To stay healthy, eat a balanced, nutrient-rich diet. It should include foods full of calcium, iron, potassium, and fiber. You also need key vitamins in their diet, such as A, C, and E. Try not to be tempted by junk foods, which are an empty source of calories. Instead, focus on lean meats, whole grains, and a mixture of fruits and vegetables to fuel your body.

For athletes, knowing when to eat is as important as knowing what to eat. Try to eat a pre-game meal 2 to 4 hours before your event. For a race, this could be dinner the night before. A good pre-game meal is high in complex carbs and low in protein and sugar.

Avoid rich and greasy foods. These can be harder for you to digest and can cause an upset stomach. You may find it helpful to avoid food the hour before a sporting event.

This is because digestion uses up energy. Staying hydrated is the most important thing athletes can do. This is especially true on game day.

During a workout, you quickly lose fluid when you sweat. Thirst is a sign of dehydration. A good rule of thumb is to take a drink at least every 15 to 20 minutes. Water is the best way to rehydrate.

For short events under an hour , water can replace what you lose from sweating. For longer events, you may benefit from sports drinks. They provide electrolytes and carbohydrates. Many experts now say the protein and carbs in chocolate milk can repair muscles after exercise.

Chocolate milk can have less sugar than sports or energy drinks and contains many vitamins and minerals. Avoid drinks that contain caffeine. They can dehydrate you more and cause you to feel anxious or jittery. Athletes require a lot of energy and nutrients to stay in shape.

Because of this, strict diet plans can hurt your ability and be harmful to your health. Without the calories from carbs, fat, and protein, you may not have enough strength. Not eating enough also can lead to malnutrition. Female athletes can have abnormal menstrual cycles.

You increase your risk of osteoporosis, a fragile bone condition caused in part from a lack of calcium. These potential risks are worse in adolescence but still present for adults.

Get medical help if you need to lose weight. Be sure to talk to your doctor before making major nutrition changes. People often overestimate the number of calories they burn when training.

Avoid taking in more energy than you expend exercising. Also, avoid exercising on an empty stomach. Every athlete is different, so consider:. If you need to gain or lose weight to improve performance, it must be done safely.

If not, it may do more harm than good. Do not keep your body weight too low, lose weight too quickly, or prevent weight gain in unhealthy ways. It can have negative health effects.

This can lead to poor eating habits with inadequate or excessive intake of certain nutrients. Talk to your family doctor find a diet that is right for your sport, age, gender, and amount of training.

Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics: Sports, Cardiovascular, and Wellness Nutrition, Nutrition Resources for Collegiate Athletes. National Institutes of Health, MedlinePlus: Nutrition and athletic performance. Last Updated: May 9, This information provides a general overview and may not apply to everyone.

Talk to your family doctor to find out if this information applies to you and to get more information on this subject. Getting these other than by mouth is called artificial….

Getting the right amount of water before, during, and after exercise helps your body to function properly. A lack…. Sugar is a simple carbohydrate that provides calories for your body to use as energy. There are two main….

Visit The Symptom Checker. Read More. Knee Bracing: What Works? Sore Muscles from Exercise. Hydration for Athletes. Exercise and Seniors. Stay hydrated with beverages, as a two percent drop in hydration levels can negatively impact performance. Options include milk, water, percent fruit juice and sport drinks.

However, realize that sport drinks and percent fruit juice tend to be higher in overall sugar content and, in the case of fruit juice, lack many of the health benefits present in its whole food counterpart.

Also, be sure not to confuse sports drinks such as Gatorade with "energy" drinks such as Red Bull and similar beverages. Stick with whole food options as much as possible as opposed to highly processed foods.

Without adequate calories from the healthiest food sources, you will struggle to achieve your performance goals. Plan a nutritious meal by choosing at least one food from each category.

Healthy fat. Adequate hydration is a key element in sports performance. Most athletes benefit from developing a personal hydration plan. A general rule for training is to consume a minimum:. Four to six ounces of fluid every 15 minutes of exercise.

To properly assess, weigh yourself immediately prior to and after a workout. For every pound of weight lost, replace with 16 ounces of fluid. Best hydration choices include water, low-fat milk or percent juice.

Sports beverages are best reserved for competition, where quick hydration and electrolyte replacement are necessary. There are a few golden rules when it comes to eating on game day:. It happens the days, weeks, and months leading up to the competition.

Peak performance during competition means eating nutritious food while traveling. Relying on the concession stand for food during competition is an almost certain failure.

Players and parents should prepare by packing a variety of food and beverages. Choose energy-packed foods such as whole grain crackers with low-fat cheese, tortilla wraps with veggies and lean meat, hard-boiled eggs, vegetable or bean soups, small boxes of non-sugary cereal, fresh fruit, mini-whole wheat bagels with peanut butter, pita bread with hummus or pasta with grilled chicken.

Fibrous carbohydrates can be beneficial as these tend to cause GI disturbances. UW School of Medicine and Public Health. Refer a Patient. Clinical Trials. Find a Doctor. Search Submit. Pay a bill. Refill a prescription. Price transparency. Obtain medical records.

Multiple studies have found that lower-fat diets are linked with decreased testosterone in athletes, leading to reduced muscle mass and frail bones. Micronutrients , aka vitamins and minerals, are vital to eyesight, brain function, oxygen delivery, and a healthy immune system.

The range for how much of each micronutrient you need varies greatly from one to the next, and just like macronutrients, certain athletes may need more or less depending on what their specialty is.

And, not to sound like a broken record, micronutrient needs will also vary depending on exercise intensity. The dangers of dehydration are well known but warrant repetition. Athletes who become dehydrated can experience increased heart rates and body temperatures, which can lead to decreased performance and may cause severe damage to your body.

Then add how much fluid water or sports drink you consumed during your training session, and you get your sweat-loss volume. Tip: one liter of water is one kilogram, so half a liter is 0. So if the 90kg athlete weighs 89kgs after a training session or competition and drinks half a liter of water, their sweat-loss volume is 1.

This number is less than two percent of their body mass, which is the mark you should keep your sweat-loss volume at. While this is a good strategy for most athletes, there are many cases where calculating your sweat-loss volume may be impossible — such as team sports, running, and biking.

And most of the time, these athletes underestimate their sweat-loss volume, which leads to them under-hydrating. The best strategy for these types of situations is to begin your training session completely hydrated — again, a nutritionist can determine how to achieve that.

The U. Anti-Doping Agency, echoing research from nutrition experts , recommends athletes drink about four to eight ounces of water at minute intervals. Electrolytes are simply minerals with a small electrical charge, which help the body regulate your heartbeat, muscle contractions, fluid regulation, and more.

Sodium, commonly found in salt, may be one of the most overlooked electrolytes. The Food and Drug Administration recommends people get 2. A lack of proper electrolytes can lead to increased heart rates and physical discomfort, and in extreme cases, can lead to heart attacks and even death.

After spending most of his life overweight, he dropped 80 pounds and took control of his health and fitness. Outside of work, he still enjoys Little Debbie cakes but offsets them with rigorous hikes and workouts. View All Articles. BarBend is an independent website.

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Feet Meters. Pounds Kilograms. Fat Loss. Muscle Gain. Sedentary: little or no exercise. Water is the best way to rehydrate. For short events under an hour , water can replace what you lose from sweating.

For longer events, you may benefit from sports drinks. They provide electrolytes and carbohydrates. Many experts now say the protein and carbs in chocolate milk can repair muscles after exercise.

Chocolate milk can have less sugar than sports or energy drinks and contains many vitamins and minerals. Avoid drinks that contain caffeine. They can dehydrate you more and cause you to feel anxious or jittery. Athletes require a lot of energy and nutrients to stay in shape.

Because of this, strict diet plans can hurt your ability and be harmful to your health. Without the calories from carbs, fat, and protein, you may not have enough strength. Not eating enough also can lead to malnutrition. Female athletes can have abnormal menstrual cycles. You increase your risk of osteoporosis, a fragile bone condition caused in part from a lack of calcium.

These potential risks are worse in adolescence but still present for adults. Get medical help if you need to lose weight. Be sure to talk to your doctor before making major nutrition changes. People often overestimate the number of calories they burn when training.

Avoid taking in more energy than you expend exercising. Also, avoid exercising on an empty stomach. Every athlete is different, so consider:. If you need to gain or lose weight to improve performance, it must be done safely.

If not, it may do more harm than good. Do not keep your body weight too low, lose weight too quickly, or prevent weight gain in unhealthy ways. It can have negative health effects. This can lead to poor eating habits with inadequate or excessive intake of certain nutrients.

Talk to your family doctor find a diet that is right for your sport, age, gender, and amount of training. Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics: Sports, Cardiovascular, and Wellness Nutrition, Nutrition Resources for Collegiate Athletes.

National Institutes of Health, MedlinePlus: Nutrition and athletic performance. Last Updated: May 9, This information provides a general overview and may not apply to everyone.

Talk to your family doctor to find out if this information applies to you and to get more information on this subject. Getting these other than by mouth is called artificial….

Getting the right amount of water before, during, and after exercise helps your body to function properly. A lack…. Sugar is a simple carbohydrate that provides calories for your body to use as energy.

There are two main…. Visit The Symptom Checker. Read More. Knee Bracing: What Works? Sore Muscles from Exercise. Hydration for Athletes. Exercise and Seniors.

The Exercise Habit. Why Exercise? Exercise: How To Get Started. Home Prevention and Wellness Exercise and Fitness Exercise Basics Nutrition for Athletes.

Calories come in different forms. The main types are carbohydrates, fats, and proteins. Simple carbs fruits, milk, and vegetables are easier for your body to break down. They provide quick bursts of energy. Complex carbs take longer for your body to break down.

They are a better source of energy over time. Complex carbs in whole grain products are the most nutritious. Examples include whole-grain bread, potatoes, brown rice, oatmeal, and kidney beans. Fat is another important source of calories.

In small amounts, fat is a key fuel source. It serves other functions, such as supporting good skin and hair. Do not replace carbs in your diet with fats. This can slow you down, because your body has to work harder to burn fat for energy.

When you can, choose unsaturated fats, like olive oil and nuts.