Messi 's secret diet according to his personal dietician

Giuliano Poser, Lionel Messi's dietitian, is one of the current protaganists in the sports press in Barcelona. Sports newspaper Mundo Deportivo has today devoted the front cover to him after their correspondent in Argentina, Aquiles Furlone, interviewed him. Poser applies kinesiology - the scientific study of body movement - and says that this is one of the crucial elements that keeps the little Argentine at the top of his game.

The five key foods Poser defined as "water, good quality olive oil, whole grains and fresh fruits and vegetables that are not contaminated by pesticides, herbicides etc as they can cause great harm to the body."

"Also very good are nuts and seeds." The worst thing, according to Giuliano, is sugar. "It is the worst thing for the muscles. The farther he stays away from sugars, the better. Refined flours are also a big problem as these days its difficult to find uncontaminated wheat." When asked about salt and meat intake he stated that they were good for the athlete's body but in small quantities adding, "the amount of meat normally eaten by Argentinians and Uruguyans is too much, as it is difficult to digest."

So, it would appear that Messi's dietician is following most recent trends, especially regarding sugar, with what he has revealed to Mundo Deportivo. But he went further and explained more about his work with top athletes including the star player:

"My methods are not in doubt," he said, "everyone can see Leo week in, week out." The expert also stated that there is a lot of ignorance regarding this food science and footballers may not want to follow what he tells them but once they've tried it for about three weeks and see the effects then they usually keep going. It takes an open mind on their behalf and he uses a phrase for this, "the human mind is like a parachute, it only works when it's open".