Sports nutrition tips -
Young children participating in light activities lasting 1 hour or less may not need to snack before and after exercise.
Rather, help these children focus on good nutrition every day. Older, more active kids may benefit from some of the fueling and hydration strategies listed below.
Before exercise: Around hours before exercise, an athlete should eat mostly carbohydrates with a moderate amount of protein.
This small meal should be low in fiber and fat, as these can cause an upset stomach. A pound child should drink around ounces of water around hours prior to exercise while a teenager or adult should have ounces of water.
Drinking an additional ounces directly before exercise will be helpful. During exercise: Hydrating is important during exercise. Encourage your child to have a small amount of fluid ounces every 15 minutes. For activities less than an hour, water is sufficient.
For activities lasting longer than hours, or in very hot environments, sports drinks can help replenish carbohydrates and electrolytes. Sports drinks are very different from energy drinks which have caffeine and excess sugar. Energy drinks are not recommended.
See the AAP policy statement, Sports Drinks and Energy Drinks for Children and Adolescents: Are They Appropriate? After exercise: Within minutes after exercise, it's important to replenish any fluids lost and to refuel with an appropriate source of energy.
Focusing on a snack that is rich in carbohydrates and proteins will help rebuild and restore muscles. Chocolate milk is an excellent example of a recovery drink. Find energy balance. Athletes need more energy during times when they are more active than normal e.
Encourage and plan specifically for extra food and fueling during these periods. Snacks that combine a carb like a cracker and some protein like peanut butter are the most energy efficient. Make sure your child has access to these kinds of power-packed snack options. The busy schedules of our families' means that many nights we are not all home at the same time to have a nice, sit-down dinner.
Dump the guilt. Family meals may not happen every day—that's ok! Make the most of your family meals when they do occur—and it doesn't have to be dinner. Why not make your family meal breakfast? It is more likely that everyone will be home at the same time early in the morning which means it is easier to get everyone around the table for some healthy food and family bonding.
It's important for everyone in the family to make smart choices when you sit down at the restaurant or step up to the fast-food counter. Look for whole grains, fruits and vegetables, and words like steamed, baked, poached, roasted, broiled or grilled.
Do your best to avoid foods with the words fried, au gratin, crispy, escalloped, pan-fried, sautéed or stuffed—good indications that the foods are high in fat and calories. Watch portions and serving sizes. The AAP policy statement, Snacks, Sweetened Beverages, Added Sugars, and Schools , also recommends keeping beverages simple.
Stick with milk including non-dairy milk and water as your child's main beverages. Bottom-line: Make sure whatever you would choose at that restaurant is something that you would prepare at home for your family— if, of course, you could find the time! There is no magical food or supplement that can transform an average athlete into a superstar.
No matter what the age of your child, the most effective way to improve sports performance is to pay close attention to the basics: fluids, calories, training, conditioning, and rest. A well-balanced diet provides a mix of carbohydrates, proteins, and fats with essential micronutrients—calcium, vitamin D, B vitamins, iron, zinc, magnesium, and antioxidants like vitamin C.
These are all important for bone health and immune function. Eating either too many or not enough calories can contribute to fatigue, injuries, illness, poor performance, and prolonged recovery from sports injuries.
How Children Develop Unhealthy Food Preferences. I Need a Treat: How to Tame Your Child's Sweet Tooth. The Healthy Children Show: Energy Balance for School-Age Kids Video.
Sarah Kinsella MD, CAQ, FAAP is a sports medicine physician at Fairview Sports and Orthopedic Care in Blaine, Minnesota. Within the American Academy of Pediatrics, she is a member of the Council on Sports Medicine and Fitness.
You may be trying to access this site from a secured browser on the server. Please enable scripts and reload this page. Carbohydrates are an excellent source of fuel. Cutting back on carbs or following low-carb diets isn't a good idea for athletes.
That's because restricting carbs can make you feel tired and worn out, which can hurt your performance. Good sources of carbs include fruits, vegetables, and grains.
Choose whole grains such as brown rice, oatmeal, whole-wheat bread more often than processed options like white rice and white bread. Whole grains provide the energy athletes need and the fiber and other nutrients to keep them healthy. Sugary carbs such as candy bars or sodas don't contain any of the other nutrients you need.
And eating candy bars or other sugary snacks just before practice or competition can give athletes a quick burst of energy, but then leave them to "crash" or run out of energy before they've finished working out. Everyone needs some fat each day, and this is extra true for athletes.
That's because active muscles quickly burn through carbs and need fats for long-lasting energy. Like carbs, not all fats are created equal.
Choose healthier fats, such as the unsaturated fat found in most vegetable oils, fish, and nuts and seeds. Limit trans fat like partially hydrogenated oils and saturated fat, found in fatty meat and dairy products like whole milk, cheese, and butter.
Choosing when to eat fats is also important for athletes. Fatty foods can slow digestion, so it's a good idea to avoid eating them for a few hours before exercising. Sports supplements promise to improve sports performance. But few have proved to help, and some may do harm.
Anabolic steroids can seriously mess with a person's hormones , causing unwanted side effects like testicular shrinkage and baldness in guys and facial hair growth in girls. Steroids can cause mental health problems, including depression and serious mood swings.
Some supplements contain hormones related to testosterone, such as DHEA dehydroepiandrosterone. These can have similar side effects to anabolic steroids.
Other sports supplements like creatine have not been tested in people younger than So the risks of taking them are not yet known. Salt tablets are another supplement to watch out for.
People take them to avoid dehydration, but salt tablets can actually lead to dehydration and must be taken with plenty of water. Too much salt can cause nausea, vomiting, cramps, and diarrhea and may damage the stomach lining. 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.
In Nutrigion clinic and tipz locations masks are required during all patient nutritino. Recovery coaching services Illinois Recovery coaching services and hospital locations masks are required Sport some areas and strongly recommended in others. Learn more. Every athlete strives for an edge over the competition. Daily training and recovery require a comprehensive eating plan that matches these physical demands. The keys to peak nutrition performance aimed to complement your training and competition are reviewed below.
0 thoughts on “Sports nutrition tips”