Welcome to the Brew Hoop Night Shift. Every evening at 9:00pm (central time), this all-purpose thread goes up, and the comments section is where it’s going down. What Bucks news did we not cover? What topics do you want to break down further? Or is there something non-Bucks that you want to bounce off of one another? Even something non-basketball? This is the place.
Today’s (on)topic: Sports Nutrition
An inside look at the #BucksSportsNutrition team » https://t.co/dmNc0Z1JS7 pic.twitter.com/xqN0DbG4S3
— Milwaukee Bucks (@Bucks) November 1, 2017
This is a fantastic and deep dive into the world of the Bucks’ eating habits and diets. It is an area that I never really paid attention to until I toured the University of Nebraska’s football stadium and they showed off their nutrition and diet program. There is a whole lot to take away from the entire piece, but one part that slightly blew my mind was how Chef Shawn Zell and his staff handle the hydration of the players.
Even beverages are individualized. Each player has his own “hydration prescription,” based in part on lab tests done on the players’ sweat.
They run the players’ sweat through lab tests! That is so cool! The whole nutrition program sounds extremely cutting edge (I don’t know enough about league-wide nutrition programs, however, the article states that Zell was the first full-time dietitian in the NBA, and has since been followed by others) and the move into the new practice facility obviously meant an update to the kitchen, one in which Chef Zell helped design.
The nutrition staff is all about building relationships and making food personal, which is great! They even go so far as to grocery shop with the players.
[Zell]’s done walk-throughs in grocery stores with some players to help them stock their fridge and pantry at home... He’s also given some players cooking lessons, according to [Troy] Flanagan.
[eats pasta for eighth straight day] Hey can I tag along?
Today’s (off)topic: Vending Machines
So let’s switch gears to some unhealthy food. The vending machine at my work is so good about rotating around brands and styles of chips. I love any of the chips that are in the “spicy chip family” and I’ve been branching out to more brands other than just Flamin’ Hot Cheetos because of how often our machine rotates. Next time you’re in the grocery store and see some Spicy Chile n’ Lime Tacolitos, grab them. Any favorite vending machine go-to’s when a snack is needed in a pinch?
As a general rule, non-basketball topics are permitted in an open thread, provided that they follow the SB Nation Community Guidelines.