How Should Sports Nutrition Be?

Sports nutrition, unlike standard healthy nutrition programs, is a holistic nutrition program that aims to protect the general health of the person as well as improving his performance in sports. Nutrition is the most important vital activity after breathing. Therefore, having an adequate and balanced nutrition plan is critical to maintaining a healthy life. However, this nutrition plan for athletes is a little more specific than usual. A person’s age, gender, living conditions, physical and mental health status are the determining criteria for creating a healthy nutrition program suitable for the person. In sports nutrition, the sport the person is doing is taken into consideration and the right nutrition program is created for the athlete.

What is the Importance of Nutrition for an Athlete?

The criteria that determine the athlete’s success can be listed as regular training, physical-spiritual motivation and a nutrition program suitable for the sport. It is inevitable that athletes who do not eat appropriately for the sport they do will have difficulty in both maintaining training continuity and maintaining physical and spiritual motivation. Therefore, it is possible to say that the most important criterion for an athlete’s success is having the right nutrition program.

Performance in sports is directly proportional to the energy received through nutrition. If a person does not fully meet the calorie needs of his sports with the right food groups, he will experience poor performance in sports. The correct nutrition plan, combined with the training program, improves the athlete’s endurance, increases motivation and maximizes athletic performance.

In order to have an adequate and balanced diet, each individual must fully meet their daily carbohydrate, fat, protein, vitamin, mineral and water needs. These needs are shaped according to the person’s age, gender, physical and mental health status, daily activity level and metabolic characteristics. For professional athlete nutrition, in addition to all these, the sport branch must be taken into consideration and the daily calorie and nutrient needs must be recalculated. Only in this way is the athlete’s general health level improved and protected, resistance to injuries is increased, and faster recovery is ensured in case of possible injury.

How Should Sports Nutrition Be?

When creating a nutrition plan for athletes, the daily energy requirement of the sport should be taken into consideration and the distribution of nutrients should be made accordingly. Accordingly, sports branches are divided into 6 groups: endurance sports, sports that require endurance and strength, combat sports, team sports, strength sports and quick strength sports.

• Endurance sports include sports such as middle/long distance running, 20-25 km walking and marathons. The nutrition plan for athletes in this group should be created so that 60% of the daily energy need comes from carbohydrates, 25% from fats and 15% from proteins.
• Sports that require continuity of strength along with endurance are sports such as speed rowing, cycling, swimming over 200 meters, canoeing, mountaineering and ice skating. In these sports, the need for energy obtained from carbohydrates decreases slightly; The need for fat and protein increases. For the healthy nutrition of people who prefer sports in this group, 56% of their daily energy needs should be met from carbohydrates, 27% from fats and 17% from proteins.
• In combat sports such as boxing, wrestling, judo, karate and taekwondo, this ratio changes to 50% carbohydrates, 30% fat and 20% protein.
• In team sports such as football, basketball, tennis, handball, water polo and hockey, the calorie requirement from carbohydrates increases. For athletes who prefer such sports, the nutrition plan should be arranged as 60% carbohydrates, 25% fat and 15% protein.
• Strength sports are sports such as weightlifting, discus, shot put and hammer. People who prefer sports in this group should consume foods containing 50% carbohydrates, 30% fat and 20% protein, just like those who prefer combat sports.
• Short runs between 100-400 meters, ice skating up to 500 meters, swimming up to 100 meters, volleyball, gymnastics, fencing, table tennis, gymnastics, decathlon, skiing and jumping are called quick strength sports. The nutritional distribution of the daily energy required in these sports areas is 55-60% carbohydrates, 25-30% fat and 15% protein.

Carbohydrates: Most of the athlete’s carbohydrate consumption should be complex carbohydrates. Foods such as bread, rice, pasta, breakfast cereals, legumes, potatoes and noodles are complex carbohydrate group foods that can easily meet the athlete’s energy needs from carbohydrates. Although fats have more energy than carbohydrates, carbohydrates are considered a more convenient energy source for the human body than fats. It is quite difficult to burn fats and convert them into energy compared to carbohydrates. Carbohydrates are easily stored and converted into energy within minutes when necessary. For this reason, this food group is at the top of the list of things that athletes should eat. Carbohydrates are stored in the body by converting them into a substance called glycogen. Many studies show that even a normal level of glycogen stores in the muscles greatly increases athlete performance. However, it is possible to say that if carbohydrate stores are not sufficient, the risk of injury and injury increases even in simple training. For this reason, the athlete’s carbohydrate consumption should be increased and carbohydrates should be consumed, especially in the first 30 minutes and first 2 hours after exercise, to replace the glycogen spent from the stores. In the first half hour after exercise, 1 gram of carbohydrate per kg should be taken, and in the first 1.5 hours after this half hour, 1.5 grams of carbohydrate per kg should be taken. In other words, an athlete weighing 80 kilos should consume 80 grams of carbohydrates immediately after exercise, and 120 grams of carbohydrates in the next 1.5 hours. In the following period, carbohydrate intake should be increased until the next exercise and a diet of approximately 8-10 grams of carbohydrate per kilogram should be consumed.

Fats: Although fats are risky foods for diseases such as obesity and cholesterol, they are very necessary for the human body and extremely healthy foods when consumed in the right amount. This food group, which provides approximately twice as much energy as carbohydrates, is indispensable for professional athlete nutrition. An athlete with an adequate and balanced diet should meet 25-30% of his daily energy needs from fat. However, the energy obtained from fats is suitable for accumulation in the body. For this reason, it is necessary to be controlled and choose healthy fats in fat consumption. However, since excessive fat consumption will suppress the athlete’s desire to consume carbohydrates, fried foods, sauces such as mayonnaise and creamy desserts should not be preferred, especially before training or during the competition period.

Proteins: The basic functions of proteins in the human body are the renewal and repair of cells and tissues, and the production of some hormones and enzymes. Therefore, proteins can only be used as energizers during long periods of fasting in the absence of carbohydrates and fats. When making a nutrition plan for athletes, 10-15% of daily energy should come from proteins. For athletes in the growth and development age, the need for protein increases as the muscles are still in the development stage. However, when adult athletes consume more protein than necessary, it does not provide more muscle development, on the contrary, it is stored as fat in the body. For this reason, it is debatable whether adults should consume protein and amino acid supplements in addition to their nutrition plan.

Foods That Athletes Should Eat

People who do sports should eat frequently spaced meals in order to protect themselves from sudden changes in blood sugar, and accordingly, they should start the day with breakfast. For breakfast, you must have 1-2 boiled eggs, 1-2 slices of cheese, 1 glass of milk, 5 olives, plenty of greens or 1 fresh seasonal fruit, 1 teaspoon of tahini-molasses or honey and 2-4 slices of whole grain bread. should be consumed. Then, healthy snacks should be preferred throughout the day. Nuts such as hazelnuts, walnuts and almonds, whole grain cereal mixed with milk, low-fat yoghurt, milk or buttermilk, fresh fruits and vegetables and cheese sandwiches can be listed as examples of healthy snacks.

Salads with plenty of greens should be preferred for lunch and dinner, and care should be taken to consume a bowl of soup to facilitate digestion. Additionally, you should consume 2 portions (approximately 120 g) of meat/chicken/fish/turkey or 1 plate of legumes such as chickpeas and beans. 2 slices of whole grain bread or 6-8 tablespoons of rice or pasta can be preferred. Finally, care should be taken to consume yoghurt at meals and the body should be supported in terms of minerals such as calcium.

Before exercising, it is important to choose foods that are easy to digest and not to consume foods that cause gas and water retention in the body. After exercise, food groups rich in carbohydrates with a high glycemic index can be preferred. Pasta, rice and potatoes are examples of these food groups. However, consuming easy-to-digest proteins such as milk desserts, chicken meat, cheese and yoghurt can be helpful for rapid post-exercise recovery. Finally, care should be taken to consume adequate fluids, especially before and after exercise, and consumption of fresh fruits and vegetables should be preferred as vitamin and mineral supplements.

Foods That Athletes Should Not Eat

Sports nutrition is aimed at meeting the person’s energy and nutritional needs from start to finish. Apart from this, consumed food and beverages disrupt a person’s daily energy balance and negatively affect both physical and mental health. Therefore, when making a nutrition plan for athletes, processed foods such as fast food, foods containing simple sugar, carbonated drinks and drinks with high sugar content should be excluded from the program. Processed foods and refined sugary foods negatively affect the intestinal microbiota, and as a result, all body systems, especially the immune system, are damaged. Sports nutrition should be planned not only to support the musculoskeletal system, but also to enable all systems of the body to operate at best performance. For this reason, when making a nutrition plan, all food groups that negatively affect the physiological and mental health integrity of the person should be excluded.

Apart from this, excessively fatty foods restrict athletes’ carbohydrate intake, which leads to serious energy loss, especially during exercise. Carbohydrates should always be the first thing that athletes should eat, and carbohydrate stores (glycogen) should always be used as the main energy source. Therefore, people who do sports should avoid consuming excessive fatty foods in order to avoid a decrease in performance.

Professional athlete nutrition is determined according to the person’s sport, age, gender, physical condition and is greatly affected by many other factors such as disease or medication use. Therefore, all these factors should be taken into consideration in order to maintain healthy body integrity while doing sports, to exhibit the highest physical and mental performance, and to achieve success in the field of sports. In this regard, you can meet with a dietitian who is an expert in the field and get help with the right nutrition program for all these needs.