SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – What fuels Barry Zito?
Is it his desire to excel? Or the pressure of living up to a $126 million contract, the richest ever given to a pitcher?
Well, no.
Literally, it’s a chocolate cherry muffin – one baked by an aerospace physiologist, to be precise.
Zito leaves nothing to chance in his preparation, and that includes his diet. In November, the Giants’ ace started on a nutrition program formulated by Precision Food Works, a Manhattan Beach company founded by former NASA consultant Chris Talley.
Every other day this spring, Zito arrives at Scottsdale Stadium to find a large cardboard box at his locker. It says “refrigerate upon opening” in large block letters under the next-day air label.
Inside are frozen, vacuum-sealed containers of everything from blackberry custard to spinach flour pasta to mandarin danish toast. Every ingredient of every preservative-free dish is weighed to the gram. The meals contain a balance of vitamins, nutrients, fat, protein and carbohydrates customized to Zito’s specific body chemistry.
And then there are those muffins.
“So good,” Zito said. “It’s one of my favorite things.”
Zito linked up with Talley through trainer Chris Hoffman, who developed the left-hander’s workout program this winter. After some bloodwork and other tests, Talley designed a computerized menu with the dual goals of optimizing overall health and minimizing recovery time. Every week or two, Zito gets his body fat measured and his meals are adjusted accordingly.
“Energy wise, recovery wise, my body is a lot better because my muscles are getting what they need to rebuild,” Zito said. “Nutrition in this country is so terrible. People want their food, they want it fast and convenience is such a big factor for people. But your body starts to break down.
“You can’t really track injuries due to (poor) nutrition, but the more technology evolves and gets in the mainstream, the more we’ll see a link between the two.”
Eighty to 90 percent of what goes in Zito’s mouth comes out of Talley’s kitchen. Zito still dines out, but usually chooses salad and grilled fish. And because Talley’s food doesn’t taste like dressed-up soy protein, he’s not tempted to cheat.
“It’s just easier to eat from his trays,” Zito said. “There’s this pasta he makes with spinach and some kind of cheese or something. It looks and tastes like pasta, but it’s actually not a carbohydrate. It’s really good.”
It’s made with egg whites and spinach powder. And the custard that Zito likes so much?
“Obviously there’s no custard in it,” Talley said. “It’s made with whey protein, tofu … Come to think about it, I don’t know if you should tell him. Sometimes they find out what’s in it and they won’t eat it.”
Count Giants left-hander Steve Kline among those folks. He inquired one day when he heard Zito make yummy noises in the lunchroom. Zito offered him a bite.
“Toad food? Tofu? I don’t even know what that is,” Kline said. “I don’t believe in dieting. I went on two diets in my life and I got fatter both times.”
Talley’s food science background goes a bit beyond Jenny Craig. He researched the effects of space flight on lean body mass and bone density, then searched for ways to minimize those effects through nutrition. Zito won’t pitch in a zero-gravity environment, but there are some parallels.
“It’s all about your body making repairs,” said Talley, who counts several NBA players and celebrities among his clients. “The wear and tear on a pitcher’s body is pretty incredible.”
Zito’s current program includes more carbohydrates to give him energy for his spring-training regimen. When the season starts, the program will change to focus on recovery.
“We’re saving tricks for later so they’ll be effective when we use them,” Talley said.
One is an amino acid (phosphatidyl serine) that Talley said has been shown to increase mental focus and acuity.
“Your brain lights up,” Talley said. “But it only works for six to eight weeks, then your body adjusts to it. We’ll incorporate that into his food when he gets to the point he needs it.”
Many players are wary of supplements, afraid they could accidentally ingest a mislabeled substance and possibly test positive for a banned performance-enhancing drug. But Talley said all of the supplements in Zito’s food are pharmaceutical grade and certified to contain no additives.
Talley is struck by how Zito combines a spiritual outlook with an open-minded approach to science and technology.
“Usually spiritual people are into their green tea and tofu, and that’s it,” Talley said. “His approach is very holistic. He wants to embrace the very latest in nutrition.”
Not everyone is so quick to embrace it, though.
“No thanks,” Kline said. “I’ll be out eating beer nuts.”
Contact Andrew Baggarly at abaggarly@mercurynews.com
