The Athlete’s Diet
It has been clearly demonstrated that the nutritional composition and adequacy of an athlete’s diet has an impact on performance and overall wellbeing. The consumption of food and fluid as fuel and hydration, before, during and after training and competition, can affect the athlete’s nutritional and immune status, health, body mass and composition, energy stores and nutrient availability, exercise performance and recovery.
The importance of an adequate diet for athletes
Participation in all types of exercise, ranging from recreational exercise to competitive sport increases the physical demands on the body. Their increased energy expenditure requires athletes to consume higher energy intakes and specific amounts of nutrients from food and fluids, in the pursuit of meeting the demands of sport and exercise.
Therefore, an important goal of an adequate diet for athletes is achieving and maintaining energy balance, which aims to restore energy reserves and leads to greater fulfilment of health and performance goals. While positive energy balance (when energy intake is higher than energy expenditure) encourages weight gain, negative energy balance (when energy intake is lower than energy expenditure) can result in weight loss. However, there are consequences to both positive and negative energy balance that need to be considered in the long term. Positive energy balance may lead to over-fatness and chronic illness, and negative energy balance may result in an increased risk of muscle tissue loss, fatigue, injury and illness.
An adequate diet involves more than just energy balance, as key nutrients and fluid replacement have a role in preparation, support and enhancement of the athlete’s exercise and sports performance. An adequate sports diet also prevents some negative effects associated with prolonged exercise, such as nutrient fatigue. The nutrients, namely, carbohydrates, proteins and fats provide energy for exercising muscles. The proportion of these nutrients required are dependent on factors such as the athlete’s body weight, age, gender, intensity and duration of exercise and timing of meals (i.e. eating before, during and after training or competition). While many athletes believe they are eating a high-carbohydrate, low-fat eating plan, on closer inspection or analysis of the diet it is often revealed that the diet is in fact a high-fat, low-carbohydrate plan, and not much different to the average western diet.
Participation in exercise may also increase the need for certain vitamins and minerals, those that have specific functions in exercise metabolism and the immune system. All athletes start out with recreational exercise. Some may continue this level of exercise participation indefinitely. However, for many athletes, participation in sport can become highly competitive and this environment requires that athletes train and compete at their maximum capacity.
The need for an adequate sports diet can help athletes sustain strenuous activities that may be of varying intensity, duration, frequency and skill. To help an athlete achieve an adequate sports diet, the goals set out in the following text can be applied to all athletes participating at any level of sport. These goals form the foundation of the athlete’s everyday diet, which can then be tailored to suit the individual needs of an athlete as their demand for food and fluid change through various stages of training, competition and recovery.
Goals of an adequate sports diet
To follow the basic healthy eating guidelines To meet energy and nutrient requirements
To maintain health and well-being in both short term and long term
To reach and maintain a healthy body mass, appropriate body composition levels, including body fat and body muscle tissue, and body water, as well as other health indices (i.e. waist circumference).
To plan and implement training and competition nutrition strategies
To ensure optimal hydration before, during and after exercise
To treat suboptimal nutrient levels and any known nutritional deficiencies
To treat and manage any ailments or diseases (i.e. diabetes) while eating for sport
To determine if or when nutritional supplements may be of benefit to the diet and exercise performance
Barriers to achieving an adequate sports diet and best food practice
Although athletes are constantly seeking ways to improve exercise performance, there may be a number of reasons that may prevent athletes from choosing or adhering to an adequate sports diet or adjusting their dietary behaviour to achieve optimum performance. The following will be discussed in the subsequent text:
Athletes’ source of information (i.e. the media) and misconceptions about optimal sports nutrition practices
Poor nutrition knowledge
Dietary extremism
Poor practical food skills
Frequent travel
The AF Nutrition Experts will advise you on how to make informed and healthy choices about the food you eat or any sports supplements that you may want or need to achieve your personal best at your own sport or achieve your next goal whichever this might be.
You can schedule a call with our team of experts today that will help you reach your goals next.
