things that you have to do to be a good athlete,” Chu explained. “For example, [mental performance coach] Corrie Falcon works on mindfulness training, our strength and conditioning staff keeps the athletes' bodies fit and ready for challenges, and athletic training helps with injury rehabilitation and prevention. Nutrition influences all of those things, because if your body isn't fueled, you can't perform well.”
Because of the importance of nutrition, Chu and Mack play a crucial part in helping the student-athletes achieve their best. The two do not expect athletes to come to UC San Diego with all of the knowledge they need to make healthy decisions. Instead, they are ready to help inform them in many engaging and insightful ways.
“I think that our role is to help the athletes here develop the skills they need in order to optimize their sports performance and their health,” Chu said. “As the sports dietitians, our role is to create an environment that is supportive of that.”
“We want to make sure that they have a good support system,” Mack added. “Even if they're not super interested in nutrition, we want to help them at least make good choices that are going to impact their performance.”
Chu and Mack have come up with a variety of creative ways to provide insight about nutrition to the athletes. The two often host what they refer to as team talks. They meet with a UC San Diego team to share some of the major principles of nutrition that are applicable to the entire group.
“At team talks, one of the things we discuss the most is how to tailor a plate,” Mack shared. “We want to make sure your plate always has a carbohydrate, a protein, and a fruit or vegetable. The composition of that plate can differ by sport, but at a minimum you're going to always have those three things on your plate.”
The two sports dietitians also use team talks to provide tips that are applicable for the unique circumstances of the student-athletes.
“We've worked pretty heavily with the men's basketball team in providing meal examples for each road trip they're taking,” Mack said. “We look at places that are close to their venues that they can grab meals at, and discuss what we would recommend at a variety of places. For example, if you're going to eat a sandwich, we'd really like you to have some fruit on the side instead of chips.”
Outside of the team talks, one of Chu and Mack's focuses is trying to impact the newest Triton student-athletes. They believe in not just telling the athletes how to make healthy decisions, but showing them as well. One way they have done this is through taking incoming freshmen and transfer athletes to an on-campus dining hall during orientation.
“It was our way to reiterate all of the messages that we've been giving on how to build a plate, how to make good choices when you've got A or B, and how you know which one might be better for you,” Chu recalled. “We're actually able to walk through with them and physically show them the food and the meal options at the dining hall.”
Chu and Mack take it one step further. In order to be able to give informed opinions to the student-athletes, they have eaten at all of the dining halls on campus.
“We've seen what it's like at lunch time,” said Mack. “There are often really long lines to grab a sandwich, so we know you're going to grab the easy thing instead, and we'll help you with what you should pair with that… We know what the options are, we know what to recommend, and we know what would fit in your schedule if you've got 10 minutes for lunch and you're over at the busy Pines dining hall.”
Another way Chu and Mack reach out to the Triton student-athletes is through social media. They provide tips through their Instagram account @triton_nutrition. Some of their most popular posts are their weekly “What's That Wednesday” ideas. The dietitians give out simple, healthy tips, which the athletes can then try out themselves by visiting the kitchen next to their office. The demonstrations have been well received by the Triton teams.
“Every Wednesday morning the baseball team comes in and is like, 'It's “What's That Wednesday!” What are we trying?',” Mack described. “We want to create excitement about food. Food can be stressful, especially when you're in college.”
Chu and Mack do their best to eliminate that stress. Through “What's That Wednesday,” dining hall visits, team talks, and their other ways of educating the athletes, the sports dietitians hope that making smart, healthy choices is something that feels obtainable to the students.
“At the end of the day we're mixing education and what's realistic, and finding that balance,” Mack shared. “We know every meal is not going to be a perfect plate, but if most of them are most of the time, that's a really great goal.”
About UC San Diego Athletics
With 30 national team championships, nearly 150 individual titles and the top student-athlete graduation rate among Division II institutions in the United States, the UC San Diego intercollegiate athletics program annually ranks as one of the most successful in the country. The Tritons sponsor 23 intercollegiate sport programs that compete on the NCAA Division I and II levels and, in summer 2020, will transition into full Division I status as a member of the Big West Conference. UC San Diego student-athletes exemplify the academic ideals of one of the world's preeminent institutions, graduating at an average rate of 91 percent. A total of 80 Tritons have earned Academic All-America honors, while 36 have earned prestigious NCAA Post Graduate Scholarships. In competition, more than 1,300 UC San Diego student-athletes have earned All-America honors.
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