1 Introduction to Sports Nutrition chapter 1 1 Introduction to Sports Nutrition Introduction to Nutrition for Exercise and Health Dr. Iftikhar Alam, PhD, RD Nutrition for Physical Activity Lecture 1 Author name here for Edited books

Sports Nutrition Introduction Proper nutrition can help: Improve exercise performance Decrease recovery time from strenuous exercise Prevent exercise-associated injuries due to fatigue Provide the fuel required during times of high-intensity training Control weight Help reduce the risk of numerous chronic diseases T2DM, CVD, hypertension, obesity, osteoporosis, some cancers

Role of Nutrition in Exercise and Sport

Role of Nutrition in Exercise & Sport Nutrition plays a vital role in exercise performance and training Benefits both competitive and recreational athletes Good nutrition is especially important for athletes who: Compete in sports tournaments Engage in strenuous PA on a daily or more than daily basis Examples?

Injury Reduction Risk of injury during exercise Fuel & hydration status impacts level of fatigue and ability to concentrate Risk of injury post-exercise Proper nutrition can help speed the healing process for injured athletes Surgery / Bone Injuries: requires extra kcal & nutrients, including protein, vitamins, and minerals

Weight Control / Body Composition Nutrition plays an important role in weight control and body composition Few individuals are happy with their weight, body fat levels, or body shape Realistic expectations can improve health and quality of life and reduce stress levels Disordered eating tendencies tend to be higher in athletes than the general population, esp. women

Essential Nutrients & Dietary Recommendations

Essential vs. Nonessential Nutrients Discovery Evolved from observations that certain diseases occurred in populations that consumed poor diets Able to show that including specific foods in the diet could correct or prevent the diseases Essential nutrients: food constituents that prevent disease or health problems (“indispensible”) Nonessential nutrients: nutrients that could be deleted from the diet with no adverse health effects (“dispensable”) E.g. physiologically essential nutrient for the body but classified as a nonessential nutrient?

Conditionally Essential Nutrients Conditionally essential: some “essential” nutrients are synthesized by the body from precursors, and interactions between nutrients could alter requirements Potentially affected by: Some disease states Genetic defects Stress Illness Aging

Conditionally Essential Nutrients Criteria to establish the conditional essentiality of a nutrient: The plasma concentration of the nutrient declines into the subnormal range, although the body should be able to synthesize the nutrient. Chemical, structural, or functional abnormalities appear that are associated with low blood concentrations of the nutrient. Dietary supplementation of the nutrient returns plasma concentrations to normal and corrects the abnormalities seen when blood concentrations are low.

Desirable & Beneficial Nutrients Nonessential nutrients that are important for good health and disease prevention New nutrient category: “desirable or beneficial for health” (Carpenter and Harper, 2006) Examples: fibre, phytochemicals, carotenoids, amino acid derivatives Are NOT classified as essential or conditionally essential nutrients