Nutritional Guidelines
KevinEbel M.Ed., CSCS – Owner/Director of Performance – NTS Athletic Development
Brendon Huttmann – Assistant Minor League Strength and Conditioning Coach – Cleveland Indians
Nutritional guidelines for athletes’ are a common discussion throughout the sports world. With an abundance of information available, it may seem difficult to pinpoint appropriate nutritional “rules” for performance. However, with the appropriate nutritional knowledge, the process becomes simplified. If the knowledge is then applied, desired performance levels are more likely to be achieved. For example, an athlete’s performance is highly dependent upon consuming the essential amounts of carbohydrates, proteins, and fats. If the athlete is deficient in one or a combination of these nutrients, a decreased performance level is likely to occur. On the contrary, if excess is consumed, performance will similarly be decreased.
Health through nutrition is based on six essential components: Carbohydrates, Proteins, Fats, Vitamins, Minerals, and Water. All six components play a different role, and with the correct balance and variety determine an equation for performance.
Before the essential components are individually discussed, several things must be understood about them. First, carbs, protein, and fat are the only components that directly providing energy (carbs providing the major source). These three nutrients are broken down by the body and are converted to a usable energy source. Vitamins, minerals, and water provide no usable energy for the body, but they aid in using carbs, proteins, and fats. They are the “precursors” for using the energy, but, none the less, are important.
Carbohydrates
Carbohydrates should make up the largest percentage of energy providing nutrients. They should account for 50-60% of total calories and provide four calories per gram. This type of energy is found, among other ways, in pasta, whole grains, and fruit juices. Vegetables are also considered carbs, even though they provide little caloric density. Because of this, they are considered useful to attain vitamins and minerals. Carbs are broken down into glucose (immediate energy, ie: sprinting), which is easily used by the body. When more energy is consumed than immediately needed by the body it is stored as glycogen or as fat. Glycogen, as well as fat, can be broken down for energy in activities over extended periods of time (endurance activities, ie: distance running). When inadequate supplies of carbs are consumed, decreased glucose and glycogen levels cause a decrease in athletes’ performance.
Protein
Proteins play an important role in muscle repair and under extreme circumstances can be converted to glucose (immediate energy). Protein consumption should account for 30-40% of total calories and provide four calories per gram. Good sources of protein include chicken breasts, eggs, and red meat. However, one must be conscious of protein sources because they are commonly, but not always, found with high amounts of fat. Depending on the athlete’s individual fat needs, they must decide which sources are most appropriate for them. Once these foods are consumed, the stomach breaks them down into one or several of the twenty amino acids. Nine are considered “essential,” or are unable to be produced by the body and the other eleven are “nonessential,” or can be produced from the nine essentials (Kleiner, p. 27). The amino acids are then used to repair or build body tissues. The body is rarely deficient in protein, but if levels are low, the deficiency leads to muscle brake down, in order to compensate for the body’s energy needs. Thus, it is important to consume respective amounts of protein to not only avoid muscle breakdown, but to increase or maintain muscle mass depending on personal goals. Ingesting quality protein sources in order to provide your body with the essential amino acids can do this.
Fats
Fats should provide the smallest proportion of the athlete’s total calories and should account for less than 20-30% of total calories. Fat accounts for only a small percentage of total calories because it provides more than two times the energy that carbs and protein provide (nine calories per gram). The quality of fat is also important in the athlete’s fat needs. For example, olive oil or fish oils are superior to fat received from fried foods. Other adequate sources can be ingested from oils (olive, canola, and flaxseed), nuts, fish, and meats. In the body, fat primarily is stored as a physiological response in order to protect from famine. Because food is prevalent in our society, this poses little threat to our lives. However, because it can provide large amounts of energy, it is important during resting and endurance activities. In addition, fat plays an important role in sending messages from the brain to the body to provide movements (increased neural transmissions through improved myelination). This allows the body to execute, or communicate, movements at a higher rate and with better efficiency to increase athletic performance.
Vitamins/Minerals
Vitamins and minerals, as stated, are the components that compliment carbs, proteins, and fats for utilization. Vitamins and minerals are not given percentages because they provide no energy and are received from eating “quality” sources of carbs, proteins, and fats. These sources are best attained from eating rather than supplementing of food sources. A rising “trend” in sports nutrition is that supplementation of foods is superior to ingesting food sources. This is an incorrect belief because, aside from the added expense, supplements are processed and unnatural. In this form, it is possible that the body can not use the nutrients and as a result they are excreted through the urine. This category can most easily be ingested from eating a variety of foods in balance. An affective guideline is to fill your plate with “color,” or the “rainbow,” which will assure quality vitamins and minerals. For example, fruits and vegetables provide excellent sources as their color illustrates. On the contrary, fried foods provide a dull brown color, and as a result, generally have little vitamin and mineral density.
Water
The body is composed of up to 70% water and is involved in chemical reactions that initiate body movements, affective communication between the brain and muscles, and even electrolyte balance (sodium and potassium). If water intake is not monitored, the body will not work as efficiently, due to a dehydrated condition, and lower performance levels will result. In order to prevent dehydration, one should drink at least ten ounces of water per hour, or until the urine is consistently clear. This will ensure an appropriate water balance and a high performance level.
Commonly Asked Questions
The purpose of the post workout meal is to help the body heal or rebuild before the next workout/competition. Because strength training creates minor tears in the muscle, the post workout meal is the best opportunity to ensure proper nutrients for the muscle. Foods should be consumed within one hour following the workout when the body most craves nutrients to avoid breaking down muscle to provide energy. To protect from this breakdown, foods high in carbs, moderate in protein and low in fat should be consumed. This will ensure glycogen levels are refilled and adequate protein is available to repair and avoid muscle breakdown. For example, pasta with chicken breast will provide sufficient carbs and protein while containing little amounts of fat. The body also needs enough water to replenish the fluid lost through sweat. By consuming water frequently during the workout and ten to twelve ounces post workout stage, the athlete will have replenished all lost water.
The facts of the nutritional guidelines have been given, and it becomes the athlete’s responsibility to not only manipulate the components, but to train specifically for his or her event. These factors, in combination, will lead the athlete to perform at the highest level.
Reference:
Power Eating, Kleiner, Susan M. PhD, RD. Human Kinetics. 1998, p. 27.
