Sports nutrition

Differing conditions and objectives suggest the need for athletes to ensure that their sports nutritional approach is appropriate for their situation.

[medical citation needed] The key to a proper diet is a variety of foods, obtaining a balance of macronutrients, vitamins, and minerals.

There are obvious physical differences between male and female anatomy, while physiology is the same for the most part, how they metabolize nutrients will vary.

Research has shown that endurance athletes are recommended to have 1.2 to 1.4 g of protein per kg of body weight in order to repair damaged tissue.

Protein deficiency can cause many problems such as early and extreme fatigue, particularly long recovery, and poor wound healing.

Complete proteins such as meat, eggs, and soy provide the athlete with all essential amino acids for synthesizing new tissues.

However, vegetarian and vegan athletes frequently combine legumes with a whole grain to provide the body with a complete protein across the day's food intake.

Both fruits and vegetables improve healing, aid in recovery, and reduce risks of cancer, high blood pressure, and constipation.

To get the most nutritional value out of fruits and vegetables it is important to eat them in their natural, unprocessed form without added nutrients or sugar.

Lactic acid build up can be treated by staying well-hydrated throughout and especially after the workout, having an efficient cool down routine and good post-workout stretching.

It is important for female endurance runners to consume proper nutrients in their diet that will repair, fuel, and minimize fatigue and injury.

Anaerobic glycolysis is also referred to as the "short term energy system", and is mostly used for high-intensity training, such as sprinting, and any sports which require quick bursts of speed.

[8] These factors help make slow twitch muscle fibers fatigue resistant so athletes can have endurance in their sport.

Common supplements to increase an athlete's energy include: Caffeine, Guarana, Vitamin B12, and Asian ginseng.

To explain the performance improvement the writers report an increase in blood levels of epinephrine, norepinephrine and beta-Endorphin.

[15] Caffeine is chemically similar to adenosine, a type of sugar that helps in the regulation of important body processes, including the firing of neurotransmitters.

[20] Dietary protein intake for well-trained athletes should occur before, during and after physical activity as it is advantageous in gaining muscle mass and strength.

[21] In healthy individuals with good kidney function there is no evidence that consuming a high protein diet has any deleterious effects.

[25] These types of drink are commonly made of the carbohydrates glucose and sucrose in water[24] and has been seen to improve the football players' performance.

Athletes drinking chocolate milk following exercise-induced dehydration had fluid levels about 2 percent higher (on initial body mass) than those using other post-exercise recovery beverages.

[29] The supplement creatine may be helpful for well-trained athletes to increase exercise performance and strength in relation with their dietary regimen.

Nutrition is important in all sports
Weightlifting is an anaerobic exercise
An assortment of supplements.