When you’re in your twenties or thirties and physical activity is part of your job—whether you’re a Marine or a professional football player—you’re probably not concerned about heart health. That’s true for most of the ball players Leslie Bonci, R.D., C.S.S.D., team nutritionist for the Pittsburgh Steelers, counsels. “The worst they’re thinking about is an injury. It isn’t a heart attack now or 20 years down the road,” she says. But Bonci is thinking about the Steelers’ long-term health; it’s part of her job.
True, before age 50, risk of heart attack and related conditions, such as diabetes and stroke, is still very low. But there’s been growing concern over the increasing size of professional football players and how it affects their hearts. About six years ago the National Football League (NFL) established a committee to examine the cardiovascular risk of active and retired players.
A 2009 study in the Journal of the American Medical Association compared the cardiovascular risk factors of 504 NFL players to those of “regular” men the same age. The players—who were much bigger than the other men—had a higher rate of hypertension but a lower prevalence of impaired fasting glucose (predictive of diabetes, which is associated with heart risk). Cholesterol levels were comparable. “The problem is that, when these guys retire, they stay about the same size, so their risk becomes equivalent to someone who is 250 pounds, not someone who is smaller,” says Robert Vogel, M.D., an author of the study and a professor of medicine at the University of Maryland.
Unfortunately, when an active person becomes less active, says Bonci, “the appetite doesn’t automatically switch off.” So she makes sure her players learn the basics of healthy eating while they’re on the job.
One of her successes is Charlie Batch, the Steelers’ backup quarterback. Batch called on Bonci to recommend a diet that would lower his cholesterol and help him lose weight. Batch’s biggest challenge was eating out, so Bonci helped him navigate menus, encouraging him to choose a petite steak and a Caesar salad over high-calorie, high-fat dishes like Fettuccine Alfredo, which can deliver 1,000 calories and 53 grams of saturated fat. By the next season, Batch had dropped 12 pounds and reduced his total cholesterol by 20 percent.
Bonci has also initiated improvements to the health of the entire team by tackling the cafeteria menu. While fried foods and pizza remain, they’re outnumbered by healthier options like bison burgers, blackened chicken and fish. Their training camp cafeteria is set up to help players get what they need after a workout. A table stocked with ingredients for fruit smoothies is the first stop after practice. At the next turn is a giant salad bar with fruits and vegetables and lean proteins, such as chicken and beans.
Bonci’s lessons stay with the players. Take Tunch Ilkin, an offensive tackle for the Steelers during Bonci’s first year as team nutritionist, now a radio journalist who covers the Steelers. At a recent training camp, he shouted to Bonci from the pizza line: “I’m just having one slice. You told me that if I love a food, I should have it—just not too much.”
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