PROPER NUTRITION FOR ATHLETES: THE MISSING LINK

Nutrition should be an integral part of an athlete's training program. Yet, in the United States, American athletes and fitness exercisers alike commonly report that they do not eat as well as they should, they admit that nutrition is their missing link. Consequently, they may fail to attain the most benefits from their training programs and their competitive efforts. The purpose of this paper is to highlight the sports nutrition errors commonly made by American athletes who live in a culture where food is considered "fattening", eating-on-the-run is the norm, and fast foods are a common alternative to home-cooked meals. Given the rapidly changing food culture in China, this information may help Chinese athletes avoid making the same nutritional mistakes. Common missing links in the sports diet of American athletes include: (I) respect for the power of a proper sports diet; (2) sufficient calories during the active part of the day; (3) equal-sized and regularly scheduled meals; (4) beneficial amount of dietary fate (5) pre-exercise fuel; (6) optimal protein intake (7) iron to prevent anemia-1 (8) post-exercise recovery food: (9) carbohydrates combined with protein for recovery food: (10) rest days for muscles to refuel; (11) adequate fluids;, (12) sodium before exercise in the heat; and (13) the sports dietitian. [J Exerc Sci Fit. Vol 6. No 2. 130-134. 2008]