Sports Nutrition Science: an essential overview

The topic of sports nutrition has received considerable attention over the past few decades, and it is likely to get even more attention, given that nutrition plays such an important and sometimes crucial role in an athlete's performance. Indeed, nutrition influences nearly every process in the body involved in energy production and recovery from exercise. To understand and apply the principles of sport nutrition, some basic understanding of nutrition, exercise physiology and sport science are necessary. The nutritional approach for training and competition is one of the most important concerns of sport nutrition science. Exercise produces several molecular, biochemical and physiological responses and the aim of a well designed diet is to guarantee a correct intake of energy, carbohydrates, proteins, fats, vitamins, minerals and water in order to support basic nutrition requirements as well as pre-, during and post-exercise specific nutrition phases. A very interesting subject of sport nutrition is the use of supplements and their effects on human performance and health. The number of supplements introduced to the market is huge, however, only few products are apparently effective and scientifically proven by a solid core of reference. For many other supplements normally used by athletes, the data are anecdotic or based on only a few studies and thus their use cannot be universally recommended. A key item in sport nutrition is the manipulation of body mass and body composition. Reducing fat mass is desirable in many sports with weight categories and increasing muscle mass can be an advantage in sports that require strength and power. Finally, nutritional requirements can be different for women, young and elderly athletes. These categories have different age and sex-related physiological needs and specific nutrition strategies must be planned to guarantee adequate exercise adaptation and maintain overall health.