Since most athletes develop a fluid deficit during exercise, replenishment of fluids post-exercise is also a very important consideration for optimal recovery.

It is recommended that athletes consume 1. Protein is an important part of a training diet and plays a key role in post-exercise recovery and repair.

Protein needs are generally met and often exceeded by most athletes who consume sufficient energy in their diet. The amount of protein recommended for sporting people is only slightly higher than that recommended for the general public. For athletes interested in increasing lean mass or muscle protein synthesis, consumption of a high-quality protein source such as whey protein or milk containing around 20 to 25 g protein in close proximity to exercise for example, within the period immediately to 2 hours after exercise may be beneficial.

As a general approach to achieving optimal protein intakes, it is suggested to space out protein intake fairly evenly over the course of a day, for instance around 25 to 30 g protein every 3 to 5 hours, including as part of regular meals. There is currently a lack of evidence to show that protein supplements directly improve athletic performance.

Therefore, for most athletes, additional protein supplements are unlikely to improve sport performance. A well-planned diet will meet your vitamin and mineral needs. Supplements will only be of any benefit if your diet is inadequate or you have a diagnosed deficiency, such as an iron or calcium deficiency.

There is no evidence that extra doses of vitamins improve sporting performance. Nutritional supplements can be found in pill, tablet, capsule, powder or liquid form, and cover a broad range of products including:. Before using supplements, you should consider what else you can do to improve your sporting performance — diet, training and lifestyle changes are all more proven and cost effective ways to improve your performance.

Relatively few supplements that claim performance benefits are supported by sound scientific evidence. Use of vitamin and mineral supplements is also potentially dangerous.

Supplements should not be taken without the advice of a qualified health professional. The ethical use of sports supplements is a personal choice by athletes, and it remains controversial. If taking supplements, you are also at risk of committing an anti-doping rule violation no matter what level of sport you play.

Dehydration can impair athletic performance and, in extreme cases, may lead to collapse and even death. Drinking plenty of fluids before, during and after exercise is very important.

Fluid intake is particularly important for events lasting more than 60 minutes, of high intensity or in warm conditions. Water is a suitable drink, but sports drinks may be required, especially in endurance events or warm climates.

Sports drinks contain some sodium, which helps absorption. While insufficient hydration is a problem for many athletes, excess hydration may also be potentially dangerous. In rare cases, athletes might consume excessive amounts of fluids that dilute the blood too much, causing a low blood concentration of sodium.

This condition is called hyponatraemia, which can potentially lead to seizures, collapse, coma or even death if not treated appropriately. Consuming fluids at a level of to ml per hour of exercise might be a suitable starting point to avoid dehydration and hyponatraemia, although intake should ideally be customised to individual athletes, considering variable factors such as climate, sweat rates and tolerance.

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The State of Victoria and the Department of Health shall not bear any liability for reliance by any user on the materials contained on this website. Skip to main content. Healthy eating. 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.

These are better for your health than saturated and trans fats. Too much fat or the wrong kinds can cause health problems. It can raise your bad LDL cholesterol level and increase your risk of heart disease and type 2 diabetes. Protein is found in foods like meat, eggs, milk, beans, and nuts.

Some athletes think they should consume large amounts of protein. Over time, too much protein can be harmful to your health. The digestion process can put strain on your liver and kidneys.

Know when to eat and rehydrate For athletes, knowing when to eat is as important as knowing what to eat. Things to consider Athletes require a lot of energy and nutrients to stay in shape.

Every athlete is different, so consider: How long before working out is best for you to eat How much food is the right amount for you If you need to gain or lose weight to improve performance, it must be done safely.

Questions to ask your doctor How many calories do I need to eat each day? Should I cut out carbs? Are super restrictive diets healthy for me? Are there any supplements they should take? Is it okay to eat sweets if I have to gain weight fast? Resources Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics: Sports, Cardiovascular, and Wellness Nutrition, Nutrition Resources for Collegiate Athletes National Institutes of Health, MedlinePlus: Nutrition and athletic performance MyPlate.

Last Updated: May 9, This article was contributed by familydoctor. org editorial staff. Categories: Exercise and Fitness , Exercise Basics , Prevention and Wellness. Tags: athlete , nutrition , prevention , sports medicine. Copyright © American Academy of Family Physicians This information provides a general overview and may not apply to everyone.

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In general, you are better off drinking fluids to stay hydrated. Usually, you can make up for any salt lost in sweat with sports drinks or foods you eat before, during, and after exercise. Speaking of dehydration , water is as important to unlocking your game power as food.

When you sweat during exercise, it's easy to become overheated, headachy, and worn out — especially in hot or humid weather. Even mild dehydration can affect an athlete's physical and mental performance.

There's no one set guide for how much water to drink. How much fluid each person needs depends on their age, size, level of physical activity, and environmental temperature. Athletes should drink before, during, and after exercise.

Don't wait until you feel thirsty, because thirst is a sign that your body has needed liquids for a while. Sports drinks are no better for you than water to keep you hydrated during sports. But if you exercise for more than 60 to 90 minutes or in very hot weather, sports drinks may be a good option.

The extra carbs and electrolytes may improve performance in these conditions. Otherwise your body will do just as well with water. Avoid drinking carbonated drinks or juice because they could give you a stomachache while you're training or competing.

Don't use energy drinks and other caffeine -containing drinks, like soda, tea, and coffee, for rehydration. You could end up drinking large amounts of caffeine, which can increase heart rate and blood pressure. Too much caffeine can leave an athlete feeling anxious or jittery.

Caffeine also can cause headaches and make it hard to sleep at night. These all can drag down your sports performance. Your performance on game day will depend on the foods you've eaten over the past several days and weeks.

You can boost your performance even more by paying attention to the food you eat on game day. Focus on a diet rich in carbohydrates, moderate in protein, and low in fat. Everyone is different, so get to know what works best for you. You may want to experiment with meal timing and how much to eat on practice days so that you're better prepared for game day.

KidsHealth For Teens A Guide to Eating for Sports. en español: Guía de alimentación para deportistas. Medically reviewed by: Mary L.

Gavin, MD. Listen Play Stop Volume mp3 Settings Close Player. Larger text size Large text size Regular text size. Eat Extra for Excellence The good news about eating for sports is that reaching your peak performance level doesn't take a special diet or supplements.

Athletes and Dieting Teen athletes need extra fuel, so it's usually a bad idea to diet. Eat a Variety of Foods When it comes to powering your game for the long haul, it's important to eat healthy, balanced meals and snacks to get the nutrients your body needs.

Athletic performance can be affected by what, how much and when an athlete drinks. Fluids help to regulate body temperature and replace sweat losses during exercise. Dehydration can decrease performance and put athletes at risk for heat exhaustion or heat stroke.

Proper hydration requires fluid intake before, during and after exercise or activity. The amount of fluid required depends on many factors, including age and body size Table 2.

This usually requires consuming approximately 1. Recovery foods should be consumed within 30 min of exercise, and again within 1 h to 2 h of exercise, to help reload muscles with glycogen and allow for proper recovery.

These foods should include protein and carbohydrates. One of the trickiest things to manage is meal planning around athletic events. The timing of meals is very important and needs to be individualized. It is important for athletes to discover which foods they like that also help to maximize performance.

They should not experiment with new foods or new routines on the day of competition. General guidelines include eating meals a minimum of 3 h before an event to allow for proper digestion and to minimize incidence of gastrointestinal upset during exercise.

Meals should include carbohydrates, protein and fat. Fibre should be limited. High-fat meals should be avoided before exercise because they can delay gastric-emptying, make athletes feel sluggish and thereby adversely affect performance.

Pre-game snacks or liquid meals should be ingested 1 h to 2 h before an event to allow for digestion before start of exercise. During an event, sports drinks, fruit or granola bars can be ingested to help refuel and keep energy levels high.

A well-balanced diet is essential for growing athletes to maintain proper growth and optimize performance in athletic endeavours.

Fluids are very important for maintaining hydration and should be consumed before, during and after athletic events to prevent dehydration.

Timing of food consumption is important to optimize performance. Meals should be eaten a minimum of 3 h before exercise and snacks should be eaten 1 h to 2 h before activity.

Recovery foods should be consumed within 30 min of exercise and again within 1 h to 2 h of activity to allow muscles to rebuild and ensure proper recovery. Laura Purcell is an Associate Clinical Professor in the Department of Pediatrics at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario.

She completed her Bachelor of Science and Master of Science degrees at the University of Toronto. She obtained her medical degree from McMaster University in Hamilton ON. Her residency training was in pediatrics at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

She completed a sport medicine fellowship at the Fowler Kennedy Sport Medicine Clinic at the University of Western Ontario in London, Ontario and obtained her Diploma of Sport Medicine in She has practised pediatric sport medicine for 12 years.

Purcell is the founding president of the Paediatric Sport and Exercise Medicine Section of the Canadian Paediatric Society CPS and served as president for 10 years. She is also the founding chair of the Pediatric Sport and Exercise Medicine Committee of the Canadian Academy of Sport and Exercise Medicine CASEM.

She has authored numerous journal articles, CPS position statements, textbook chapters and co-edited two pediatric sport medicine textbooks, The Adolescent Athlete and Injury in Youth Sports: Epidemiology, Treatment and Prevention Laura Purcell is now accepting patients under the age of 18 years with sport-related injuries at the Grand River Sport Medicine Centre at Strasburg Road.

She will see pediatric patients with any musculoskeletal injury except acute fractures. Neil Cooper MD Member at large ; David Fecteau MD Secretary-treasurer ; Erika Persson MD Member at large ; John F Philpott MD President-elect ; Laura K Purcell MD President ; Eric Koelink MD Liaison, CPS Residents Section ; David W Warren MD former Liaison, CPS Emergency Medicine Section.

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Sport Nutrition for Young Athletes. Share via:. Share on facebook. Share on twitter. Share on linkedin. Share on email. Energy requirements Basic nutrition is important for growth, achieving good health and scholastic achievement, and providing energy.

Carbohydrates Carbohydrates are the most important fuel source for athletes because they provide the glucose used for energy. Protein Proteins build and repair muscle, hair, nails and skin. Fats Fat is necessary to absorb fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E, K , to provide essential fatty acids, protect vital organs and provide insulation.

Micronutrients Although there are many vitamins and minerals required for good health, particular attention should be devoted to ensuring that athletes consume proper amounts of calcium, vitamin D and iron. Fluids Fluids, particularly water, are important nutrients for athletes. Reaching the finish line A well-balanced diet is essential for growing athletes to maintain proper growth and optimize performance in athletic endeavours.

Pediatric Sports Medicine Physician Dr. Request an Appointment Now. References Hoch AZ, Goossen K, Kretschmer T. Nutritional requirements of the child and teenage athlete.

Phys Med Rehabil Clin N Am ;19 2 Dietitians of Canada, the American Dietetic Association, and the American College of Sports Medicine.

Joint position statement: Nutrition and athletic performance. There are endless snack choices that can top off your energy stores without leaving you feeling too full or sluggish. The ideal snack is balanced, providing a good ratio of macronutrients, but easy to prepare. When snacking before a workout, focus on lower fat options , as they tend to digest more quickly and are likely to leave you feeling less full.

After exercise, a snack that provides a good dose of protein and carbs is especially important for replenishing glycogen stores and supporting muscle protein synthesis. They help provide an appropriate balance of energy, nutrients, and other bioactive compounds in food that are not often found in supplement form.

That said, considering that athletes often have greater nutritional needs than the general population, supplementation can be used to fill in any gaps in the diet.

Protein powders are isolated forms of various proteins, such as whey, egg white, pea, brown rice, and soy. Protein powders typically contain 10—25 g of protein per scoop, making it easy and convenient to consume a solid dose of protein.

Research suggests that consuming a protein supplement around training can help promote recovery and aid in increases in lean body mass. For example, some people choose to add protein powder to their oats to boost their protein content a bit.

Carb supplements may help sustain your energy levels, particularly if you engage in endurance sports lasting longer than 1 hour. These concentrated forms of carbs usually provide about 25 g of simple carbs per serving, and some include add-ins such as caffeine or vitamins.

They come in gel or powder form. Many long-distance endurance athletes will aim to consume 1 carb energy gel containing 25 g of carbs every 30—45 minutes during an exercise session longer than 1 hour.

Sports drinks also often contain enough carbs to maintain energy levels, but some athletes prefer gels to prevent excessive fluid intake during training or events, as this may result in digestive distress.

Many athletes choose to take a high quality multivitamin that contains all the basic vitamins and minerals to make up for any potential gaps in their diet.

This is likely a good idea for most people, as the potential benefits of supplementing with a multivitamin outweigh the risks. One vitamin in particular that athletes often supplement is vitamin D, especially during winter in areas with less sun exposure.

Low vitamin D levels have been shown to potentially affect sports performance, so supplementing is often recommended. Research shows that caffeine can improve strength and endurance in a wide range of sporting activities , such as running, jumping, throwing, and weightlifting.

Many athletes choose to drink a strong cup of coffee before training to get a boost, while others turn to supplements that contain synthetic forms of caffeine, such as pre-workouts. Whichever form you decide to use, be sure to start out with a small amount.

You can gradually increase your dose as long as your body tolerates it. Supplementing with omega-3 fats such as fish oil may improve sports performance and recovery from intense exercise.

You can certainly get omega-3s from your diet by eating foods such as fatty fish, flax and chia seeds, nuts, and soybeans. Plant-based omega-3 supplements are also available for those who follow a vegetarian or vegan diet. Creatine is a compound your body produces from amino acids.

It aids in energy production during short, high intensity activities. Supplementing daily with 5 g of creatine monohydrate — the most common form — has been shown to improve power and strength output during resistance training, which can carry over to sports performance. Most sporting federations do not classify creatine as a banned substance, as its effects are modest compared with those of other compounds.

Considering their low cost and wide availability and the extensive research behind them, creatine supplements may be worthwhile for some athletes. Beta-alanine is another amino acid-based compound found in animal products such as beef and chicken. In your body, beta-alanine serves as a building block for carnosine, a compound responsible for helping to reduce the acidic environment within working muscles during high intensity exercise.

The most notable benefit of supplementing with beta-alanine is improvement in performance in high intensity exercises lasting 1—10 minutes. The commonly recommended research -based dosages range from 3. Some people prefer to stick to the lower end of the range to avoid a potential side effect called paraesthesia , a tingling sensation in the extremities.

Sports nutritionists are responsible for implementing science-based nutrition protocols for athletes and staying on top of the latest research. At the highest level, sports nutrition programs are traditionally overseen and administered by registered dietitians specializing in this area.

These professionals serve to educate athletes on all aspects of nutrition related to sports performance, including taking in the right amount of food, nutrients, hydration, and supplementation when needed. Lastly, sports nutritionists often work with athletes to address food allergies , intolerances , nutrition-related medical concerns, and — in collaboration with psychotherapists — any eating disorders or disordered eating that athletes may be experiencing.

One of the roles of sports nutritionists is to help debunk these myths and provide athletes with accurate information. Here are three of the top sports nutrition myths — and what the facts really say. While protein intake is an important factor in gaining muscle, simply supplementing with protein will not cause any significant muscle gains.

To promote notable changes in muscle size, you need to regularly perform resistance training for an extended period of time while making sure your diet is on point. Even then, depending on a number of factors, including genetics, sex, and body size, you will likely not look bulky.

Another common myth in sports nutrition is that eating close to bedtime will cause additional fat gain. Many metabolic processes take place during sleep.

For example, eating two slices of pizza before bed is much more likely to result in fat gain than eating a cup of cottage cheese or Greek yogurt. Coffee gets a bad rap for being dehydrating. While sports nutrition is quite individualized, some general areas are important for most athletes.

Choosing the right foods, zeroing in your macros, optimizing meal timing, ensuring good hydration, and selecting appropriate snacks can help you perform at your best.

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