A Guide to Eating for Sports

Eat for Excellence

The good news about eating for sports is that reaching your peak performance level doesn't take a special athlete diet or supplements. It's all about working the right foods into your fitness plan in the right amounts.

Athletes have different nutrition needs than their less-active peers. Athletes work out more, so they need extra calories to fuel both their game and their growth.

If athletes don't eat enough their bodies are less likely to work as well as they can and may even break down muscles rather than build them. Athletes who don't take in enough calories every day won't be as fast and as strong as they could be and might not maintain their weight.

Athletes & Dieting

Athletes need extra fuel, so it's usually a bad idea to diet. Athletes in sports where there's a focus on weight — like wrestling, swimming, dance, or gymnastics — might feel pressure to lose weight. But cutting back on calories can lead to growth problems and a higher risk of fractures and other injuries.

If a coach or gym teacher suggests that you go on a diet, talk with your parents. Then speak with your doctor or a dietitian who specializes in teen athletes, like a sports nutritionist. If a health professional you trust agrees that it's safe to diet, they can work with you to create a healthy eating plan.

Eat a Variety of Foods

The best diets for athletes include healthy, balanced meals and snacks to give the body the nutrients and energy it needs.

Vital Vitamins & Minerals

For athletes to perform their best, they need a variety of nutrients, including vitamins and minerals. Calcium, vitamin D, and iron are extra  important for athlete nutrition:

• Calcium and vitamin D help build the strong bones that athletes depend on. Calcium — a must for protecting against stress fractures — is in dairy foods, such as low-fat milk, yogurt, and cheese. Some drinks and foods, like milk, orange juice, and cereal, often have vitamin D added to them.
• Iron carries oxygen to muscles. To get the iron you need, eat lean meat, fish, and poultry; leafy green vegetables; and iron-fortified cereals (which have added iron).

Protein Power

Athletes may need more protein than less-active kids, but most get plenty through a healthy diet. It's a myth that athletes need a huge amount of protein each day to build large, strong muscles. Muscle growth comes from regular training and hard work. Good sources of protein are fish, lean meats and poultry, eggs, dairy, nuts, soy, and peanut butter.

Carb Charge

Carbohydrates, or carbs, 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.

Good sources of carbs include fruits, vegetables, and grains. Choose whole grains (like brown rice, oatmeal, and whole-wheat bread). Whole grains provide the energy athletes need and the fiber and other nutrients to keep them healthy. Try to avoid processed foods, like white rice and white bread, which have nutrients removed during the “processing.”

Sugary carbs such as candy bars or sodas don't contain any of the other nutrients you need. And eating sugary snacks just before practice or competition can give a quick burst of energy, but then leave you to "crash" or run out of energy.

Fat Fuel

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.

Choose healthier fats, such as the unsaturated fat found in most vegetable oils, fish, 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.

Skip the Supplements

Sports nutrition supplements promise to improve sports performance. But few have proved to help, and some may do harm.

Steroids & Other Risky Supplements

Anabolic steroids can seriously mess with a person's hormones, causing side effects like shrunken testicles and baldness in males and facial hair growth in females. Steroids can also cause mental health problems, including depression and serious mood swings.

Some supplements contain hormones related to testosterone (pronounced: tess-TOSS-tuh-rone), such as DHEA, or dehydroepiandrosterone. These can have side effects like those of anabolic steroids. Other sports supplements (such as creatine) haven’t been tested in people younger than 18. So the risks of taking them aren’t known yet.

Salt Tablets

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’re better off drinking fluids to stay hydrated. Usually, you can replace salt lost in sweat with sports drinks or foods you eat before, during, and after exercise.

How to Stay Hydrated

Speaking of dehydration, water is as important to sports and nutrition 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 physically and mentally.

There's no one set guide for how much water to drink. How much fluid people need depends on their age, size, level of activity, and what the temperature is.

When Should I Drink Water?

Athletes should drink water 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.

What About Other Kinds of Drinks?

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 (substances that help balance body’s fluid and chemical levels) may improve performance in these conditions. Otherwise your body will do just as well with water.

Avoid drinking carbonated (fizzy) drinks or juice because they could give you a stomachache while you're training or competing.

Skip energy drinks and other caffeine-containing drinks, like soda, tea, and coffee, for rehydration. Too much caffeine can increase heart rate and blood pressure and make you anxious or jittery. Caffeine also can cause headaches and make it hard to sleep. These all can drag down your sports performance.

Game-Day Eats

How well you do on game day depends partly on the foods you've eaten over the past several weeks. You can boost your performance even more by paying attention to what you eat on game day. Athlete meal plans should be rich in carbohydrates, moderate in protein, and low in fat.

When & What to Eat

Here are some tips on what to have before and after trainings and competitions:

• Eat a meal three to four hours before activity. Include plenty of carbs and some protein but keep the fat low because it can cause an upset stomach. Carbs may include pasta, bread, fruits, and vegetables. Avoid sugary foods and drinks.
• When there are three hours or less before a practice or game, eat a lighter meal or snack that includes easy-to-digest carbohydrate-containing foods, such as fruit, crackers, or bread.
• After the game or event, experts recommend eating within 30 minutes after intense activity and again two hours later. Your body will be rebuilding muscle and replenishing energy stores and fluids, so continue to hydrate and eat a balance of lean protein and carbs.

You may want to experiment with meal timing and how much to eat on practice days so that you're better prepared for game day.