This section provides information on the key principles of developing the daily diet for people practicing sports or fitness.
Athletic nutrition is a specific type of nutrition for people experiencing additional physical loads, practicing sports, fitness or following health improvement programs. This type of diet is based on the healthy nutrition principles, additionally accounting for the physiological individual parameters related to the sports activities – type of physical exercise (volume, intensity, periodicity), body requirements in additional energy (energy consumption), all types of metabolism, requirement for regular post-load recovery etc. The above specific characteristics should reflect on the content and all characteristics of the daily nutrition of athletes and account for individual needs of every person practicing a specific type of sports. Below you will find the key principles of developing the diet plans for athletes.
- ENERGY BALANCE. Definition of the individual energy balance as a ratio of daily energy consumption (with account for the type of sports practiced) and the amount of energy intake from the daily diet.
- ADEQUACY. Diet accounts for all food components (proteins, fats, carbohydrates, cellulose, vitamins, and minerals). The ratio of individual components of the diet should account for the specifics of physical training and individual characteristics of the person (age, weight, height etc.)
- SCHEDULE OF FOOD INTAKE. Number of portions for various food products during the day, with consideration taken of delayed evacuation from the stomach before absorption into blood, time of day, time of workout.
- LIQUID INTAKE PARAMETERS. The number and type of drinks required to support an optimal water and electrolyte balance at specific conditions of exercise.
- ENRICHMENT OF DAILY DIET. Inclusion into the diet of specialized substrate products (proteins, carbohydrates, vitamins, and minerals) supplementing the increased requirements of the body.
- ASSESSMENT OF EFFICACY OF CURRENT NUTRITION AND ITS CORRECTION. Routine follow-up of body parameters according to informative parameters (body weight and composition, biochemistry tests of metabolism, liver and biliary system functions).
- CHARACTERISTICS OF DAILY NUTRITION:
- Target (key objective for development of diet).
- Energy balance (caloric value to energy consumption in the process of workout / competition).
- Energy consumption during scheduled physical loads.
- Calorific value of the daily diet.
- List of food products required to support the optimal energy balance.
- Food intake (type / amount of food, number of portions and the time of food intake).
- Liquid intake parameters (type/amount of liquids, number of portions and time of intake of drinks).
- Efficacy parameters.