Jeff Salzenstein, a former All-American at Stanford University who concluded his 11-year playing career in 2007 and is now a certified nutritional therapy practitioner, offers tips on nutrition and tennis.
When I was 23, I had ankle and knee surgeries. During my rehab, I started researching how to take better care of my body so that I could play competitive tennis for as long as possible. I took an interest in swimmer Dara Torres, who was in her 30s and making a comeback at the Sydney Olympics. She was into organic food and felt it really helped her performance. I thought that was the next wave, where tennis and other sports needed to go for their athletes to play at the highest levels. I had extra time being in rehab and spent it reading books on nutrition. Because I wasn’t a star on tour, I wanted to do everything I could to get the most out of my career.
Once I was back on court, I experimented with different diets and supplements to see how my body would react—I was my own lab rat. While other players relaxed by playing cards or hanging out, I was fixated on learning how to improve my performance. Over time I cleaned up the quality of foods I ate.Instead of white rice, I ate brown rice. Instead of light pasta, it was whole-wheat pasta.
On tour, I was a pioneer. I was into green-powdered vegetable drinks. In the locker room, players were looking at me and asking, “What the heck are you drinking?” I saw a couple of them last year and they were like, “Yeah, our girlfriends juice for us all the time.” I said, “You guys were making fun of me eight years ago.”
I follow what is known as the Paleo or Caveman Diet. It’s basically eating foods from nature—fruits, vegetables, lean protein like chicken, turkey, some red meat. I believe in it and recommend it to everyone. People might say, “Wait a minute, you’re not getting enough carbs.” Rec players who are not on the court for hours a day like the pros can cut the flour, dairy and sugar out of their diets. They can eat much cleaner—fruits, vegetables, eggs, proteins—and feel great. There are a lot of sensitivities to dairy, gluten, sugar and flour. Eliminate them and you’ll feel better, lose weight and have more energy, because your body won’t have to work as hard. If you want more carbs, sweet potatoes and brown rice are good choices. Gluten-free grains are a better alternative to wheat-based foods.
It doesn’t matter if you’re a high-level athlete or if you have a health challenge you need to fix: If you get the right nutrients, your body will feel good. Keep it simple. Don’t eat things out of packages that have been on grocery shelves for months. Get lean meat, fresh fish, fresh vegetables, fruits, nuts and seeds.
Take the sugar out of your diet. That’s where the challenge comes as a pro athlete. You need more sugar than someone who’s not playing tennis. It’s a question of where do you get your sugar, from an orange or a candy bar? It’s all about choices. You have to learn to make the right ones.