MEDICAL ADVISES [back to medical advises]

You have to eat before a performance ?

Author :   Dr Paule Nathan

Do not, above all, eat any foods that might cause food poisoning.


Avoid mayonnaise, fresh cream cakes, ice cream and shellfish (especially mussels and oysters).Fig 1

- avoid foods, as listed above, that can be difficult to digest.

- beware of the "latest" dietary tips. They are linked with the idea of drug-taking. They unbalance the food intake level and only create extra food stress at a time when a dancer needs all his skills and wits about him in order to perform. Everyone needs to keep their bearings and food plays a determining role. Do not change your diet the day before or on the day itself, as you run the risk of adding extra stress. Adopt good eating habits progressively throughout the year.
- make sure that you drink enough.

During long periods of exertion, medical check-ups, competitions, auditions with badly defined time slots, allow for an intake level of 6 ml of water/kilo of weight/hour. Divide the amount into four; drink on average 50 to 100 ml every 1/4 of an hour for the first hour, then every 20 to 30 minutes.

- eat your last meal 3 hours before the performance so that you are not bothered by digestion during exertion. Do not break the 3 hour rule by eating just before exertion, you will have a full stomach.

Eat a highly digestible meal with high biological value protein such as egg or meat and slow-acting carbohydrates such as bread, pasta or rice. Avoid pulses or other vegetables such as cabbage or spinach which can cause flatulence.

- some dancers need to eat an "holding" ration in order to avoid signs of hypoglycemia which are linked to the discharge of adrenaline using up carbohydrate reserves. There can, in actual fact, be a series of signs, before and during the performance, which show the weakness of the neuro-vegetative system. These include cold sweat, increased heart rate, trembling, stage fright and they can lead to a poor performance because, at this exact moment, the dancer suffers a drop in his blood sugar level (hypoglycemia).

If you suffer from these problems, apply the "holding" ration criteria which consist of having a drink, made up of equal parts of water and fruit juice with 20g of honey added, between the last meal (3 hours beforehand) and the start of the performance. Drink 1/4 of a litre of this mixture every 1/2 hour right up to the performance. Thus, your blood sugar will be at the right level for the start of the performance.

Do not confuse the "holding" ration with consuming excessive amounts of sweetened drinks. The aim of the "holding" ration is to regulate the blood sugar level with the intake of a slightly sweetened drink mixture that is divided into small quantities. However, if you drink a sugar-rich, energy-giving drink which provides too much sugar in one go, you will induce a rapid increase in your blood sugar level with a pronounced insulin reaction, reactional hypoglycemia (drop in the blood sugar level). This will hinder your exertion and is exactly what we wanted to avoid

@ Follow the rules of the "recovery after exertion" ration. It consists of re-hydrating your organism, by replacing water, carbohydrate and mineral deficiencies. It also allows for a better elimination of the toxins that your organism produced during muscular exertion.