A sport is an integral part of human life, it improves your physical & mental health also it improves leadership and team-building qualities, self-confidence, management skill, and discipline. Some people play sports and games for recreation and some for good health. But most of the people are playing sports and games to build their career. Since everyone has started taking part in competitive sports and games there is very tough competition in all sports and games. Therefore to achieve high performance and become successful in sports everyone must have the knowledge of all those factors on which performance depends to large extent. There are so many factors and Nutrition is one of the most important factors.
Nutrition is a science of food that was limited to just prevention of deficiency, disease, and maintenance of general health, but today nutrition has become an important component of success in performing sports. To keep our body cells functioning properly they must be supplied with the proper amount and type of food having required nutrients as per individual’s requirement.
Nutrition is the science of the knowledge of food and its uses by the body. All living things need food to live and food supplies energy for every action of living things it also provides nutrients that our body requires to build up and repair its tissues and to regulate the function of its organs and systems.
Today every professional Athlete aims to achieve high performance in competition and become successful in sports. Selection of right exercise & Balanced Diet is most important factors on which performance depends at a large extent.
A balanced diet is important for recovery during training to tackle the training load in each & every training session. The meal before & after the competition is very important.
In weight category sports balanced diet is very important to gain & lose weight in minimum possible time without affecting performance.
(2)Weight loss and fat loss:-
Weight Loss is one of the key concerns for many persons. How to lose weight is a challenge. Some may take medicines for losing weight or some may consume steroid for weight loss or some may stop eating, or have different diets to reduce weight. There can be side effects through some of these methods.
There is a natural way to reduce weight and stay healthy with no side effects. The natural method doesn’t involve any medicines nor starvation.
Before adopting the natural method of weight loss, one has to understand ideal weight. “What should be my weight “ is a big question mark in our minds. Some may think that the ideal weight of a person is dependent on height. Is that your ideal weight? Well it may not be your ideal weight as height to weight proportions is more guidelines. Thus your ideal body weight is dependent on the fat content in your body which should be less that 15 % for males and less than 20% for females. Individuals who don’t regularly exercise and have wrong diet patterns may have fat content of more than 35% which may lead to excess weight and this weight cannot be reduced through medicines or starvation.
Thus ideal body weight (where fat content is less than 15% for males and less than 20% for females) is possible to attain only through regular exercise and balanced diet which varies from individual to individual.
Why does weight (obesity) increase in our body?
All the physical movements are possible through muscle contractions, thus movements such as running, standing up, walking, weight lifting, or any other physical movement in our lives are possible through these muscle contractions and the muscle contractions require energy (calories). During these activities, calories are burned, and the rate at which calories burn is called as Basel Metabolic rate (BMR). If the BMR is high, then more calories are burnt which means there is less storage of fat (calories) in the body. (The body stores excess calories as fat.) That means more the muscle in your body, there will be high BMR and less storage of fat. Energy is used during muscle contraction and these muscles are made from proteins.
To Reduce Weight, Muscles Need Activation
To maintain your muscles, one has to undergo resistance training and have regular supply of proteins through diet. The source of proteins should be from natural foods and not through supplements.
Weight loss through hunger and starvation is dangerous to the body. Some only consume fruit or other juices only as part of diet which is also not good. In these cases, there is fat gain and muscle loss, which leads to drop in BMR and further fat gain.
For example, a male person weighing 100 kg (with 30 % fat content ) who wants to reduce weight should aim at reducing fat content to less than 15%. But in reality such persons who are heavy weight tend to starve and reduce weight as a result of which he may lose 20 kgs. The loss of 20 kgs is loss in muscle weight and not fat content. This is dangerous and triggers health problems. Nobody can starves for lifetime .Thus when this person starts to eat regularly, there will be increase in weight and in particular increase in fat content. Repeating the same cycle of weight loss through starvation is extremely dangerous for health. This may lead to increase in triglycerides and cholesterol in blood, making the person insulin resistance which is a perfect state of diabetics. This leads to further complications such as heart attacks, stroke, kidney failure, liver damage, sexual disorder such as erectile dysfunction, early ejaculation, and infertility etc .
To stay fit, or to lose/gain weight, and stay away from above mentioned life style related diseases, It is highly recommended to exercise and follow balanced diet only under expert supervision.
The diet pattern differs for every individual person. Only an expert can recommend the right type of balanced diet. This is possible by understanding individuals need and calorie requirement, food eating habits, taste and preference of food. The food diet for each person depends on body type, exercise level, fat % and existing diseases. The expert after investigation of need and requirement of nutrition and calories in terms of protein, carbohydrate and fat requirement per day.
Exercise depends and varies for each individual. Factors such as past history, body type, existing diseases, resting heart rate are vital to understand before recommending an exercise plan. Only an expert can recommend the right type, duration and frequency of exercise based on the investigation as heart rate is an important element to be considered before undergoing certain types of exercises.
Balanced Diet:-
A balanced diet is that diet in which all nutrients are present as per individual’s requirement. The chemicals in food, which our body needs, are called nutrients. Nutrients are food components, which the body utilizes after breaking of food which we eat.” These are the components of food:-
- Carbohydrates
- Fat
- Protein
- Vitamins
- Minerals
- Water
- 1)Carbohydrates
Carbohydrate is the most important nutrient in an athlete’s diet. It is the most abundant organic compound and the chief source of energy. Carbohydrates are stored in muscles and liver as a form of glycogen and in blood as glucose. During physical activity first we get energy from glucose. It is very important because it spares protein, it provides instant energy & it provides fibers.
Carbohydrate is arguably the most important source of energy for athletes. No matter what sport you play, carbohydrate provides the energy that fuels muscle contractions. Excess Carbohydrate is stored in adipose tissue as fat.
Types of Carbohydrate
Carbohydrates are also divided into simple and complex forms. Simple carbohydrates provide a rapid source of energy. Complex carbohydrates take a bit longer to be digested and absorbed into the body..
- 2)Fat
Dietary fat is often blamed for many health problems; however fat is an important component of diet and serves a number of functions in the body. They are also sometimes known as lipids which include fat, fat like substances & oil etc.
Types of Fat:
- Visible:
Visible fats are those fats derived from: Animal fat like butter, ghee, Vegetable fat like oils etc.
- Invisible:
Invisible fats are that type of fat which are present in food like Chicken, Meat, Fish , milk & Egg etc.
Saturated and unsaturated are another two types of fat. Saturated fat is often solid at room temperature.
Unsaturated Fat:
Unsaturated fats include monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats, which are usually liquid at room temperature. The body breaks down tissue fat and protein to provide additional energy. So it is very important to the athlete to have an adequate amount and type of fat in the diet to prevent the breaks down of body protein, which is needed for tissue & reconstruction. Fat is stored when we consume more calories than we use. There is an optimal level of body fat for health and for athletic activity. When that optimal level is exceeded, too much dietary fat can lead to problems with health as well as athletic performance.
Fat is slow to digest and be converted into a usable form of energy. Converting stored body fat into energy takes time. The body needs to breakdown fat and transport it to the working muscles before it can be used as energy. For these reasons, athletes need to carefully time when they eat fat, how much they eat and the type of fat they eat.
- Protein:-
Proteins are organic substances that after digestion yield their component building blocks amino acids. These amino acids combine together form proteins required by the body. Amino acids combine in various ways to make muscles, bone, tendons, skin, hair, and other tissues. They serve other functions as well including nutrient transportation and enzyme production.
Amino acids in food further have been classified as essential and non-essential. Those amino acids that the body can manufacture are termed as non-essential. Those amino acids that must be supplied in the diet are essential amino acids.
Some food contains all of amino acids. If an individual’s diet does not contain sufficient quantities of these food or a combination of other food, containing protein, tissue protein degradation increases resulting in decrease in body protein content. Long term protein energy malnutrition (PEM) leads to decrease in muscle mass, strength, endurance and immune dysfunction. Adequate, regular protein intake is essential. Incomplete protein (lacking one or more essential amino acid) is not good for recovery. Vegetarian athletes may have trouble getting adequate protein if they aren’t aware of how to combine foods or supplements.
Athletes need protein primarily to repair and rebuild muscle that is broken down during exercise and to help optimizes carbohydrate storage in the form of glycogen. Protein isn’t an ideal source of fuel for exercise, but can be used when the diet lacks adequate carbohydrate.
Protein has very limited value as an energy [ 1 gm – 4 kcl ] but it is very essential for growing process, repairing for cells, formation of certain hormones & enzymes.
- Vitamins
Vitamins are essential for normal growth, maintenance and for regulations of enzyme systems, control of metabolism & immune function. They themselves do not give energy, but they help in getting energy. Some vitamins act as essential co-factors for enzymes involved in metabolism and biosynthesis, others act as antioxidants. Vitamins are divided into two groups which are as follows:
Vitamin A, D, E, and K are fat-soluble vitamins. These vitamins can be stored in the body for varying length of time. Vitamin A have anti-oxidant properties, Vitamin A is essential to prevent night blindness and act as an antioxidant enzyme. It also reduces the risk of cancer.
Vitamin ‘D’ is essential for growth mineralization of bones. It is produced under the skin with the presence of sunlight. Main function of Vitamin D is calcium absorption.
Vitamin E is a fat-soluble antioxidant. Commonly called anti-aging vitamin. It prevents the breakdown of muscles, skin and hair. Vitamin ‘K’ is important in blood clotting mechanism.
Vitamin B & C are water soluble. These vitamins play an important role in performance improvement.
- Minerals:-
The minerals play an essential role in functioning of immune cells. Minerals do not supply energy, but like vitamins are essential for regulation of body function. They are classified as Macrominerals & Microminerals.
1)Macrominerals
Are those minerals needed in relatively large amounts (in grams) and include calcium, sodium, magnesium, potassium, chloride, etc.
2)Microminerals
These are required in much smaller daily amounts (in milligrams) and include iron, copper, zinc, iodine, sulphar, cobalt, chromium and selenium, etc.
- Water
Water is an important constituent of our diet. About 60-65% of the weight of an adult body is made up of water. Water is present in two forms in our body.
a] Intra-Cellular i.e.
The fluid within the cells which is about 70%
b] Extra Cellular i.e.
The fluid outside the cells is about 30%. Water is essential for life because it provides the medium with which all the chemical & biochemical processes occur.
Individual requires water depending upon his body weight, environment, type of food, etc. An average adult under normal conditions requires about 2 to 4 liters of water intake per day for maintaining the water balance in the body. During exercise in a hot environment the water loss through sweating increases tremendously and in such cases, if water is not replenished then various forms of heat illnesses may occur.