the picture.White bread, white pasta and white rice have been stripped of their outer bran coating and inner germ, and therefore also much of their nutritional content. Eat a bowl of spaghetti and you'll enjoy energy and calories, which are vital when you

but it needs them regularly. Vitamins do not have any calories, and therefore provide no energy. However, they are vital to the energy-producing process, and a deficiency in vitamins in this chain will result in reduced energy and performance levels. A severely

If transition is triathlon's fourth discipline, nutrition should be the fifth. Making fuelling mistakes could mean your race ends in disaster. And the longer the event, the more critical your food and drink strategy becomes. But it's not easy

". By recognising your errors you can develop a routine that ensures optimum energy every time you train. Here are five common mistakes and ways to avoid them.Skipping breakfastSome people aren't hungry in the morning. Others skip breakfast to trim calories, says

work longer. Include foods with fibre. "Fibre can increase the amount of fat you burn during exercise," says Lewin. It slows digestion, so your glycogen is harder to access, which forces your body to pull energy from your fat stores.Try this: A

When you're sidelined by injury your natural reaction should be to cut back on calories until it's time to return to training - and burning energy. But the healing process demands fuel, too. "It's like fixing a house," says sports dietitian Cynthia

With three disciplines to consider, it's easy to make mistakes when you're eating and drinking during training and racing. That's the bad news. The good news is that it's easy to avoid triathlon's common nutritional pitfalls if you plan ahead

If broccoli and spinach are the rock stars of the vegetable world, then celery and lettuce are the stage-hands, working hard out of the limelight. For years we've dismissed these pale staples as nutritionally barren, focusing our attention

. Brewed coffee contains just two calories per cup, so it doesn't provide the energy muscles need after exertion, but adding low-fat milk and sugar contributes calories, and the calcium and vitamin D improve its nutritional profile. And coffee contains

for the American Dietetic Association. "And that's where your power comes from."The benefitsBecause protein slows digestion and lowers a food's rating on the glycaemic index, it prevents high-energy carbs from sending your blood sugar soaring, then crashing. That