Why is nutrition important in sport:
Nutrition plays an important role in the functioning of a human body. This is more so with those who are sportsmen or even a layman who has chosen to exercise on a daily basis. Your food needs to be well balanced with the required fats, carbohydrates, proteins, vitamins and also water besides the other nutrients. Exercise, of any kind, leads the body to consume more energy and this means the requirement of nutritious food, especially, for athletes or sports men is even more.
Guidelines for Nutrition for Sports:
*Before exercise:
The food eaten before any exercise tends to affect the quality of the activity taken up. This also makes a difference on the way you feel during the specific exercise. Few tips followed can guide you on what to eat before exercising.
- Avoiding foods of high bulk:
Food like high-fiber cereal, broccoli or baked beans is a big ‘NO’ before any exercise. This can be the cause of stomach pain when you are exercising as they move at a slow pace in the digestive tract. As the high fiber foods are a requirement of the human body, you need to ensure these are included in the other meals of the day.
- Large Meals:
In case you have only a couple of hours before you start your exercise you need to decide on a small meal, and if you have around 6 hours before an exercise, you can plan on a larger meal. Choose meals which are rich in carbohydrates as these can fuel the muscles.
- Sugar and Sweets:
Sweets or even sugar does not provide energy which s long lasting and thus need to be avoided.
- Dietary fats:
The intakes of foods that are high on the dietary fats need to be avoided as these can make you sluggish right before the exercise.
What to eat Before Exercise:
* Ensure you eat fruits or vegetables and drink either vegetable or fruit juice or even water 1 to 2 hours before exercising.
*Eating yogurt and granola bar, peanut butter and ½ bagel, oatmeal and fruit, milk and cereal is good if you have around 2 to 3 hours before you start your exercise. Water and vegetable or fruit juice is recommended.
*3 to 6 hours before an exercise you can eat bagel, bread, peanut butter, cheese, yogurt, full sandwich, and lean meat, cereal with fruit and milk or probably baked potato. You need to drink either vegetable or fruit juice or plain water.
During exercise:
Eating during a workout depends on the length of the specific workout. For workouts that last more than half an hour you need to eat something which is easily digested and can provide the required energy. This can be some fruit, energy bar or even a little of jelly beans or gummy bears.
. After Exercise:
Soon after you have finished your exercise you need to consume some sort of proteins and carbohydrates. This helps the body replace the glycogen in the muscles.
For the appropriate nutrition your body needs when you are exercising, you can seek the help of a professional nutritionist.
