What Keeps Poker Player Healthy

It is understandable to all that health is wealth. If we are not healthy and our body is not fit we will not be able to perform well. In the same way for any player or any sportsman being healthy is very important. Before beginning of a tournament the players have to gear up to keep themselves fit enough for the game awaiting ahead. For the poker players endless rounds, scouring the internet for practice plays, and obsessively watching and re-watching big game replaying to memorize every tiny detail that could give them an edge is stressful and needs energy booster and a healthy diet.

Where the mind is fit and ready so is the body to catch up the play. Here we will see what are the healthy diets and the things to do to keep a poker player healthy.

Magnesium in Diet

Magnesium plays a powerful role in your circulation, digestion, mental function, and muscle and nerve regulation. It helps reduce anxiety and irritability, it soothes muscle cramps and twitches, and it increases your ability to process information at a high level.

Critically, magnesium also has a profound impact on your sleep quality. It’s key that your sleep is deep and restorative before a game, so that you are focused and alert when you sit down at the table.
Conservative estimates suggest that 65 percent of Americans are deficient in magnesium—and when you have a big game ahead of you, it’s a deficiency you can’t afford. Add magn esium to your diet with legumes, nuts, whole grains, and leafy greens.

Alcohol Intake

Nothing slows you down like a hangover. Even if you only have a few drinks the night before, your cognitive function, reaction times, and mental processing speed will be significantly impaired.
Recent research found “a 5-10 percent drop in performance of working memory and an increase in errors by around 30 percent while participants were hung over. Reaction times were also marginally slower in those who were hung over and represented someone in their 20s having the reaction times equivalent to someone in their 40s.”

In a UK survey it was found that Poker players are arguably the healthiest out of all casino games players, but they probably just need to cut back on the drinking a bit.
Poker players have the second lowest BMI, trailing only pai gow players. (The body mass index is calculated by dividing their weight by their height in meters squared.)

Poker players are also big drinkers, regardless of gender.

You should avoid drinking for at least a few days before the game, so that you’re at your sharpest when it’s time to play.

Boost your Circulation

Your brain is going to need all the fresh oxygen and nutrients it can get when you get to the table, so it’s crucial that you spend some time increasing your circulation.

Getting a massage, drinking plenty of water, and taking hot baths or showers will also improve circulation. Light workouts will help increase blood flow, support optimal neurotransmitter production, and help to flush out any toxins or metabolic waste that have accumulated in your cells.

Running, bodyweight circuits, yoga, or swimming will all help get the blood flowing, without leaving you sore and stiff when you have a long stretch of sitting ahead of you.

Get Plenty of Sleep

Oftentimes, professional poker players will play for 10-12 hours non-stop in high concentration, high stress situations. Simply the fact that there’s money on the line is stressful in itself! For these reasons, poker players needs at least 8 hours of restful sleep a night, to rest their minds and their bodies. Lack of sleep can hinder you from thinking clearly and keeping your emotions at an even keel. Studies show that excessive sleepiness can hurt work performance, wreak havoc on relationships, and lead to mood problems like anger and depression.

Exercise is Important

One big reason you won’t find a whole lot of poker players in the gym is because they don’t think good health has anything to do with winning. After all, you’re not going to be penalized in a tournaments for having a gut. But the truth is that poor health can affect a person’s game when you really thing about it. For example, many of the bigger poker tournaments last for days and those who are out of shape may tire quickly and lose focus during the later parts. On the other hand, a person with good health will be alert and ready at all stages of a tourney.

Poker players need to make time for physical activity (i.e. getting their heart rates over 120 bpm) for at least 45 minutes a day, four to five days a week. With this increase in physical exercise, they will see significant improvements in their physique, stamina, alertness and ability to focus, stress levels, and sleep patterns. All of these improvements will help their game.

The Three Meals

A healthy diet is something that poker players should be interested in for more reasons than just winning at poker. Because they are often on the road, and have access to a lot of fast foods, they need to make sure to make healthy choices and have healthy snacks at hand. They should make sure to have complete meals at breakfast, lunch and dinner with scheduled light snacks in the times between to refuel your batteries. They should be snacking every couple hours to keep energy levels and focus up. Also, eat foods with Omega 3 fats which help insulate the brain and therefore aid in the thinking process.

Rest the Eyes

Poker players should avoid eye fatigue by resting and refocusing your eyes periodically by looking away from the cards and focus on something in the distance. Rest eyes by covering them with your palms for 10-15 seconds.

Stay Hydrated

Drink a lot of water to stay hydrated. Staying hydrated not only keeps your body functioning optimally, it keeps you awake and alert! If poker players needs an extra energy boost, they should stay clear of energy drinks and have coffee or tea instead- it’s better for stress on the heart. Players should also stay clear of sodas and fruit juices because drinks high in sugar content make blood sugar rise and then suddenly drop. Once blood sugar drops, cognitive abilities are impaired which will affect poker playing skills.