Nutrition is one of the most important aspects of general well being and performance in humans, food fuels the human body for exercise and other daily activities, over the next few weeks I will be running a series of posts on nutrition, and particularly nutrition for performance.
Good nutrition is vital to athletes who are looking to improve their performance, diet is not independently responsible for increases in aerobic ability, strength, explosive ability or power, however a good diet allows for individuals to recover faster, perform and train more optimally.
There is much confusion whether or not there is a specific diet to be followed by athletes on a broad spectrum, should it be majority carbohydrates or more of a protein based diet? The truth is that each diet should be individualised to the athlete and his or her goals, there is no one diet for all.
The diet of the average Joe will differ significantly to that of a high performance athlete.
The key factors to be taken into account when putting together a diet for a specific athlete include: age, sex, and genetics, body size, duration, intensity, frequency as well as environmental training conditions.
The Food Guide Pyramid, developed by the U.S Department of agriculture breaks the food groups down in 5 major groups which are required daily for good health.
1. Grains : whole grain cereals, bread, crackers, rice and pasta
2. Vegetables: Fresh, dried , canned or frozen
3. Fruits: Fresh, dried , canned or frozen
4. Dairy: Milk, yogurt, cheese
5. Meat and Beans: Red and white
There is one other group known as Oils, this is not a good food group, although it provides the body with Vitamin E as well as essential fatty acids. This group if combined with the other 5 groups can provide the needed calories for those athletes who require a high caloric daily intake.
Although it is not a “good” food group it is important that it is not completely left out of the diet, but it must be consumed in moderation to avoid complications.
It is important to have a good balance and variety within each of the food groups, i.e. it is more beneficial to mix your fruits up rather than eating just oranges.
Fruit, Vegetables and Grains provide the body with carbohydrates they also serve as a source of dietary fibre, riboflavin, niacin, folate and vitamin C.
Meat, beans as well as eggs are n excellent source of protein as well as zinc, vitamin B as well as iron, while dairy products provide dietary protein and calcium.
No diet would be complete without a good balance of all 5 food groups, below is an example of the amount of each food group that is required to sustain an individual who has a daily caloric intake of 2000 calories:
Grains (whole grain cereals, pasta, bread, rice crackers) = 170.097 grams per day
Vegetables (can be fresh, frozen canned or even dried) = 2.5 Cups per day
Fruits (fresh, frozen, canned or dried, fruit juice in moderation, high sugar content) = 2 Cups per day
Dairy (Milk, cheese and yogurt) = 3 Cups per day
Meat and Beans (meat, poultry or fish and beans, seeds, nuts and peas) = 155.922g per day
Oils (fats from plans and animals e.g. Mayonnaise, salad dressing, sunflower or olive oil and margarine) = 6 tablespoons per day
This is just a guide line as different individuals require different caloric intake, according to their training and activities.
Next week we cover Macro – nutrients.
Reference : Essentials of Strength Training and Conditioning, 3rd Edition, T.R. Beachle & R.W. Earle (2008)
Picture courtesy of www.disabled-world.com
Wade Botha
Sport Scientist HONS Exercise Science 2010 UKZN
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