Superfood for Professional Poker Players

Professional poker players should be willing to try anything to get an advantage at the table. So it is only natural to wonder whether or not a player’s diet is going to have an impact on their chances of winning or losing.

Poker is one of the unhealthiest sports out there. Long periods of sitting at the table or on a computer playing online poker are not good for either the body or the mind.

A lot of poker players also like to smoke or drink alcohol while playing, with these both having a negative effect, while snacking on unhealthy food is common among professionals as well.

So health and wellbeing should be a crucial factor for anyone who has aspirations of becoming a professional poker player. Can eating Superfoods help poker players to get an important edge?

What Exactly Is A Superfood?

Superfoods are categorised as those that are particularly packed with nutrients. This means they are good for both the body and the mind, theoretically helping poker players to concentrate better when they are at the table.

Most of the Superfoods that are available to buy are plant-based but they are some dairy and fish options as well. But the American Heart Association, for example, is among the organisations to have shown cynicism about the concept of a Superfood.

According to the body, eating Superfoods is not guaranteed to have any impact on a person, though they may do so if they are consumed as part of an otherwise healthy diet.

The American Heart Association highlighted berries, beans and legumes as some of the things that might be described as a Superfood because of their high levels of nutritional goodness.

Blueberries are often named as a classic Superfood as they are rich in vitamins, but strawberries and cranberries can be a good choice in this department as well. Oats, nuts and seeds also count, as well as pumpkin and various dark leafy greens, like kale and spinach.

People who love to eat salmon are in luck as this is also often classed as a Superfood, while the same is also the case for skinless poultry. Yoghurt makes the list of Superfoods as well.

Various different exotic fruits have also been called Superfoods at one time or another. These include acai berry, dragon fruit and pomegranate. But research that has been carried out into the matter has found that less-heralded fruit options such as red raspberries are extremely healthy despite not having such a big reputation.

Are Superfoods simply a marketing fad?

Many scientists and nutritionists are unconvinced there are any special benefits to eating the many different foods that have been claimed to be Superfoods in the last few years.

It could, therefore, be the case that the drive towards eating Superfoods is part of the wellness craze that has been sweeping across the world. Wellness has often been criticised for being a way to push expensive products that are no more healthy or useful than affordable alternatives.

Superfoods also tend to be processed in a lot of cases, which is likely to reduce their impact. Raw fruits such as berries are likely to be a lot healthier than a product that contains a Superfood such as macadamia nuts that have been processed for that purpose.

Fatty fish are often forgotten about when it comes to Superfoods as they are not as trendy as acai berries, as an example. Large levels of protein and omega-3 fatty acids are present in fish such as mackerel, herring and trout, but it is rare to hear them hailed by influences as much.

Should professional poker players eat Superfoods or not?

The science behind Superfoods is doubtful, to say the least. But once you’ve decided to become a gambling professional you should be willing to try anything to get an edge over opponents.

And eating Superfoods is not going to do any harm, even if they might not make much of a positive difference either. Adding oats, seeds and berries to a diet is only going to be a good thing for health and wellbeing.

A lot of Superfoods have a reputation among the general public for being particularly expensive, but some of them are very affordable so it is not going to cost a lot of money to test out the theory either.

Diet has a huge impact on fatigue levels and with maintaining concentration levels so crucial for success in poker, perhaps eating Superfoods could help to provide a competitive advantage.

At the end of the day, poker players have to make decisions over their health for themselves. It is clear, though, that eating well is likely to have a positive effect on a player’s chances of winning. But whether Superfoods need to be part of a diet, to win hands at the table, is unclear.

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