What is the proper nutrition of athletes?

Energy balance in the human body directly depends on two opposite processes that occur at one time - the accumulation of energy and its consumption. In a healthy body, these processes are in balance, but the athletes, due to the energy intensity of physical exertion, energy costs are skyrocketing. Consequently, there may be an energy imbalance accompanied by exhaustion of the body. There are two solutions to this problem: the first - to reduce the number of physical exertion, the second - to increase the influx of energy through a balanced diet. For professional athletes, the second option is more acceptable.

Proper nutrition for athletes includes several mutually complementary requirements:

• Mode of eating;
• Qualitative composition of the diet;
• The quantitative composition of the diet;
• Coefficient of assimilation of food.

Meal value

It should be noted that the usual three-time intake of food does not provide the athlete with enough building material and energy for anabolic processes. It is more expedient to increase the number of meals to five, or even six times a day, food intake is allowed even at night. But it must be remembered that the main amount of food should be eaten for lunch and lunch. Single intake of large amounts of food is unacceptable, this leads to the inability to train well.

The qualitative composition of food and its undeniable importance

The composition of food relative to its quality is selected individually, it all depends on the sport, the amount of physical activity and physical characteristics of a person. But anyway, rational nutrition of athletes should correspond to the following formula: 30% of proteins, 10% of fats, 60% of carbohydrates.

Proteins can be safely called the main building material of any biological structures. Moreover, some proteins function as hormones and growth factors. The main source of protein is animal products (eggs, dairy products, lean meats, fish) and vegetable (bread, cereals, legumes) of origin.

Nutrition of athletes also involves the intake of special supplements that can make up for the lack of protein. Among them, protein cocktails play an important role . The most effective are the whey protein based cocktails , as they are easily digested and contain a full set of amino acids.

Fats are the building material for the membranes of all cells of the body. Vegetable fats are absorbed much easier than animals, because they contain a lot of saturated fatty acids. Animal fats are rich in vitamin A, and plant foods contain mainly vitamin E. The optimal combination of vegetable and animal fats is 1: 3.

Another source of fats can be a variety of types of vegetable oils, nuts, sour cream, liver. But the fat athletes should be discarded.

Carbohydrates account for the bulk of the diet, since they are the basis for the process of energy metabolism. However, excess carbohydrates are converted to fats and deposited under the skin. In order to prevent this, it is necessary to build the nutrition of athletes in such a way as to reduce the amount of easily digestible carbohydrates (sweets, sugar, honey) and give preference to carbohydrates, the splitting of which consumes additional energy (black bread, vegetables and fruits).

Among other things, nutrition athletes should ensure the correct metabolism, and for this you can not do without vitamins and minerals . Their source can be fruits, vegetables, vitamin-mineral preparations and food additives.

The daily water norm should be at least 2.5 liters, all depends on the intensity of physical exertion.

Quantitative composition and coefficient of assimilation of food

The amount of food can be calculated individually using special tables. The composition of the diet varies depending on the training regimen. But the percentage of assimilation varies depending on the type of food. Correctly cooked foods are digested much better than raw.

In conclusion, we should say that we should not disregard the aforementioned advice, because the correct nutrition of athletes is 50% of their success.