16.10.2002
Hjelmeset's Recipe for Good Health.

A diet of fish and home-made bread makes it possible for Odd-Bjørn Hjelmeset to keep his food intolerance problem in check. So far this year, he has been able to prepare the way he wanted.

Av: Knut Seim

- My training has gone very well so far this year. No major changes have been made to my training programme, but I keep reminding myself to find a balance between relaxed and hard overdistance work. The future will show whether I have succeeded, says Hjelmeset, who eventually has found a way to cope with the stomach problems which have bothered him for such a long time.

- I seem to have found a way to keep the problems in check. Not even the doctors can give me an exact diagnosis, but one of their conclusions is that I must avoid spaghetti, minced meat and other types of meat. In addition, food products which contain artificial additives are not good for me. As long as I'm at home and stick to the food my stomach can tolerate, I don't experience any problems. When I travel to places where I don't know which additives the food contains, however, I get into trouble very easily, says Hjelmeset.

A solution has been found to the latter problem. Odd-Bjørn Hjelmeset has made a deal with the company Norwegian Seafood, which has agreed to provide him with fish whereever he stays in the world.

- This arrangement works wonderfully, and I feel better than in a long time. During the national team's training camp in Stelvio earlier this autumn, I suffered from stomach problems only one day, compared to 12 last year, says a very pleased Hjelmeset to XC-skiing.com.

The secret to good health for Odd-Bjørn is, in other words, to eat fish and his wife Elisabeth's home-made bread.