NUTRITION
"What kids need are not magic pills, but the virtues sports are meant to instill:
discipline, training, sound nutrition, fitness, skills, goal setting, teamwork, valor, and
winning and losing with class."
Dr. E. Randy Eichner, Team Internist, University of Oklahoma
Eating- Practice Every Day!
To reach your highest potential, all of your body systems must be perfectly
tuned. Nothing is more important to your well-being and ability to
perform than good nutrition. Eating the right foods helps you maintain
desirable body weight, stay physically fit, and establish optimum nervemuscle reflexes. Without the right foods, even physical conditioning and
expert coaching aren't enough to push you to your best. Good nutrition
must be a key part of your training program if you are to succeed. Keeping
your energy levels up for peak performance isn't easy. It doesn't just happen.
High energy levels are the result of good eating and exercise habits. If you
don't pay attention to either of these factors, your performance can suffer.
The training period offers you an excellent opportunity to establish sound
eating practices that will benefit you on the playing field as well as give you a
measure of well-being throughout life.
One of the least-recognized nutrition problems of the young athlete is
simply not eating enough. Extracurricular activities may make life so busy
that you simply don't take the time to eat. After-school practice sessions
may be so exhausting that you feel too tired to eat. But you must take the
time to eat the right foods. Don't let fourth-quarter fatigue caused by poor
eating hurt your performance.
Another problem of the young athlete is not eating the right kinds of
foods--particularly foods high in starch. Eating a balanced diet that has
plenty of starch keeps muscle energy up. Many young athletes eat more
foods high in protein instead, and that's a mistake. A normal diet contains
enough protein to support the added muscle growth and development of a
young athlete.
Look for Extra Food Energy
Teenage athletes burn up more calories than non-athletic teens. You can fill
this requirement by eating more food from all food groups. Carbohydrates
are the most efficient fuel for your body during strenuous exercise. Get
most of your extra energy from foods like starchy vegetables and whole
grain or enriched bread, cereal, rice, or pasta instead of from fatty foods. For
example, on an athlete's plate, a baked potato should get the nod over
French fries. Because of their rapid growth and development and higher
levels of physical activity, many teen athletes should eat the higher levels of
servings recommended from each food group--especially from the bread,
cereal, rice, and pasta group and the vegetable group. A 180-pound tight
end could easily eat eleven servings of breads/cereals and five servings of
vegetables daily. This athlete may even need more than the maximum
servings recommended. Eating the maximum number of servings
recommended from all five food groups provides about 3,000 calories.
That's why large male athletes involved in a vigorous sport like football or
soccer will have to eat more than the upper end of the recommended
serving levels.
Eat Regularly
Breakfast is especially important because you need food to start the day.
Your body begins the day in a low-energy, fasted condition. Teens who eat
breakfast score higher on physical fitness tests. Breakfasts can be made up of
any combination of nutritious foods that you enjoy eating. Spaghetti and
meatballs, together with an orange and a glass of milk, is a nutritionally
sound meal for any time of the day-even breakfast!
What should the athlete eat before a game?
Before a game, your digestive processes may be slowed down by your keyedup emotional state. To allow for this condition, you should eat an easily
digestible meal no later than three hours before the contest. Avoid foods
that contain substantial amounts of fats or oils. Fats are more slowly
digested than other nutrients. Trying to participate with a high-fat meal still
in your stomach is a losing proposition. Meals high in starches are better
because they are digested more rapidly than fats or oils.
Some athletes like poached eggs, toast, and juice as a light pregame meal.
Some prefer breakfast cereal with low-fat milk, toast with just a little jelly,
and juice.
Foods for Fuel- Samples of High Carbohydrate, Low-Fat Meals
Breakfast
Lunch
*whole grain waffles *bean burrito
w/syrup
*baked chips and
*handful of walnuts salsa
*Lowfat milk
*100% fruit juice
*Grilled chicken
*Granola cereal with
sandwich
banana
*whole wheat toast
*Orange juice
*Baked potato with
veggies
*Canadian Bacon
Snacks
*Spaghetti with
tomato sauce & sliced
*Whole grain bagel
vegetables
with peanut butter
*Spinach salad
* Lowfat Milk
*Vegetarian Pizza
*Grapes
*Yogurt
*Raisins
*Tossed Green Salad *Sliced turkey on
w/whole grain roll
whole grain crackers
*Apple Crisp
*Gatorade
*Fruit Cup
*Oatmeal and Sliced
*Turkey Sub on
Fruit
whole grain bread
*Lowfat Milk
Dinner
*Chili with beans and
*Popcorn
rice
*Baked chips
*100% fruit juice
*Apple
*Mixed berries
*Peanuts
*Iced Tea
*Rice with vegetables
*Whole grain English
and black beans
*Grilled Fish filet
muffin with peanut
butter
*Garden Veggie
*Large green salad
Salad with grilled
with vinaigrette
*Juice or Water
chicken
*Steamed veggies
*Banana
*Fruit Cup
*Cottage Cheese
*Fruit Smoothie
*Lowfat Frozen
Yogurt
Make sure your pre-game meal plans follow these guidelines:
Allow enough time for digestion. Eat the meal at least three hours before an
event.
Choose a meal that's high in starch. Starch is easy to digest and helps steady the
levels of blood sugar.
Consume only moderate amounts of protein. Protein foods take longer to
digest than starch. And high-protein meals may lead to increased urine
production, which can add to dehydration.
Limit fats and oils. They take too long to digest.
Restrict sugary foods. Sweets can cause rapid energy swings in blood sugar
levels and result in low blood sugar and less energy.
Avoid foods and drinks that contain caffeine. Caffeine stimulates the body to
increase urine output, which can contribute to dehydration problems.
HYDRATION
Water is a basic necessity for all life. Without it, life can't exist. Even when water is
limited, living organisms suffer. You are no exception. For young athletes like
yourself, not enough water means you can't do your best. It can even cause serious
health problems.
Our blood circulates like an ocean within us. The water in blood helps carry nutrients
and energy to our body cells. It also carries waste products away from our cells for
excretion from our body. Water helps regulate our body temperature, too--an
important factor for all of us.
As a young athlete, you have a special need for water. When you participate in a sport
like football or track, you burn a lot of food energy (called calories). Some of that
unleashed energy powers muscles. But some of that energy is released as heat. Water
keeps you from overheating. Sweating and evaporation from the skin cools you
down. However, water is lost in the cooling process. That can be dangerous if the
water is not replenished. If you run low on water, your body can overheat, like a car
that is low on cooling fluid. Losing just two percent of the body's water can hurt
performance. A five percent loss can cause heat exhaustion. A seven percent to ten
percent loss can result in heat stroke and death. Dehydration can kill.
Thirst is your body's signal that you need to drink water. By the time you feel thirsty,
you may have already lost one percent to two percent of your water--and that's
enough to hurt performance. But just drinking enough to satisfy your thirst may not
supply your body's needs. If you drink only enough to satisfy your thirst, your body
may take up to 24 hours to fully re-hydrate its cells and regain maximum
performance.
When you participate in a sporting event or practice session, follow these guidelines:
Don't wait until you are thirsty before drinking water.
Drink more than enough to satisfy your thirst.
Drink more than you think you need before an event or practice to make sure
you are fully re-hydrated.
Avoid Drinks with Caffeine
Some drinks that have caffeine, such as colas and iced tea, are advertised as thirst
quenchers. Do not use caffeine-containing beverages as fluid rehydration drinks
shortly before, during, and after a practice or competition. Caffeine acts as a diuretic.
It increases urine output and can promote dehydration.
Are Sports Drinks Necessary?
Your biggest concern is getting enough water--pure, cool water. Even the salt you
lose while sweating can be easily replaced by adding salt to foods.
Plain, cool water is the fluid of choice when the actual exercise does not last longer
than 60 to 90 minutes. And that includes most situations, even a tough practice
session, a hard-fought football game, or a track meet. You don't need an energy
source in the fluid you drink to rehydrate. During these normal situations, if you have
been eating and training properly, you should have enough energy stored as liver and
muscle glycogen to power you through.
However, in some situations where the exercise is unusually long or several games
occur in a short period of time, sport drinks containing carbohydrates and electrolytes
may offer you an advantage. During these situations, you may run low on energy and
electrolytes. For example, if you are a long-distance cyclist, you should consider using
a sport drink. If you must compete in a tournament that has more than one game a
day or several games in just a few days, you could benefit from a sport drink that
supplements your energy and electrolyte supply.
If you use a sport drink, pick one that has less than eight percent total solids
(carbohydrates, electrolytes). More concentrated solutions can delay fluid absorption.
They must be diluted with plain water before you use them as a fluid replacement
drink. Also, avoid sport drinks that contain fructose as the only source of
carbohydrate. Fructose may delay gastric emptying of fluid and cause upset stomach.
And fructose must first be converted to glucose before it can be used for energy. This
conversion means you can't use fructose as an energy source as quickly as other
carbohydrates.
Information was taken from -http://www.severnaparkfootball.com/Nutrition.htm