Using athletes as positive role models for eating healthier

_{Go about 3:10 into the video. Thanks to CBC-TV.}

Athletes are not always considered role models. See Woods, Tiger — assuming you think golf is a sport.

But athletes can be seen as a role model in that they now have to be in such great shape. One fine example is when a CBC camera crew followed along Montréal Canadiens left wing Mike Cammalleri through his knee injury rehab.

Cammalleri talked about his nutrition approach:

"The rules for me are pretty simple: If it doesn't grow or you can't kill it, you don't eat it. So nothing in a box. A lot of green vegetables, a lot of fruits, and a lot of meats and fishes. It's really that simple."

Cammalleri says "wild salmon is one of the best foods you can eat. It's probably the thing I eat the most often."

His basket in the organic grocery store is filled with the foods he describes as being part of his diet.

Cammalleri says no to soy, because of estrogen, pointing out to reporter Elliotte Friedman that as men, "we want testosterone, not estrogen."

"I find the better I do, the more disciplined I am with my diet, the more my energy levels stay consistent, and the more mentally sharp I stay.

Earlier in the segment, Cammalleri also noted that he takes an all-natural amino acid supplement.

Hockey is a sport where endurance is crucial. And unlike in some sports where those athletes can be freakishly large or tall, Cammalleri is 5'9" and according to Wikipedia, 185 lbs.

Cammalleri is now back from his knee injury and the Canadiens have barely made the playoffs, though clearly the team missed its second leading scorer.

You don't have to be a hockey player or fan to appreciate Cammalleri's approach to nutrition, but having positive role models in nutrition is great, no matter what they do for a living.