Question:
At halfway house, does what you eat affect your concentration during the second nine?

Answer:
Alan , I am afraid it does. When you look at what most golfers eat at the halfway house it is suprising thaye are still awake at the 18th hole. I know that I am exagerating the fact on how what we eat at the halfway house can affect our concentration but unfortunately it does affect our concentration and in fact, our whole body functioning.

It only makes sense that for the brain to work properly one has to feed the brain the right “ smart nutrients ”for it work effectively. There are two major reason why we loose concentration at this stage of the game after consuming the wrong foods.

The most common mistake we make at the halfway house ,is to consume large amounts of processed complex carbohydrates with a high glycaemic index .Wow !!!what a mouth full you are thinking, summarized ,pie, gravy,chips and a coke !!

Unfortunately when players consume these masses of carbohydrates(sugars) , there is a sudden peak in the sugar levels in your blood. Your body tries to control your sugar level by secreting insulin (This is a hormone produced by your pancreas to lower sugar levels in your blood), the resulting effect is a sudden drop in sugar levels resulting in fatigue and a drop in concentration .I need not explain the result.

Interestingly studies have shown that when a sudden drop in blood sugar occurs,there is an increase in the amount of adrenalin( flight.fight hormone) secreted in our bodies,resulting in aggresiveness and irrtability.So that may explain the behaviour in some of your mates at this stage of the game.This undoubtedly also affects performance.

The other problem that results in a concentration drop , and in fact a drop in the communication between the brain, nerves and muscles , is the lack of the effective production of acetylcholine in your brain and the rest of your body. Now you may ask me Acetyl what ? Well acetylcholine is the most abundant neurotransmitter in the brain. This neuro-chemical is involved in every thought process involved in your brain and is involved in every message that the brain sends to your muscle. So it only makes sense that if you do not produce enough acetylcholine then your functioning will deteriorate mentally and physically. Considering that golf is game that involves concentration for the best of five hours one really needs to have a brain that is well fed with smart nutrients. Choline is one of these nutrients and is found abundantly in fish, especially salmon and sardines. Ha! so your mother was right, fish is really brain food. Choline is used by your brain to make acetyl choline. Choline is also found in green leafy vegetables, unfortunately the nutritional value of our food has decreased substantially over the years ( a topic on its own). The bottom line is that unless you have a healthy serving of salmon or sardines at least three times a week, you are not receiving enough choline for your brain to concentrate for long periods of time. There are other smart nutrients that are also needed but for this article we will concentrate on choline. In a nutshell acetylcholine helps your brain work smoother and subsequently muscle movement is also more coordinated and the end result is improved timing etc and thus better golf.

So I think the solution would be to convince your golf club to have a sushi bar at the half way house. Or alternatively there are some excellent supplements on the market that have choline and other smart nutrients in them to help with your performance. I would recommend that you try this improve concentration. A word or warning though, not all supplements are the same ,so make sure that whatever you are taking is in a reputable reference and is manufactured according to good manufacturing practice.

So what you do eat at the halfway house can have a propfound effect on concentration for the second nine and I would recommend that you rather eat a small balanced meal of protein,fats and low glycemic index carbs to avoid that insulin spik