Nutrition and Sports medicine

Nutrition & Sports Medicine for Soccer Players
From: Director/Coach Ernie Biera

I found this info from two articles and have added some suggestions for dinner, breakfast on game days and snacks for after games and meals. Meals should be eaten 3 hours before games and practice. Remember to bring plenty of water at least a half gallon for tournaments and hot days.

• Dinner Spaghetti or pasta with tomato sauce and zucchini, carrots and salad
• Breakfast: Egg and Bran muffin half an apple with concord grape juice or tangerine juice.(trader Joes has some excellent juices). If we have an early morning game, try oatmeal with raisins and cinnamon with a glass of rice milk. Or small portions for breakfast as they will probably be digesting food while playing. A good dinner the night before is important in this situation of an early morning game.
• Snacks: Trail mix with raw nuts, raisins and seeds (make your own). Peanut butter Almond or Tahinni butter sandwich, and fruit with rice milk.
• Snacks for the Team: Concord grape juice, Ginger snaps, oatmeal cookies fruit: oranges, watermelon, mango, apples
• Meals: Sandwich with turkey, chicken, fish or veggie burger from Togo’s or Subway. Stay away from junk foods sodas candy and fried foods.
• Banana Myth: Bananas are good for you but should be eaten 5 hours or more or the day before a tournament. A better source of potassium is raisins also Concord Grape juice is excellent as it will flow into your system with in 30 minutes to an hour. Tomato paste, sauce or tomato veggie juice are great with hi potassium content.
The amounts and types of food that players eat have an impact on not only their sporting performance but also on their growth and general health levels. This is a guide to help parents of players; as well players themselves understand nutrition and its importance.
It is important that youth players (in fact all children and adults as well) get enough energy from their food intake. Three meals a day is not enough and extra energy needs to be supplemented by eating snacks. The problem for most people is that they do not know what to eat for main meals and also what snacks to eat. The amount and types of food eaten by children that play sports is even more important as their energy requirements are greater, not only perform their sport or exercise but also to recover.
Soccer players (adults) can average approximately 10km running during a match, some midfielders run 12-13km. This type of running, at a variety of paces, requires energy as well as fitness. You can be a very fit player, but without enough energy stored in your body, you will not be able to perform well. Many players run out of steam during the second half and this is often seen as a lack of fitness, but it can often be caused by lack of energy, caused in fact, by lack of carbohydrates in the days leading up to a match. This would be like, complaining that a car that runs out of fuel is a badly designed car! You have to keep your car fueled, with the correct type of fuel. Treat your body the same way!
It is important that players have a good pre-match meal and also that they take on board carbohydrates during a game and especially at half time. “Emer Gen C” replaces many electrolytes along with Vitamin C, Concord Grape Juice or Glucose based sports drinks are ideal as they are easy to digest and easy to drink.
Another very important factor related to this, is the amount of fluids that a player drinks. The body is mainly made from water and its important you keep it hydrated, especially in hot weather. Water is probably the best liquid to drink to replenish lost fluids. Distilled water is excellent for helping replace fluids and at the same time remove the chance of leg cramps.
Be careful not to drink any soft drinks as not only do the bubbles make it harder to digest before playing sport, but also many are caffeinated and will actually cause dehydration rather than hydration. They may quench your thirst but they won't help keep your fluid levels high. Remember also that when you feel thirsty then you are already getting dehydrated; drink before you get thirsty, especially when playing sports in hot weather.
The three main food types are carbohydrates, fats and proteins, and its important that there is a balance of these food types in everyone’s daily food intake. For young athletes, the balance would be around 60 per cent carbohydrate, 25-30 per cent from fats and around 15 per cent from proteins.
What do we mean by Carbohydrates?
Muscles get most of their energy from glycogen, which is stored in the muscle and liver. Glycogen comes from carbohydrates that are eaten and broken down by the body. It is important that you have enough glycogen levels (carbohydrates) in your muscles and liver, otherwise you will feel fatigue, have poor concentration and not recover well.
It is suggested (The Young Athlete, Jenkins and Readburn) that in order to meet carbohydrate needs, frequent small meals containing carbohydrates are eaten during the day. There are many types of carbohydrate and each type has a different rate at which the body can break it down to form glycogen.
Carbohydrates have what is called a glycemic index (GI) and this GI rating refers to the speed at which carbohydrates are released into the bloodstream after eating. A high GI indicates that the carbohydrate is released quickly, while a low rating indicates a slower release. So, what type of carbohydrate you eat, and when you eat it, has a direct impact on how it relates to your energy requirements. If you are playing an early morning match, then your breakfast should contain foods with a high GI rating. Your meal the night before, however, should contain foods with a low GI rating. See the chart below for ratings. Typical athlete’s diet is 45% carbohydrates and recommended is 65%. This is due to a high intake of fat and junk foods. Protein foods make up about 15% of the typical and recommended athlete’s diet.

Examples of foods and their GI ratings are:
high over70 medium 55-70 low under 55
Wheat-bix - 75 Vita Brits - 61 All Bran - 30
Cornflakes - 77 Nutri-grain - 66 Porridge - 42
Cornflakes - 77 Sustain - 68 Sultana Bran - 52
Rice Bubbles - 89 Bread - 70 Mixed grain bread - 45
Brown Rice - 76 Sweet corn - 55 Baked beans - 48
Whole meal Bread - 77 potato - 62 Cherries - 22
Rice Cakes - 77 Sultanas - 56 Grapefruit - 25
Watermelon - 72 Rock melon - 66 Apple or pear - 36
Jelly Beans - 80 Milo in water - 55 Banana - 53
(ripe ones have a higher GI
Gatorade - 78 Power bar Chocolate - 58 Orange - 33
(ripe ones have a higher GI

Fats Most children (and adults) consume too much fat. This is mainly because so many types of food, especially most "fast foods" and convenience contain so much fat. Fats are an essential part of children's diet so they should not be avoided completely. However, you should get your required fats from the food you eat as fats are contained in many food types.
For example fats are contained in dairy products, meats, peanut butter, eggs etc.
As a guide (taken from Healthinsite) the healthy range of daily fat intakes are:
• Children 30-60g
• Teenagers (active) 40-80g
A large portion of fries can contain 40g of fat! A burger and large fries from a well known burger chain, contains 67g of fat!
Fast foods that have relatively lower fat contents include:
• Vegetarian or seafood pizza
• Skinless or grilled chicken
• Turkey or chicken sub sandwich
• Grilled, vegieburgers
• Grilled fish burgers
• Asian stir-fried mixed vegetable dishes with tofu, or seafood
Fats also take longer to digest, so a meal containing a lot of fats (including meals cooked in fats) will take longer to digest and is not recommended before physical activity.
Proteins
Proteins are found in every cell, your body breaks down proteins into amino acids and these amino acids are used to build and repair tissue. Children need around 1.2g to 2g of protein for every kilogram they weigh. If there is not enough protein in an active childs diet, then they can become tired, and be slow to recover from injuries. Combine foods such as Eggs and Oatmeal, raw sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds and sesame seeds, corn tortillas and pinto beans, brown rice and beans (soy is a great choice).
These foods contain 10g of protein:
• 50g of grilled fish
• 30g of lean lamb or beef (cooked weight)
• 35g of skinless chicken
• 300ml of skimmed milk
• 50g of raw nuts
• 100g of whole meal bread


Sports Medicine: Essential Nutrients: Mineral Deficiencies: Symptoms and Cures
Problem Deficiency Mineral Source
Nerve and muscle dysfunctions Calcium Dairy products, Almonds, Brazil nuts, pumpkins & sunflower seeds, pistachios, peanuts, Orange juice, calcium-fortified
Figs, dried, Tofu, Wheat flour, calcium enriched, Artichoke Peas and squash
exhaustion potassium Fruits and Vegetables
Impaired nerve impulse transmission sodium Mineral Water, Fruits and Vegetables, Peanuts, Pumpkin Seeds Cashews Pistachios

Low endurance Iron Soybeans, cooked, Blackstrap molasses
Lentils, cooked, Tofu
Quinoa, cooked, Kidney beans, cooked
Chickpeas, cooked, Lima beans, cooked
Pinto beans, cooked, Veggie burger,
Black-eyed peas, cooked
Swiss chard, cooked
Tempeh, Black beans, cooked
Bagel, enriched, Turnip greens, cooked
Prune juice, Spinach, cooked
Beet greens, cooked, Tahini, Raisins
Coordination problems, cramps Magnesium Avocado, kiwi, banana, blackberries,
Almonds, Brazil nuts, pumpkins & sunflower seeds,
Artichoke, Peas, corn, summer squash, kale