Nutrition for Top Performance In Sport

Good Nutrition is not merely for healthy living. The body is like an engine and needs the proper fuel to keep it working for top performance. This is particularly true when embarking on sports. It applies equally to people involved in extreme sports like surfing, endurance sports like running and cycling and strength sports like weight lifting and body building. All of these have individual and special requirements in order to function optimally.

An accredited dietician or nutritionist will help you to define your needs and plan your diet so that you are able to perform at your best. Many people embarking on a new sport will spend time and money on equipment and gym facilities but will not pay proper attention to their diets. They may think that they are eating the right foods, but often only a professional nutritionist can tell you if you are eating adequately for your chosen sport. Which carbohydrates and fats are best for energy release, especially when doing endurance sport? Which are the best foods to help build muscle mass? Can a diabetic participate in sports and how can they eat appropriately to ensure that they too have the endurance needed to participate while still keeping blood sugar levels stable?

There is so much more to sports nutrition than carbohydrates and water. Pushing your body to the limit can have serious consequences and if you do not understand nutrition or do not understand what you are eating or why, you can seriously harm your body and possibly threaten your life. I do not exaggerate; nutrition is vital when undertaking a sports program. It reminds me of my childhood, when I lived in South Africa. My hometown was also home to the start or end (depending on the year) of the infamous Comrades Marathon. This was a 90km endurance race for runners and there were thousands of participants every year. Most participants were not professional athletes and it was considered an honor just to finish the race in the twelve hour limit. The whole country would watch and the chief form of entertainment was watching the stragglers cross the finish line, often being dragged across by well meaning friends and supporters (comrades). Many of these runners would wind up in intensive care units with severe dehydration and kidney failure. Some even died.

I mention this to illustrate the importance of understanding the value of good nutrition. It was never necessary for those people to lose kidneys or die from exhaustion and dehydration. With the right training and the right diet, the race is quite safe as many professional athletes have proved. If you are thinking of getting involved in sports seriously, you need to really understand the food you put into your body. It is the most important aspect and supersedes equipment,clothing or gym fees.

Ai Jerome, an accredited nutritionist from http://www.sydneynutrition.com who specialises in sports nutrition, advises that you get the right advice from the start. Eating the right diet for your type of sport will be the single most important factor in your training program and will help you achieve the success you seek.