Sport Nutrition
SNAC Nutrition Tips
Before Exercise
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Vegetarian ways of eating: Finding the nutrients
Well-planned vegetarian diets can meet the needs of athletes. Diets that provide sufficient energy for growth and exercise, and contain a variety of plant-based protein foods (soy products, other legumes , grains, nuts and seeds) can provide adequate protein without the use of special foods or protein supplements. [ more ]
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Meal Preparation: Planning Pre-Exercise Meals from “At Home” to “On the Go”
Eating out is not the only option when an active schedule has you on the go. A little preparation can go a long way. [ more ]
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‘Carbohydrate Loading’ – is it for you?
We’ve all heard about ‘carb-loading’ before a competition, but is it right for you and/or your athletes? Carbohydrate loading is a sports nutrition strategy that involves eating a higher than usual carbohydrate intake for 1-4 days prior to an event while tapering training. It may enhance performance by maximizing muscle carbohydrate (glycogen) stores prior to competition. [ more ]
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Smoothies and Training
Stress affects everyone differently. Some lose their appetite completely. If you don’t feel hungry before training but have not been eating for many hours, choose liquids over solids. Drinks and liquid meals can be digested more quickly than solid food. Unlike solid food, liquids do not have to be physically broken down. You can also get the benefit of additional pre and post-exercise hydration when you take your nutrients in liquid form. Convenience and simplicity! It is very easy to prepare a smoothie that will meet all the criteria for a good pre- or post-exercise drink: Fluid high in carbohydrates, moderate in protein, low in fat and fibre, a pinch of electrolytes! [ more ]
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Protein & Related Sports Supplements
Athletes need more protein than inactive individuals. While high quality food sources (milk, meat, eggs, cheese, soy) can easily meet their protein needs, athletes often turn to popular protein supplements as a quick fix. They may also be confused about the effectiveness and appropriate use of other amino acid supplements, such as L-glutamine, creatine, and possibly “weight-gainers.” [ more ]
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Sodium Facts for Athletes
Reducing sodium intake is a significant health goal for the majority of Canadians. The recommended daily intake is 1500 mg with a suggested upper limit of 2300 mg. The average sodium intake is estimated to be 3400 mg per day. This chronic over-consumption of sodium can lead to health concerns, such as hypertension (high blood pressure), strokes, heart disease and/or kidney problems. [ more ]
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Fueling the Young Athlete
Childhood and adolescence are critical periods for physical growth and development. While sport is healthful in so many ways, it’s vital that young athletes consume enough dietary fuel for these extra energy demands. Furthermore, the timing of meals and/or snacks can be a challenge when active children are trying to schedule schooling, homework, plus physical training and competitive sessions. [ more ]
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Gaining Weight for Athletes
Muscle gain is gradual. Rarely will an adult athlete gain as much as 10 lb. of muscle mass per year. [ more ]
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Losing Weight for Athletes
A balanced meal plan and an appropriate training program are the keys to success. If you must lose weight, consult a registered dietitian with expertise in sport. [ more ]
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Sport Nutrition for Parents
It’s that time of year again – back to school! And back to school means a surge in your day-to-day life. Days get busier and keeping your young athlete healthy gets harder. So how can you keep nutritious food handy, when you’re busy too? [ more ]
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TRAINING DIET Carbohydrate – Go Food
Carbohydrate is the most important source of food energy for exercise. In the body, carbohydrate is broken down to glucose. Glucose circulates in the blood and can be stored as glycogen in the muscles and liver. Muscles use this glycogen for energy and the liver uses glycogen to keep the glucose (sugar) level in the blood stable. If you are active, the carbohydrate that you consume is used by the body or stored as glycogen. If too many Calories are consumed as carbohydrate over time, they may be converted to fat, particularly during the off-season, tapering or light training. [ more ]
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TRAINING DIET Fat – Get the Essentials
Dietary fat supplies energy, essential fatty acids, fat soluble vitamins (A, D, E, and K) and protects internal organs. Every cell in the body needs some fat and fat makes food taste good. [ more ]
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TRAINING DIET Food Sources of Minerals
If you are eating a variety of foods from each food group and consuming enough food to meet your energy needs, you will likely be consuming the minerals you need. If you choose only the minimum number of servings from each food group each day, it is important that you choose wisely to ensure that you meet your mineral needs. [ more ]
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Dining Hall Eating for Top Performance
Athletes away from home for camps or competitions, or living in university residences may find healthy eating in a dining hall to be a challenge. The variety of food and relaxed social environment present temptations that can interfere with optimal nutrition. To develop food selection strategies that consistently result in high performance, it is important to first understand the difficulties associated with communal eating. [ more ]
During Exercise
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Snacks for Young Participants in Community Sports
Good nutrition is important for everyone, especially young athletes. Being active in recreational and competitive sports helps children and teens develop lifelong healthy habits. Good nutrition not only supports physical activity, but it also enhances health and sport performances. [ more ]
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Does Your Sport Bar Measure Up?
Your stomach is growling and you need some energy to get through your upcoming workout. Before you reach for that handy snack bar, consider this: no single bar is designed for all athletes in all situations. When selecting a bar, you need to know what it can do for you! [ more ]
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Fluids and Foods DURING Training/Competition
During exercise, nutrition provides: energy, physical comfort; absence of hunger, mental focus for best technique and skill execution [ more ]
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Hyponatremia
Hyponatremia is the technical term used to describe low sodium levels in the blood. Although rare, this condition can occur in healthy, active individuals. Left untreated hyponatremia can result in severe nausea, vomiting, disorientation, and possibly even death. [ more ]
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Nutrition for Cold Weather Sports
Special attention to adequate fuel and fluids is imperative in cold weather sports. Some of the issues that are unique to these sports include: Cold temperatures increase the risk of hypothermia and can reduce the desire to eat and drink; shivering increases energy expenditure through the use of carbohydrate (glycogen) in the muscle, making the athlete more prone to fatigue; location of training and competition can limit access to food and fluid, making the athlete more likely to neglect to fuel and hydrate adequately [ more ]
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Tournament Tips
Fluids and foods for multi-event/multi-training days [ more ]
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Competition Nutrition
You've been training hard, you're mentally ready, your equipment is tuned-up, and you have one last item to think about – what are you going to eat on your competition day? For most athletes their day-to-day training diet should be similar to their day of competing, however, there can be challenges when it comes to competition nutrition. [ more ]
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Eating for Endurance – Making Sense of Sport drinks, Bars, and Gels
Are you planning to participate in a long hike, bike ride, swim meet or soccer tournament? These types of long duration events and multi-event competitions require careful consideration of dietary strategies so that you are as energized at the end of your event as you were at the beginning. [ more ]
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Exercising In The Heat
Dehydration, muscle cramps, and/or heat exhaustion lead to a poorer exercise performance. Physical activity, training, and/or competing on hot days increases your fluid loss from sweating, and your chance of dehydration. A low salt (sodium) diet, plus loss of sodium through sweating, can potentially lead to muscle cramps and/or heat illness. [ more ]
After Exercise
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Recharge and Replenish – Recovery Nutrition
Did you know that in a typical hard two-hour workout, you can use up all your stored carbohydrate energy (muscle and liver glycogen), sweat away over two litres of water (along with approximately 1600 mg of sodium), and break down a variety of different body cells including muscle and red blood cells? [ more ]
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Fluids and Foods AFTER Training/Competition
The amount of food you consume immediately after exercise will vary according to the amount of time between your training or competition and your next scheduled meal or snack. [ more ]
Exercise Hydration
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What’s in the Bottle? From Sports Drinks to Vitaminized Water
There is an ever-increasing variety of beverages in the store coolers these days. Some are targeting athletes and athlete wannabe’s; others sound like they’re healthy choices. Before you grab the best-tasting, or the one with all the hype, look to see what’s in the bottle and consider what it is you really need. [ more ]
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Fluids for Athletes
Fluids are important for all athletes! Why? Dehydration reduces aerobic exercise performance and makes exercise seem harder. Athletes who are dehydrated are not able to stay as cool during exercise and may develop heat illness. [ more ]
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FLUID SELECTION: Common Questions about Fluid Choices for Sport and Health
The human body is more than 60% fluid. We need to consume 1.5 – 4 or more litres of fluid each day just to replace the fluids we lose through breathing, digestion, and sweating. In addition, athletes will require approximately one litre (or more) of fluid for every hour of training. Dehydration, resulting from losing more fluids than we consume, can negatively affect our health. [ more ]
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Nutrition and Fluids for Developmental Hockey Players
Hockey is an intermittent sport with high intensity skating shifts followed by brief rest intervals. Good nutrition habits before, during, and after hockey games and practices will ensure players perform at their best! Eating well all year round can help a young rookie to grow and develop as well as progress to a higher level of play [ more ]
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Dose Caffeine Boost Performance?
It is true that caffeine can improve athletic performance without impairing the body's temperature regulation or hydration. Not everyone enjoys a boost to their performance with caffeine and there is no way to know if it will work for you. [ more ]
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What's the Buzz with Energy Drinks?
Energy drinks claim to boost alertness, shorten reaction time, improve concentration, memory, and performance in endurance and anaerobic exercise. Athletes are turning to energy drinks in the hopes of boosting their energy and quenching their thirst. [ more ]
Nutrition on the Road
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Sport Nutrition on a Dime
Athletes living on their own while in school or training away from home may find themselves faced with the challenge of eating for high performance while on a limited budget. Coupled with time constraints, the many temptations of fast food outlets, convenience stores, and even the grocery store, can interfere with both living on a budget and achieving optimal nutrition. The following are just a few of the many planning, shopping, and preparation tips that can help you make training on a budget a nutrition success. [ more ]
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Nutrition in Spain
Guidelines for travel in a foreign country and a list of common Spanish foods. [ more ]
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Nutrition in Thailand
Guidelines for travel in a foreign country and a list of common Thai foods. [ more ]
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Nutrition in Turkey
Guidelines for travel in a foreign country and a list of common Turkish foods. [ more ]
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Travel and Restaurant Tips
Athletes are frequently required to travel away from home to competitions and training camps. Both the journey and living in a new environment can make it challenging to maintain a high performance diet essential for optimal sport performances. [ more ]
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Healthy Choices on the Run: Fast Foods
Athletes and coaches are often “on the run” and need to stop and fuel up no matter where they are. This often means turning to fast food options. But not to worry, with a few smart strategies, fast food choices can be healthy. [ more ]
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Nutrition in Brazil
Guidelines for travel in a foreign country and a list of common Brazilian foods. [ more ]
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Nutrition in China
Guidelines for travel in a foreign country and a list of common Chinese foods. [ more ]
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Nutrition for Travel
Car, van, bus, or plane, most athletes have to use some mode of transportation to get to a training session, training camp, and/or competition venue. Travel and staying “out of town” can present dietary challenges, which are easily overcome with careful nutritional planning. [ more ]
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Nutrition in Greece
Guidelines for travel in a foreign country and a list of common Greek foods. [ more ]
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Nutrition in Italy
Guidelines for travel in a foreign country and a list of common Italian foods. [ more ]
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Nutrition in Japan
Guidelines for travel in a foreign country and a list of common Japanese foods. [ more ]
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Nutrition in Korea
Guidelines for travel in a foreign country and a list of common Korean foods. [ more ]
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Long Distance Travel
The goal for good nutrition during long distance travel is to minimize jet lag and maintain your training diet. Find out how! [ more ]
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Nutrition in Norway
Guidelines for travel in a foreign country and a list of common Norwegian foods. [ more ]
Everyday Eating
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Alcohol and Athletes
Traditionally many athletes consume alcohol after games or competitions to relax and celebrate. What they may not know is that alcohol can negatively affect physical and mental performance. Alcohol affects all major body systems. Here’s how alcohol can negatively affect your body, and your ability to perform at your personal best. [ more ]
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Parents Need to Eat to Compete too!
The Sport Nutrition program has been developed to help keep athletes as healthy as possible and to provide advice to benefit optimal performance, but what about those who support them? As a parent supporting a young athlete, you have an important job too -- making healthy food choices while acting as a positive role model for your rising star! [ more ]
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Iron Indicator
Iron is needed by our blood cells to carry oxygen to every cell in our body, including our muscles. Good iron stores are critical for energy and performance.Vegetarian (non heme) sources of iron are not as well absorbed as the meat (heme) sources of iron. To improve iron absorption, have foods high [ more ]
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Buying Organic - What Should Athletes Do?
To date, there is no scientific evidence to confirm whether an organically-based diet will enhance sport performances. Furthermore, the research is conflicting whether organically grown foods are even more nutritious than non-organic foods. [ more ]
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Calcium Counter
Here’s a handy tool to help you make food choices to help you increase your calcium intake. [ more ]
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Eating Disorders: Signs, Screening, Confronting
Coaches, health professionals, and parents have important roles to play in the prevention, identification, and management of disordered eating and eating disorders in athletes. [ more ]
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Athlete Physique & Sport
An athlete’s physique is made up of his or her unique bone structure, musculature, and body fat. How the body builds muscle and where it puts on fat is primarily determined by genetics. While it is possible to alter the body’s muscle mass and overall fat mass to a certain extent, there is considerable risk associated with attempts to override an athlete’s genetic physique. [ more ]
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Real Facts About Fats and Sport
“Fats are bad for you”. “Fats are fattening”: These are two common myths when it comes to describing dietary fat. Just like protein and carbohydrate, athletes need to eat essential fats since no human can make them and they serve several critical physiological functions. [ more ]
As a new coach, what information would you find most useful?
