Goalkeeper Diets

As a sportsman, it is imperative that you consume a diet that supports your body and mind best in order to perform at peak level within your sport. This also applies for goalkeepers. Although there are many schools of thought on what the diet of athletes such as goalkeepers should be, there are a few not-so-mainstream ideas that have proven far more effective and useful than standard, parroted jargon. These ideas involve raw foodism and are based on either sound science or actual, personal experiences of individuals who have tried them.

Raw Meat

• Raw meat supports muscle even without exercise.

  According to Dr. Aajonus Vonderplanitz, Ph.D. Nutrition, unfrozen, raw meat and fish support cellular reproduction like no other foods do, including cooked meats and protein powders. Raw meat combined with exercise allows greater gains in lean, athletic mass than just exercise alone. Bodybuilding expert Randy Roach, writer of "Muscle, Smoke, And Mirrors," introduced raw dieting to natural bodybuilder Joshua Trentine, who was able to increase his peak weight from a little below 195 to over 220 lbs. without gaining excess body fat in the process.

Raw Fruit

• Bananas with lots of brown spots are most digestible, not spoiled.

  Carbohydrates as found in raw fruit are needed to create glucose that fuels the majority of cells in the human body. As an athlete, your needs for this nutrient go up drastically. As far as how much to consume, the sky is the limit. There are raw vegan athletes following the teachings of raw vegan Dr. Douglas Graham.They eat up to 72 bananas per day for endurance-type training. A good rule of thumb would be to eat the equivalent of two to 10 high carbohydrate pieces of fruit per day (such as bananas), depending on how much you exert yourself.

Vegetable Juice

• Vegetable juice is a great energy boost.

  Fresh, raw vegetable juice alkalizes excessively acidic blood best (including countering lactic acid and other waste products formed during exercise) as well as provides enzymes that allow the body to save and use its own resources and energy for purposes other than digesting food. A single cup of vegetable juice is digested in only 20 minutes. Dr. Vonderplanitz recommends consuming up to a quart per day if your are very active.

Raw Eggs

• Raw eggs with orange yolks and brown shells are best.

  Raw eggs are, as Dr. Vonderplanitz puts it, nature's fast food. They're perfect for eating quickly in between training or game play as you can crack each end of an egg with your teeth and suck it right out of the shell. And in their raw, preferably unrefrigerated and unwashed state, eggs are the absolutely easiest food of all to digest, taking place in 10 to 20 minutes.

Raw Milk

• Raw milk contains immaculate quality whey protein and amino acids.

  Raw milk strengthens bones, prevents arthritis (via the Wulzen factor), as well as makes a great pain killer overall (because of morphine-like substances within the milk). It also provides hydration and a source of one of the most well known muscle-friendly proteins of all, whey protein.

Raw Fats

• Coconut is one of the best fat sources you can eat.

  Raw fats are some of the most important nutrients you could possibly eat. Various sources include coconut products, dairy cream, butter, egg yolks, avocados, and cold-pressed oils. These fats optimize your abilities as a goalkeeper by cleansing (removing injured tissues and waste products), lubricating (especially the joints), fueling (1 g of fat yields twice as many calories and twice as much water as 1 g of carbohydrates or protein) and protecting your body.