Best Diet For Athletes
The best diet for athletes for optimal athletic performance and health is not a one size fits all diet. The diet for an athlete depends on many factors such as training regimen, the type of exercise and duration, current diet, age, height, weight, medical history and more. For the purpose of this blog, we will talk about strength athletes versus endurance athlete diets.
The main differences in diet between strength and endurance exercises are typically endurance athletes need to consume a higher percentage of carbohydrates for their types of training, while strength athletes typically need to consume more protein. Whether you are a strength and or endurance athlete, your diet should include a variety of foods, knowing that what works for one athlete will be different than another.
Plant based diets, gluten free, dairy free, specific allergy/ food sensitivity free diets are all OK if it works for you and is overall contributing to your optimal health and performance that is long-lasting. For instance, some people are celiac and therefore cannot consume gluten. Others are lactose intolerant and eating dairy can cause significant adverse gastrointestinal issues. However, if you are thinking a certain fad diet will work best for you, be aware that you could be missing out on proper macronutrients and key vitamins and minerals.
How To Figure Out How Many Calories Your Body Needs
To figure out how many Calories your body needs to support your metabolism, you want to figure out what your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) is. You can do so by putting in your age, height and weight into this online BMR calculator. Then, put in your activity level. Let’s say it came out to be 1600 BMR and with active exercise, it came out to be 2400 Kcals per day. Break this number up into percentages of 45-65% carbohydrates, 20-35% fat and 10-35% protein. An endurance athlete is going to be on the higher side of carbs such as 65% while a strength athlete might be somewhere around 40-50% carbohydrates. A strength athlete will likely be at a higher protein percentage such as 30% of their total daily Caloric needs rather than an endurance athlete might be at 15%. This depends on exercise intensity, duration and lean body mass as well as diet. Vegetarian diets are harder to get higher than 15% of your total energy requirements from protein without supplementation. Endurance athletes need to replenish muscle glycogen stores (stored carbohydrates) while strength athletes need to consume more protein to support rebuilding muscle mass.
Daily carbohydrate recommendations to have the best diet for athletes:
Athletes completing low-intensity or skill-based exercise should consume 3 to 5 grams per kilogram body weight per day (g/kg/d.)
Athletes completing moderate-intensity (about 60 minutes per day) training programs should consume 5 to 7 g/kg/d.
Athletes with moderate-to-high intensity exercise (1-3 hours) should consume 6 to 10 g/kg/d.
Athletes completing moderate-to-high intensity endurance exercise (4-5 hours or more per day) should consume 8 to 12 g/kg/d.
Regardless if you are an endurance or strength athlete, both athletes need carbohydrates, proteins, fats and water to support metabolic functions and athletic performance.
Carbohydrates should be eaten throughout the day and for activity duration greater than 90 minutes, athletes should be consuming simple carbohydrates. This is because glucose in your blood becomes an important fuel source as muscle glycogen stores decrease during such prolonged exercise. Eating carbohydrates during a high intensity activity of 30 to 70 minutes has also been shown to improve athletic performance by signaling the central nervous system to improve motor output. Intermittent high-intensity sports can also benefit from consuming carbohydrates throughout the activity; especially if lasting over 90 minutes.
For an endurance athlete diet, the percentage of carbohydrates can increase up to 70% total caloric needs for the days leading up to an event lasting longer than 90 minutes; this is known as carbohydrate loading. A calculation for this would be 10-12 grams of carbohydrates per kilogram body weight per day (three days prior to the event). Carbohydrate loading can increase endurance performance by about 2% to 3%. Now that we have covered the importance of carbohydrates for both strength and endurance athletes, let’s talk more about protein needs.
Daily protein recommendations to have the best diet for athletes:
Endurance athletes: 1.2-1.4 grams protein per kilogram body weight
Strength Athletes: 1.6-2.0 grams protein per kilogram body weight
Overall the best diet for athletes should be sustainable for you, make you feel energized, happy, focused, attain quality sleep, recover well from exercise, support a healthy gastrointestinal system without excess gas/bloating/ loose stool/diarrhea or constipation. The best diet for athletes should provide plenty of fuel for your metabolism, daily living activities and exercise. It should be a diet that prevents disease, illness, and injury. No matter if you choose to be plant based, gluten free, dairy free, peanut free, egg free etc; as long as you're getting what your body needs to succeed without adverse signs and symptoms, then that is the best diet for you as an athlete. Follow some of the calculations in this blog to make sure you are getting adequate carbohydrates, proteins and fats. If you want more help, that is what a Sports Dietitian is here for!
Q and A
How do you know if you are NOT eating the best diet for athletes?
Figures from: Br J Sports Med 2015;49:421–423. doi:10.1136/bjsports-2014-094559
Decreased muscle strength and or endurance performance
Decreased training response
Impaired judgment, decreased coordination, concentration
Increased irritability, depression; mood changes
Impaired growth and development
Gastrointestinal distress
Nutrient deficiencies
Decreased bone density; recurring injuries and illnesses
Abnormal menstruation (females)
What is a BAD diet for athletes?
I like to stay away from the term “bad” when referring to food, as food does not have morals and once we assign food as good or bad, then we are getting ready for a rollercoaster of emotions of happiness versus guilt and sadness. However, if I WERE to use the term “bad” in diets, I would describe any diet that:
excludes too many food groups that leaves you lacking in many nutrients
does not make you feel good- mood, energy, sleep, activity, gastrointestinal issues
does not have adequate protein, fat, carbs, water, vitamins and minerals to support your metabolism and athletic needs
leaves you feeling guilty (often due to an all or nothing mentality around food)
is restrictive or overly obsessive and thus unsustainable
Such as a FAD diet
What are FAD Diets?
Fad diets are widely shared and short-lived diets that often promises fast weight loss or a health improvement with a lack of sufficient evidence for proper dietary recommendations.
