Goals of Sport Nutrition

Sport dietitian is a person who provides daily individual or group nutrition counseling and education to enhance the athletes’ performance. He or she uses the latest scientific evidence as part of counseling session, provides particular and specific food services for coaches and trainers as well as offers sports nutrition education to athletes and interested community.

There are many nutrition goals that need to be achieved by athletes. Some of them are carbohydrate, protein, iron, eating and drinking strategy, hydration status, body composition, immune system, bone and joint health, travel nutrition and supplements. All goals will be assessed and controlled by sport dietitians and sport nutritionists.

The usage of ergogenic aids among athletes need to be controlled by professional staffs. Ergogenic aid is also known as performance enhancer may improve athletes’ strength, speed and endurance of recovery. It includes mechanical aids, pharmacological aids, physiological aids, nutritional aids and psychological aids. The role of sport dietitians is to control the intake of nutritional aids like soda bicarbonate, carbohydrate loading, caffeine, creatine and sport drinks, to name a few. Athletes should be counseled regarding the appropriate use of nutritional aids.

There are some athletes who are vegetarians. They have to get enough protein to build their muscle. In addition, vegetarian athletes should aware the risks that they may face like insufficient energy, protein and fat intake. The micronutrients such as iron, calcium, vitamin D, riboflavin, zinc and vitamin B12 are commonly less intake among them. Thus, assessment and consultation with a sport dietitian is recommended to avoid nutrition problems. 

A truth diet and eating habits among athletes is very important to enhance performance. There are many studies and discoveries had shown that different food types work for particular sports. In order to optimize the performance and improvement, a well-planned diet should be helped by sport dietitians and nutritionists.

References:
About Sport Dietitians. Sports, Cardiovascular and Wellness Nutrition – A Dietetic Practice Group of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (2014). 

Ergogenic Aids, Healthline.com (2006).
Journal of American Dietetic Association (2009).