Nutrition Of Athletes Health, Medicine, Nursing Research Paper

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Nutrition for athletes
Nutrition is one of the most affective elements for any athlete. It has a great impact on their performance. Low and inadequate intake of calories and nutrients can adversely affect the performance of a very well-conditioned athlete while intake of adequate amounts of calories and nutrients can help every athlete perform at their optimal level. There are dietary needs for every athlete depending on the sport, age, body type, and gender, and therefore nearly all athletes have their unique nutritional requirements that they have developed with the help of their coaches, doctors, and nutritionists.
How Nutrition Affects Athletes
For athletes to perform optimally, they must strike a balanced intake of carbohydrates, proteins, and fats. Carbohydrates are the source of energy, and therefore they must be consumed in high quantities to match the energy requirements of the athlete. Proteins are necessary for repairing muscles torn during exercising, training or sporting. Proteins are the building blocks for repairing torn muscle fibers. Fat is also a critical component for athletes though it must be taken with moderation. It is a rich source of energy especially for endurance sports such as marathons. Fat is stored in the body, and it is oxidized to glucose and water when the glucose levels of the athlete are going doing during exercise. It is also important for athletes to take in a lot of fluids and particularly water. An athlete should not wait till he/she is thirsty because that means he/she has already started to dehydrate and therefore high-water intake is always strongly recommended CITATION May18 \l 1033 (Mayo Clinic Organization, 2018). There are other micronutrients in form of vitamins and minerals, which ensure that all the physiological processes of the body are performing optimally. Since athletes demand high energy for training and performance, calorie intake is the most important aspect of sports nutrition. Dietary needs are also dependent on the sport; a pro golfer will need fewer calories than a marathon runner, and their diets should reflect this. Additionally, athletes should have different dietary needs before and after major sporting events because their bodies require different macronutrients during these phases. Before the events, the body needs to store up energy, and in some cases some athletes cut down on training and increase carb intake to store up energy a phenomenon in the sporting community known as carbohydrate loading. In the recovery process, a relatively higher amount of protein is necessary to help the body repair muscles.
A typical nutrition plan for professional footballers
A general dietary needs plan for the player would need to account for training days, match day, and recovery. Assuming that the player trains daily for a week and plays in one major game each week, then; the first two days after the matchday will need to be high on protein as they are usually the recovery days after matchday. Recovery is characterized by light or not training, and the player needs to take moderately higher proteins than the rest of the training days CITATION Ran17 \l 1033 (Ranchordas, Dawson, & Russell, 2017). The following days will be training day...