1. This show, by Douglas Kalman, MS, RD, and Food and Health Communications, Inc. will provide you with basic information to fuel athletic performance. We will cover the basic fundamentals of nutrition along with what to do for optimal performance before, during and after your event. Thanks to Nancy Kennedy, MS, RD, and Felicia Stoler, MS, RD, for their reviews of this show.

2. Athletes are like race cars
Athletes are like race cars. They don’t run their best on cheap gas or an empty tank.
Just as any athlete prepares and plans his or her training program anywhere from days or in some cases months in advance, nutrition for performance must be taken as serious as training.
Here is a quote from Peak Performance
“Eating in a way that keeps your body primed for peak fitness can also reduce your risk of injury. Firstly, eating foods that will help to fend off fatigue will minimize injuries arising from tiredness and weakness. Secondly, some of the metabolic processes which can lead to muscle soreness and damage can be counteracted to a degree by dietary factors.”

3. Topics for Today
Here are the topics we will cover today. You will learn the basics of nutrition and how it applies to fueling the athlete. Tips are provided for ergonenic aids such as sports beverages, bars and gels. The basics of hydration are presented.

4. Sports Nutrition Basics
There are 3 macronutrients:
Carbohydrates
Protein
Fat
Macronutrients are used in large amounts to fuel the body.
These are the three macronutrients that the body uses for energy. The body uses these for calories. We will show you a little basic information about all three in the coming slides.

5. What Are Carbohydrates?
A class of nutrients containing carbon, hydrogen and oxygen atoms
Most are known as sugars, starches or dietary fibers
There are two types –
simple (sugars)
complex (starches)
The word carbohydrate is translated in to a picture in the minds eye of a bagel or a piece of fruit, but carbohydrates are much more than that.

6. Simple Carbohydrates Comprised of single or double sugar molecules
Are digested quickly
Usually do not contain significant amounts of fiber or nutrients
Examples: sugars (natural and refined), syrup, honey, molasses
In a visual term, this would be a sugar molecule that stands alone (not connected to other sugar molecules) or two sugar molecules connected together. Think of a single train car or two cars linked together.

7. Complex Carbohydrates
Take longer to digest
Usually packed with fiber, vitamins and minerals
Examples: Vegetables, breads, cereals, legumes and pasta
Whole grains are superior to refined grains
higher in fiber
higher in vitamins and minerals
A visual example would be a string of many train cars linked together. This should be your body’s main source of energy. These are loaded with vitamins, minerals, phytochemicals and fiber. Many are low in fat, too.
Fruit contains a combination of complex and simple carbohydrates.

8. Carbohydrates: Fuel
The type of sugar that we may be most familiar with is glucose
Glucose is the major fuel of the body
Glucose circulates freely in the blood
Glucose is stored in the body as glycogen
Muscles
Liver
Glucose or blood sugar is the fuel for the body. It actually all comes from your diet, regardless of where it is stored. Whenever your blood sugar rises too high, insulin triggers the cells to store the excess as glycogen. Whenever it goes too low, glucagon triggers the conversion of glycogen to glucose.
Did you know that all carbs are turned into glucose by the liver before entering the blood stream? Carbohydrates are the preferred fuel by most of our body. Even without its ingestion, our body will produce just enough to feed our brains!
"Your muscles run on a type of stored energy called glycogen, which is made from the carbohydrate that you consume in your diet. As you exercise, your body drains stored carbohydrate from your muscles. Unless you replenish those stores, your body will run out of this fuel after about 90 minutes. As your muscles begin to pull sugar out of your bloodstream as a backup, your blood sugar plummets, setting off a chain of reactions in your brain that make you feel dead tired.”
-From Eat Smart Play Hard by Liz Applegate

9. Glycogen Converts to Glucose
Glycogen is broken down by the body when your blood sugar levels start to fall or when you are doing exercise
In addition, the very organ that is allowing you to read and comprehend this show requires glucose for energy
It is important to understand that most people do not eat a pure meal (only one nutrient), rather we eat mixed meals comprised of different foods thus the breakdown and absorption of nutrients is different. Meals higher in the simple sugars can affect your blood sugar levels differently than meals mainly comprised of complex carbohydrates.

10. Glycogen Storage The muscles store 2/3-3/4 of all glycogen
The liver stores 1/4 to 1/3
A small amount is present in blood sugar
For every gram of carbohydrate that is stored as glycogen in the muscle, three grams of water are stored
The stored glycogen-water connection becomes important in the visual look of muscle fullness
Only liver glycogen can contribute to blood glucose concentrations.

11. What Is Protein? Comprised of amino acids
Essential components of muscle, skin, cell membranes, blood, hormones, antibodies, enzymes and genetic material
Amino acids are the building blocks of protein and they can be linked together to form thousands of various proteins.
Proteins have a role in almost all body tissues.
By weight, the body is approximately 18% protein and proteins are 75% of body solids.
Protein is a word that is derived from the Greek word “proteios” meaning “of first order/rank or importance”. One of the reasons that protein holds such prestige is that without the essential amino acids we would be very ill, if be alive at all. In infants, there are nine essential amino acids, whereas in adults there are only eight.

12. Purposes of Protein Proteins are involved with: Growth
Repair of tissues, ligaments, tendons and cells
New cell growth
Maintenance of a circulating protein pool
They are also utilized for digestion and transportation of enzymes
They help maintain fluid balance and are used in the blood to help maintain acid-base balance
Proper immune function
You can see that protein has some very important functions!

13. Protein Sources
Dietary sources of protein include red meat, fish and seafood, poultry, eggs, beans, nuts, seeds, dairy products, and grains.
You should always try to obtain heart-healthy sources of protein. These include lean cuts of meat, white-meat poultry, fish and seafood, beans, nuts, legumes, fat-free dairy and whole grains. Try to limit your intake of cholesterol and saturated fat.

14. Does Eating A Lot of Protein Really Help You Build Muscles?
It is a myth that eating a lot of protein helps you build muscles
Weight training and being involved in weight bearing exercise helps you build muscle
Typical intake of protein as 15 to 20% of your overall calorie intake more than covers your needs as an athlete
Americans are known for eating lots of protein and also being the fattest country, so eating protein and having muscles does not go hand in hand.
The goal for all athletes is to ingest a protein range from 0.72 to 0.82 grams per pound of body weight
In a pretty conclusive manner it has been determined that athletes do need more protein than the Recommended Dietary Intake and the sedentary person. A recent study by one of the premier protein researchers determined that in the face of moderate to high intensity exercise lasting one hour, the body over a 72-hour period would burn an extra grams of protein. In the big picture, this means that the weight lifter will need double the protein Recommended Dietary Intake (RDI; 0.36 grams per pound of body weight) and should shoot for 0.72 to 0.82 grams per pound of body weight. If you are a 180-pound man, grams per pound translates into a target protein intake range of 130 to 147 grams for the day.
Most Americans consume 2-3 times the RDA for protein

15. What Is Fat?
Fat is one of the three macro-nutrients (along with protein and carbohydrates) that supplies calories to the body
Fat provides 9 calories per gram, more than twice the number provided by carbohydrates or protein
It is the best storage form for extra fuel
Fat offers qualities that make food taste good.
Fat is calorie dense. Studies have shown that adding more fat to the diet directly corresponds with an increased calorie intake.

16. Dietary Fat Facts Fat belongs to a group of substances called lipids
Fats that are liquid at room temperature are composed mostly of unsaturated fatty acids
Fats that are solid at room temperature are composed mostly of saturated fatty acids
Saturated fats, such as bacon, lard, butter, cheese and fatty meats have been shown to raise cholesterol.
Saturated fat has been shown to raise cholesterol.

17. Fat’s Functions Fat is an important energy source
For prolonged activity or exercise, the body depends on stored fat calories
It helps insulate the body
Healthy skin and hair are maintained by fat
Fat helps in the absorption, transportation and storage of fat-soluble vitamins: A, D, E and K
Fat does have important functions for the body. The key is not to get too much!
If a person is very fit they will use fat for energy earlier on during exercise than someone who is less fit.
A little fat is good but eating too much can lead to excess body fat stores.

18. Some Fatty Acids Are Essential
Dietary fat provides essential omega 3 and omega 6 fatty acids
On a 2,000 calorie diet, the average person would need about
1-2 g of omega 3
4-8 g of omega 6
These amounts can be found easily in 8-10% calories from fat on a healthful diet
Essential fatty acids must be attained by diet. They cannot be manufactured by the body itself.
This guides us to the amount of fat needed by the body. It would be hard to eat only 8-10% calories from fat, especially if you exercise a lot. But the importance of this slide is to show just how much you need to take in the essential fatty acids.
Essential fat must be attained by diet

19. Essential Fat Sources
Omega 6 is found in fruits, vegetables, beans and whole grains
Omega 3 is found in fatty fish – a 4-ounce portion twice a week would fulfill this requirement
Canola oil contains both, while olive oil contains little of either
Most people do not get enough omega 3 fatty acids. Cold water fatty fish such as salmon, mackerel, tuna and trout are the best sources. You can also use fish oil supplements or flax seeds.
The American Heart Association recommends 2 servings of fish per week or 1 gram of Omega 3s daily.
Olive oil is not a significant source of either omega 3s or omega 6s – although it is mono-unsaturated.

20. Proper Diet + Nutrition = Success in Sports
Nutrition must fuel the workout and the recovery
The key to proper sports nutrition is to fuel your workouts AND your recovery so you are ready to go again.

21. “Aerobic”
Exercise that causes the cells to utilize oxygen to produce energy
It involves increased breathing and increased heart rate
Pace is generally comfortable and can be sustained
It is important to understand the type of exercise so you can know what to use for fuel.

22. Aerobic Exercise Cycling Cross country skiing Dancing Elliptical
Jogging/running
Rowing
Skating
Soccer
Swimming
Tennis
Walking (brisk)
Here are examples of Aerobic exercise.
Aerobic exercise, while most of us who hear the word “aerobic” may have a brief thought that this must mean a step class or that thing that Denise Austin does on television, others understand that the term “aerobics” literally means exercise that causes the cells to utilize oxygen in order to produce energy.

23. Importance of Diet and Nutrition for Aerobic Exercise
Body primarily relies on carbohydrates for energy
If exercise is of greater duration than 30 minutes the body will shift its dependence from mostly carbohydrate to a mixture of carbohydrate and fat for energy
The amount of fat burned at rest is greater in a highly-trained athlete versus a sedentary individual
Carbohydrates are a very important energy source for the aerobic athlete! One great advantage to being fit is that you burn more fat and calories than a sedentary individual.

24. Importance of Diet and Nutrition for Aerobic Exercise
Carbohydrate stores in the body are limited
Stored fat is much greater
The goal is to maximize the carbohydrate storage and to train the body to rely a little more on fat for energy during exercise and rest
The fitter you are, the more efficiently your muscles use fat and the longer you can work out
Since the carbohydrate stores are used more rapidly than fat, the goal is to maximize the storage of carbohydrate and train the body to rely more on burning fat instead. If you continue to exercise aerobically for a longer period, your body will gradually use more fat and less glucose in an attempt to conserve the limited glucose stores. The fitter you are, the more efficiently your muscles use fat and the longer you can work out. It's that simple - the longer you work out, the more frequently you train, the more fat you will burn.

25. “Anaerobic”
Exercise that utilizes energy for short-term bursts of power output
Anaerobic exercise breaks down glucose without the use of oxygen
Weight lifting exercise requires less oxygen uptake than that of a greater demand such as marathon running. The amount of oxygen uptake by the muscle during exercise affects the type of fuel being utilized for energy. As stated previously, higher intensity exercise uses more carbohydrate, while that of a lower intensity uses a mixture of fat and carbohydrate. Now, weight lifting involves muscle contraction and contracting muscles induce an increased uptake of glucose from the blood for energy. In general weight lifting increases oxygen consumption by 3-4 times that of rest and the exercise, while it may feel physically demanding is considered light to moderate as compared to running or some other exercise that incorporates a greater muscle mass recruitment. Lifting weights is considered an anaerobic exercise, anaerobic exercise utilized sugar for energy thus the longer your lifting session, the greater your depletion of glycogen. Having optimal stores of carbohydrate in the muscle and liver and if lifting in a prolonged fashion, the intake of carbohydrates becomes very important.

26. Anaerobic Exercise Football line play Lifting weights
Serving in tennis
Sprinting
Resistance training:
sit ups
push ups
pull ups
stomach crunches
Bodies build stronger muscles as a result of anaerobic exercise. Anaerobic exercise breaks down glucose without the use of oxygen.

27. Importance of Nutrition for Anaerobic Exercise
Anaerobic exercise uses mostly glucose (blood sugar)
Lactic acid, phosphates, creatine and other related compounds are also used
Availability of these compounds is greatly limited and exhausted quickly during exercise
To put it simply, stored carbohydrates or fats are not readily burned for energy in the anaerobic athlete (used though to some degree), but rather lactic acid, phosphates, creatine and other related compounds. This is important because the availability of these compounds is greatly limited or rather exhausted quickly during exercises such as sprinting, football line play, power lifting, serving in tennis or a set of bench presses for example.

28. Optimal Eating Plan Optimal ratios of the macronutrients:
55 to 70% carbohydrate with at least 40% of the complex variety, you may go higher closer to the event
15 to 20% protein
10 to 30% fat
Examples of foods that meet this profile:
French toast with fruit
Fruit and yogurt parfait
Oatmeal with skim milk
Spaghetti with lean meat sauce
Baked potato with light margarine and fat-free sour cream
Lowfat chili with rice
Chicken teriyaki with rice and vegetables
The main source of your diet should be carbohydrates, with most of those coming from high-fiber, quality complex carbohydrates. These include whole grains, beans, nuts, vegetables, fruits and skim dairy.
The french toast is made with egg white and skim milk. It is topped with light margarine, light syrup and fruit.
The fruit yogurt parfait is made with light nonfat yogurt, fruit and lowfat whole grain cereal
The oatmeal is cooked and then topped with skim milk
The spaghetti is made with a lowfat turkey tomato sauce – like bolognese style
The baked potato is topped with light margarine and fat-free sourcream
The chili with rice is low in fat – made with or without turkey, a little vegetable oil and beans
Not all foods have to meet this profile but this gives you an idea of what to serve. You can mix and match during the day.

29. What should you eat/drink before a race or performance?
Make sure that you have a high-carbohydrate meal the night before
Eat early the night before an early morning event
1-2 cups of fluid the hour before – preferably a carbohydrate fluid
It is important to eat something small (a few hundred calories of foods that you are comfortable with) 90 to 120 minutes prior to the event
General fluid guidelines are: The rule of thumb is to drink 16 to 20 ounces of water 2 hours prior to exercise, 12 to 16 ounces one hour before exercise, six to 10 ounces of water 15 minutes before exercise and during the race to ingest eight to 10 ounces every 15 to 20 minutes of strenuous exercise.
Having a carbohydrate beverage right before your event tops off your glycogen stores. This should be within 5 or 10 minutes of performance.
In terms of post-exercise hydration, the basic rule of thumb is drinking enough fluid so that when you urinate, the color is clear or close to clear. Clear urine indicates normal hydration.
The time of your event also impacts the types of foods and meals that you will eat in the days and even hours preceding the athletic event.
It is best to consume at least 64 ounces of water per day so you stay hydrated.

30. What should you eat/drink after a race or performance?
Post exercise should be a carbohydrate/protein combination in a shake, drink, bar or food
Recent research has indicated that a carbohydrate/protein combination drink after exercise enhances muscle protein synthesis rates as well as promotes greater glycogen storage
Drinks such as Met-Rx Original or Myoplex can be an easy pre or post-workout drink. More research is needed.

31. Sports Drinks During – 6% carbohydrate beverage:
For the most part, sports beverages are for the endurance athlete or events of more than one hour
Drink them while you are exercising in order to spare glycogen so you can exercise longer
After – higher carbohydrate foods and beverages
                                               
Please remember that food is the first line of offense and defense in trying to optimize athletic performance and recovery, so make sure that you are eating the right amount of carbohydrates, proteins, fats and drinking more than enough water.
A 6% solution doesn’t necessarily enhance short duration aerobic exercise – it is best for aerobic exercise of 65% VO2 max or higher lasting >1 hour.
Examples of 6% glucose drinks include Gatorade and other sports beverages. You can also make your own using equal parts juice and water but this will not contain electrolytes.

32. Sports Bars
Most sports bars contain up to three or four times the amount of calories as the sports drink
Good source of energy for long distance endurance events (triathlon, cycling)
Also useful for the athlete who cannot eat enough to meet their metabolic demands, although whole foods offer a better nutritional profile
                              
Sports bars are usually around calories each depending on the brand.
Many athletes don’t think they have the time to eat real food but whole food should always be encouraged over processed bars. Many people over consume these products because they think they need more protein!

33. Sports Gels
The sports gel is perfect during long events such as triathlons, cycling and running
It easily ingested and does not cause stomach upset during exercise
The sports gel does not really fit into the diet outside of the endurance event because foods offer a better nutrition profile
Sports gels are about 100 calories each. They are instantly ingested and give you an almost instant surge of energy. These are best for endurance athletes who must perform for more than an hour.

34. What about hydration?
Dehydration adversely affects muscle contractions, heart rate, blood pressure, thermoregulation, mental acuity and much more
Every pound of weight lost during exercise should be replaced post-exercise by two cups of fluid
This helps ensure normal hydration
Aim to drink 4-8 ounces every 20 minutes
Remember that your body is approximately 55-65% water (fluids), so cells, blood, tissues and many other important body parts (muscles for example) require this adequate hydration to perform, and even live.
After exercise you can drink something with a higher percentage of CHO – like juice.

35. Practice Practice the use of drinks, bars and gels during training
Don’t wait until the day of your race or athletic event to try something new
Never try anything new on the day of an important event.

36. Hyponatremia
This dangerous condition occurs when blood sodium levels fall too low
It results in swelling of the brain; can be fatal
Causes:
Excessive drinking of water – drink more than lost in sweat (before, during, after exercise)
Excessive loss of salt in sweat
Athletes who drink too much before and during prolonged exercise in warm, humid climates are at risk of developing hyponatremia
Anti-inflammatories (like ibuprofen)– alters kidney metabolism which causes an increase in salt excretion – very dangerous
For a comprehensive article on this subject, see
Here is an excerpt:
The risk of hyponatremia can be reduced by making certain that fluid intake does not exceed sweat loss and by ingesting sodium containing beverages or foods to help replace the sodium lost in sweat.
For most athletes, dehydration remains the primary challenge to physiological homeostasis and performance, but hyponatremia should be recognized as a possible threat to those athletes who drink more fluid than they lose in sweat.
Speedy et al. (2001) and Noakes et al. (2001) showed that plasma sodium levels can quickly plummet when resting subjects overdrink water. The volumes of water ingested in these studies (~1.5 liters/hour over 2–3 hours) could easily be consumed by an overzealous drinker either the evening before or the morning of a race.

37. Hyponatremia Symptoms: gastrointestinal discomfort nausea and vomiting
throbbing headache
restlessness
swollen hands and feet
lethargy
confusion
wheezing
seizures
For a comprehensive article on this subject, see
Here is an excerpt:
The risk of hyponatremia can be reduced by making certain that fluid intake does not exceed sweat loss and by ingesting sodium containing beverages or foods to help replace the sodium lost in sweat.
For most athletes, dehydration remains the primary challenge to physiological homeostasis and performance, but hyponatremia should be recognized as a possible threat to those athletes who drink more fluid than they lose in sweat.
Speedy et al. (2001) and Noakes et al. (2001) showed that plasma sodium levels can quickly plummet when resting subjects overdrink water. The volumes of water ingested in these studies (~1.5 liters/hour over 2–3 hours) could easily be consumed by an overzealous drinker either the evening before or the morning of a race.

38. Hyponatremia Prevention: Stay hydrated, but do not over-hydrate
If you are engaging in prolonged exercise (more than 1 hour), especially in a humid climate, use sports beverages with salt/electrolytes and take electrolyte supplements as needed
Do not over-hydrate before the event
Do not rely on water as your sole fluid
Consume 4-8 ounces of fluid every 20 minutes
Eat salty foods like pretzels as needed
For a comprehensive article on this subject, see
Here is an excerpt:
The risk of hyponatremia can be reduced by making certain that fluid intake does not exceed sweat loss and by ingesting sodium containing beverages or foods to help replace the sodium lost in sweat.
For most athletes, dehydration remains the primary challenge to physiological homeostasis and performance, but hyponatremia should be recognized as a possible threat to those athletes who drink more fluid than they lose in sweat.
Speedy et al. (2001) and Noakes et al. (2001) showed that plasma sodium levels can quickly plummet when resting subjects overdrink water. The volumes of water ingested in these studies (~1.5 liters/hour over 2–3 hours) could easily be consumed by an overzealous drinker either the evening before or the morning of a race. Most adults can drink 1.5 liters (1.6 quarts) or more per hour, exceeding maximal urine production of about 1,000 ml/hour (Zambraski, 1990).

39. What About Supplements?
Basic:
Multivitamin/mineral
Good eating, adequate hydration and REST are more important than taking supplements
Electrolytes are in sports drinks like gatorade but you may need more in a very hot/humid climate.
The more advanced resistance-training athletes may want to learn more about creatine, whereas the triathletes and marathon runners may want to add L-glutamine to the daily diet. Creatine helps with gaining strength, weight, athletic recovery and high-energy performance, while L-glutamine has been found to be beneficial for athletic recovery and immune system bolstering in the endurance athlete.

40. Review
Speaker – now is the time to review the show and answer questions.

41. “We distinguish the excellent man from the common man by saying that the former is the one who makes great demands upon himself, and the latter who makes no demands on himself.” Jose Ortega y Gasset ( )
Here is a closing quote – thank you for watching our show.
(Jose Ortega y Gasset was a Spanish philosopher and essayist and professor of the University of Madrid. This quote is from
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