Nutrition in Sport

Book excerpt: As sports have become more competitive over recent years researchers and trainers have been searching for new and innovative ways of improving performance. Ironically, an area as mundane as what an athlete eats can have profound effects on fitness, health and ultimately, performance in competition. Sports have also gained widespread acceptance in the therapeutic management of athletes with disorders associated with nutritional status. In addition, exercise has been one of the tools used for studying the control of metabolism, creating a wealth of scientific information that needs to be placed in the context of sports medicine and science. Nutrition in Sport provides an exhaustive review of the biochemistry and physiology of eating. The text is divided into three sections and commences with a discussion of the essential elements of diet, including sections on carbohydrates, proteins, fats, vitamins and trace elements, and drugs associated with nutrition. It also discusses athletes requiring special consideration, including vegetarians and diabetics. The second section considers the practical aspects of sports nutrition and discusses weight control (essential for sports with weight categories and athletes with eating disorders), the travelling athlete (where travel either disrupts established feeding patterns or introduces new hazards), environmental aspects of nutrition (including altitude and heat), and the role of sports nutritional products.