Muscle tweaks and more serious bone injuries can ruin a golf season. And if you’re getting injured over and over again, you’re probably beyond frustrated. There are a lot of things that can cause muscle and bone injuries. But the PGA Tour’s performance dietitian, Ryan Harmon, says that many athletes she sees getting frequently injured have something in common: low Vitamin D.

What does Vitamin D do?

“It’s involved in so many different things,” Harmon said. “Building bone, the immune system, muscle function, and really interestingly, inflammatory regulation.”
Harmon, who was the head golf dietitian at IMG Academy and has worked with athletes in the MLB, NFL, NBA, ATP/WTA, as well as Olympians, also noticed Vitamin D affects sleep.

If you don’t get enough Vitamin D, you’ll see a variety of symptoms

“Symptoms could be from broken bones to fractures, muscle weakness, muscle injury, a decrease in strength, power, endurance,” Harmon said. “The athletes that are always injured typically have the lowest Vitamin D. It’s fascinating.”
Though there isn’t a lot of literature on Vitamin D and how it affects sleep, Harmon has seen enough from experience to believe there’s a correlation.
“I’ve seen poor sleep with low Vitamin D levels,” Harmon said. “It could affect your golf game because we know if you’re getting poor sleep, you are not going to be bringing your A game on the golf course. That’s going to affect focus, that’s going to affect fine motor control, your ability to read the greens.”

Vitamin D deficiency is common among women

Both men and women can have low Vitamin D. Every person is different, and the work Harmon does is individualised, but from years of doing blood work, Harmon says she’s seen Vitamin D deficiencies are especially common in women.

How to get more Vitamin D

“We get our Vitamin D from UVB radiation from the sun, but we’re all slapping on sunscreen,” Harmon said. So even though golfers are outdoors a lot, all of the things we do to protect ourselves from sunburn — like wearing sunscreen and hats — limits the amount of Vitamin D we get.
Though we primarily get Vitamin D from the sun, there are some foods you can add to your diet to help boost your Vitamin D levels.
“There are some fortified dairy products, that’s a great option,” Harmon said. “If you like eggs, the egg yolk is going to have Vitamin D, especially if it’s a pasture-raised egg. The hens have to have been outside with access to the sun. Mushrooms are another great option, although there’s not a high amount of Vitamin D, they still have some Vitamin D.”

Getting enough Vitamin D through your diet can be difficult, so Harmon says often they end up using supplements to get deficient athletes’ Vitamin D levels up. The only way to know that you have a Vitamin D deficiency is to get a blood test. And if you’re constantly suffering from injuries, along with the other symptoms Harmon laid out, it might be worth asking your doctor if you should get tested.

The post Avoid injuries with this simple, vital vitamin trick appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

You can enjoy golf however you want to enjoy the game. As long as you’re playing (and playing quickly) we support it.

But if you’re serious about your game, what you put into your body plays a major role. Rory McIlroy talked about it right here. The wrong food can send your blood sugar spiking and crashing. It can wreck your focus. It can lead to lazy swings. And, of course, bad scores because of it.

But golf trainer Jamie Greaves has a handy and helpful piece of advice to avoid those pitfalls, which he calls the “5-10-15” plan. It’s a kind of on-course eating strategy, designed to help you replenish the approximate 700 calories golfers burn during a round of golf.

You can see Greaves’ tweet about the plan below, but the idea is pretty simple: It’s called 5-10-15 because it’s a reminder that golfers should eat before there round, and then on the fifth, 10th, and 15th holes. More, smaller meals will give you a steady amount of energy during your round. Obviously, you should be drinking water throughout, too.

Pre-round

You’ll want something that will give you some sustained energy you’ll be able to burn off slowly. Things like eggs, fruits and healthy fats.

Fifth hole

You may not feel overly hungry by the time you get to the fifth hole, but that’s the point. If you wait until you’re hungry to eat, you’re more likely to binge something unhealthy. Think of this snack as a little top-up. Something that will get you to the turn. Nuts, granola, etc.

10th hole

Halfway through your round you’ll want something that resembles more of a meal. Not a big meal, though, that will leave you feeling stuffed. A wrap or sandwich, or a chicken-salad-in-a-cup situation, will give you the energy you need to have a strong back nine.

15th hole

You’re probably getting pretty hungry by the 15th hole. Fruit is ideal, but you could get away with something more carby (or even sugary) here. Really, you’re looking for something to give you a last jolt of energy over the finish line.

Here’s Greaves’ full tweet (and explanation):

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Be sure to retweet to help more golfers ?

Yes you could just have a few ? too I know haha but this is aimed more at performance ?

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— Jamie Greaves | Golf Fitness (@JGGolfFitness) August 1, 2023

The post This ‘5-10-15’ rule is a smarter way to snack on the golf course appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.