Summary
- Foods rich in unrefined carbohydrates, like wholegrain breads and cereals, should form the basis of the diet.
- Good nutrition can enhance sporting performance.
- A well-planned, nutritious diet should meet most of an athlete’s vitamin and mineral needs, and provide enough protein to promote muscle growth and repair.
- Sports nutrition plans should be tailored to the individual athlete, and consider their specific sport, goals, food preferences and practical challenges.
Exercise and Nutrition
Whether you are a competing athlete, a weekend sports player or a dedicated daily exerciser, the foundation to improved performance is a nutritionally adequate diet. The link between good health and good nutrition is well established. Interest in nutrition and its impact on sporting performance is now a science in itself.
Training diet requirements (Daily)
The basic training diet should be sufficient to:
- provide enough energy and nutrients to meet the demands of training and exercise
- enhance adaptation and recovery between training sessions
- include a wide variety of foods like wholegrain breads and cereals, vegetables (particularly leafy green varieties), fruit, lean meat and low-fat dairy products to enhance long term nutrition habits and behaviors.
- enable the athlete to achieve optimal body weight and body fat levels for performance
- provide adequate fluids to ensure maximum hydration before, during and after exercise
- promote the short and long-term health of athletes.
The Diet of an Athlete
An athlete’s diet should be similar to that recommended for the general public, with energy intake divided into:
45 to 65% from carbohydrates
15 to 25% from protein
20 to 35% from fat.Athletes who exercise strenuously for more than 60 to 90 minutes every day may need to increase the amount of energy they consume, particularly from carbohydrate sources.
Guidelines for carbohydrate and protein based on grams intake per kilogram (g/kg) of body weight are also available.
The current recommendations for fat intake are for most athletes to follow similar recommendations to those given for the general community, with the preference for fats coming from olive oils, avocado, nuts and seeds.
Athletes should also aim to minimize intake of high-fat foods such as biscuits, cakes, pastries, chips and fried foods.
Carbohydrates and exercise
During digestion, all carbohydrates are broken down into sugars (primarily glucose), which are the body’s primary energy source.
After absorption, glucose can be converted into glycogen and stored in the liver and muscle tissue. It can then be used as a key energy source during exercise to fuel exercising muscle tissue and other body systems.
Athletes can increase their stores of glycogen by regularly eating high-carbohydrate foods.
If carbohydrate in the diet is restricted, a person’s ability to exercise may be compromised because there is not enough glycogen kept in storage to fuel the body.
If dietary protein intake is insufficient, this can result in a loss of protein (muscle) tissue, because the body will start to break down muscle tissue to meet its energy needs, and may increase the risk of infections and illness.
