Sports Nutrition the
Winning Combination
by Amos Ndungutse

Just as each team member carries out different tasks during a game, each nutrient performs specific functions in your body. A lack of just one nutrient is a disadvantage to your body.

Optimal nutrition is important for athletes to supply the required nutrients for tissue maintenance, repair, growth and exercise performance. To be able to get all the essential nutrients, athletes need to eat a balanced diet which includes meat, cereals, vegetables, fruits and milk to supply adequate amounts of vitamins to meet the daily needs.

Nutritionists believe that just as each team member carries out different tasks during a game, each nutrient performs specific functions in your body. A lack of just one nutrient is a disadvantage to your body, just as losing a player to the penalty box is a disadvantage for a hockey team. Your body needs all these nutrients all of the time, so the foods you eat should supply them every day.

As the level of energy expenditure increases due to strenuous exercise, the amount of the food required increases in order to maintain body weight. The amount of food to be consumed by an athlete will depend on the level of the exercise.

Strenuous endurance training for activities such as distance running, swimming, cross country or cycling can bring about fatigue in which successive days hard training becomes exceedingly difficult. If this happens, it is better to take a solution of glucose and water.

Pre-competition meal:

The pre-competition or pre-game meal should provide adequate food energy and optimal hydration. As a general rule, foods that are high in fat content should be eliminated from the diet on day of competition because these foods take long to be digested.

The pre-game meal should be high in carbohydrate, relatively low in fat and proteins and it should include foods that can be readily digested and absorbed to provide food energy and optimal hydration.

The pre-competition meal should be consumed two to three hours before the game to permit sufficient time for digestion and absorption to take place.

General guidelines:

Eat a meal high in carbohydrates. Carbohydrates should be simple which can be easily digested and absorbed into blood stream to maintain normal blood glucose levels. A low carbohydrate diet makes exercise extremely difficult from the point of the energy supply to participate in physical activity or training.

Take solid foods 3-4 hours before events, and liquids 2-3 hours before.

Choose easily digestible foods (i.e., not fried).

Avoid sugary foods/drinks within one hour of event.

Drink enough fluids to ensure hydration. Replenishing fluids lost to sweat is the primary concern during an athletic event. Drink 3-6 ounces of water or dilute sports drink every 10-20 minutes throughout competition. Water alone is not enough because it is not energy dense. It is better to use fluids, which are energy dense, for example glucose water, fruit juices, and other energy dense fluids.

However, an athlete on a well balanced diet does not require food supplements. Food supplements should be taken by those athletes who are not able to get a well balanced diet. Food supplements to use include: energy boosters, sport drinks, B complex vitamins.

Banned substances:

These substances may include cocaine, steroids and marijuana. 'They' say that these substances improve performance, but from a health point of view, these substances are harmful to the body and therefore must be avoided.

Copyright 2007 Financial Times Information All Rights Reserved

Global News Wire - Asia Africa Intelligence Wire 2007 Global Media The Monitor (Uganda) - AAGM March 17, 2007, BYLINE: Amos Ndungutse, The writer is a nutritionist at Kyambogo University, Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media. ( www.allafrica.com )