Sports Nutrition

Lecture 4th

Nutrients Requirements for

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Carbohydrate
Provides an efficient source of energy, Because it
requires less oxygen to burn than protein or fat
does and it is the most efficient fuel during high-
intensity exercise when the body has not enough
oxygen to meet its needs.
Carbohydrate is stored as glycogen in the liver.
Approximately 100 g glycogen (400 kilocalories)
may be stored in the liver. Liver glycogen is needed
to maintain blood sugar levels.

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 When blood glucose dips, glycogen in the
liver breaks down to release glucose into the
bloodstream. Glucose is the sole source of
energy for central nervous system.
 Also, glycogen is stored in the muscles, up to
400 g glycogen (1600 kilocalories) in muscle
cells. Muscle glycogen is used as a fuel for
physical activity.
 Carbohydrate is needed for recovering
depleted fuel during training and exercise.
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 Carbohydrate Requirements.
 Carbohydrate guidelines for athletes should not
be provided as a percentage of total dietary
energy intake (50 % of energy intake).
 Daily intakes of carbohydrates are about 5–7 g
per kg of body weight per day for moderate
duration/low intensity daily training.
 Moderate–heavy endurance training should
consume 7–10 g per kg body weight per day.
 Training more than 4 hours per day are advised
to consume 10 g or more per kg body weight
per day. 4
 To promote post-exercise recovery after fuel-
depleting exercise (0-4 hours): about 1 g per kg
of body weight per hour, consumed at frequent
intervals. If you plan to train again within 8
hours, it is important to begin refueling as soon
as possible after exercise.
 Moderate and high glycemic index (GI)
carbohydrates will promote faster recovery
during this period.

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Fat
 Body fat is essential because it is a part of cell
membranes, brain tissue, nerve sheath, bone
marrow and it cushions the organs.
 Fat provides essential fatty acids, fat-soluble
vitamins A, D, E and K, and is an important source of
energy for exercise.
 Fat provides more than twice the potential energy
of protein and carbohydrate.
 The American Dietetic Association and International
Olympic Committee (IOC) recommend fat provides 20
– 25% of calorie intake for the athletes.
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 Saturated and trans fats (bad fat) should be kept
to a minimum (less than 10% of calories),
 Unsaturated fats and Omega-3s may be
particularly beneficial for athletes because it
increase the delivery of oxygen to muscles,
improve endurance and may speed fuel
recovery, reduce inflammation and joint
stiffness.
 Fat improves endurance by sparing glycogen
reserves in a long time exercise (slow glycogen
depletion rate, and delaying the fatigue).
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Protein
 Amino acids is the building blocks for new tissues
and the repair of body cells. They are used for
making enzymes, hormones and antibodies.
 Athletes have higher protein requirements than
non-active people, to compensate high muscle
breakdown that occurs during and after intense
exercise.
 Protein requirements for athletes ranged between
1.2 and 1.7 g /kg BW/day, or 84–119 g daily for a 70
kg person. This is more than those of a sedentary
person, who requires 0.75 g protein/kg BW daily.
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 Eating high protein diets in the belief that extra
protein leads to increased strength and muscle
mass, but this isn’t true , extra protein do not
cause muscle growth. Eating a little more
protein than requirements isn’t harmful,
because the excess is broken down into urea
and energy, which is used as fuel or stored as
fat.

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 Protein provides energy in the late stages of
prolonged exercise, when muscle glycogen
stores fall, the body breaks down amino acids
found in skeletal muscle into glucose to supply
up to 15 percent of the energy needed.
 Several studies have found that carbohydrate
and protein eaten together immediately after
exercise enhances recovery and promotes
physical activity.
Ergogenic Aids
Definition
• Ergogenic aids refers to a substance or practice
that increases energy or work output, especially
by eliminating fatigue symptoms.
• Ergogenic aids can be classified into several
categories, including nutritional aids, and non
nutritional aids such as mechanical aids,
pharmacological aids, physiological aids, and
psychological aids.

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• Nutritional ergogenic aids refer to substances
that enhance performance. They are either
nutrients, food (plant) extracts, or substances
commonly found in foods (e.g., caffeine and
creatine) that are provided in amounts more
concentrated than commonly found in the
natural food supply.
• The nutritional ergogenic aids work by entering a
well-established nutritional metabolic pathway or
consist of one or more known nutrients.
For example, taking extra carbohydrate to
improve performance makes the carbohydrate, a
nutritional ergogenic aid. Also, taking creatine
monohydrate to improve sprint performance
makes creatine a nutritional ergogenic aid
because creatine is a normal constituent of food.

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• The non-nutritional ergogenic aids, including
anabolic steroids and their analogues, continue
to be used by athletes, but they are nearly
universally banned by sports organization.
• Non-nutritional ergogenic aids represent
products that are neither nutrients nor other
substances with nutritional properties.
 Nutritional Ergogenic Aids
Creatine
 Creatine is synthesized in the human body from
the amino acids arginine, methionine and glycine
at a rate of 12 g/day.
 Creatine is present in food in small quantities
resulting in a daily intake of 0.251 g/day.
 Creatine is mainly present in skeletal muscle
(contains 95 % of total creatine).

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Its action:
Oral creatine supplementation can increase muscle
phosphocreatine stores by 6 to 8 %, causing
faster regeneration of ATP.
Therefore, several benefits can be obtained by
Creatine supplementation such as:
1- Decrease rest time between activities and
increase energy for repeated exercise.
2- Delaying muscle fatigue and soreness.
3- Phosphocreatine helps to reduce acidosis in the
muscle cells by buffering (consuming) hydrogen
ions as a result of phosphocreatine hydrolysis.16
4- Buffers the lactic acid produced during exercise.
5- The hydrolysis of phosphocreatine into phosphate
and free creatine may regulate the activation of CHO
breakdown (glycolytic) processes in the muscle.
6- Creatine may stimulate muscle protein synthesis
resulting in an increase in muscle fiber size and lean
body mass.
 Adverse Effects
Increase weight gain is the most consistent adverse
effect of creatine.
 Legality
Creatine is legal for use in amateur and professional
sports. 17
Nucleotide

 Ribose
 The most important metabolic changes during intensive exercise
are:
 (i) depletion of creatine phosphate store.
 (ii) breakdown of ATP to AMP reducing the total muscle adenine
nucleotide (TAN).
 The resynthesis of adenine nucleotides is a slow process so the
recovery to a normal level may take up to 3 - 4 days.
 It has been hypothesized that the oral supply of ribose can lead
18 to a more rapid recovery of the TAN pool after intensive training.
Lecithin and Choline
 Choline is the precursor for acetylcholine, a
neurotransmitter that is important to the central
nervous system and for neuromuscular impulse
transmission.
 Acetylcholine has been shown to decrease
significantly during intensive endurance exercise.
Accordingly, choline unavailability, may contribute to
muscle function impairment.
 Choline or lecithin (phosphatidyl choline)
supplementation has been shown to counteract the
decrease in plasma choline levels during exercise.
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Phosphate Salts
 Phosphorus is an essential mineral for energy
production in the body, ATP - phosphocreatine
system.
 phosphate salt supplementation was an
effective ergogenic for several types of physical
performance.

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 phosphate loading improves performance by
various metabolic and cardiovascular responses:
1- Stimulation of glycolysis by elevating intra- or
extracellular phosphate levels.
2- Enhancement of oxidative metabolism and
decrease the anaerobic.
3- Promoting oxygen binding in red blood cells.
4- Improving myocardial and cardiovascular
response to exercise.
Accordingly a number of studies have shown that
phosphate supplementation can enhance
exercise performance capacity.
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Single Amino Acid
Arginine
Various amino acids supplements have been
suggested to improve performance, because of
stimulating hormone secretion, affecting brain
metabolism and enhancing mental concentration.
The ingestion of arginine may stimulate the release
of human growth hormone, which is thought to
stimulate muscle growth.
The effect of arginine or ornithine supplementation
is significant increases in lean body mass, muscle
mass and decrease in fat mass.
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Omega-3 fatty Acids
Omega-3 fatty acids may be useful for reducing
muscle soreness, and they may have several
other benefits:
1- Improved delivery of oxygen and nutrients to
muscles and other tissues, and reduce red
blood cell "stickiness," thereby improving the
flow of red blood cells to tissues. (Note: Excess
consumption of omega-3 fatty acids may inhibit
normal blood clotting, resulting in excess
bleeding when an injury occur.)
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2- Improved aerobic metabolism due to better
delivery of oxygen.
3- Higher release of somatotropin (growth
hormone) in response to normal stimuli
(exercise, sleep, hunger). This may have an
anabolic effect and may improve muscular
recovery.
4- Reduced inflammation of tissues resulting
from muscular fatigue and overexertion,
allowing for faster recovery.

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Medium-chain triglycerides
• Medium-chain triglycerides (MCTs) are found in
coconut oil and palm kernel oil, they have carbon
lengths of 6 to 12 carbon atoms.
• Due to their short chain they are absorbed and
metabolized differently, they go to liver Directly
and rapidly oxidized for cellular energy.
• These oils offer several benefits for athletes:
1- Provide a quick source of energy.
2- Help mobilize body fat stores for energy.
3- Increase the metabolic rate.
4- Spare lean body mass (muscle).
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Caffeine
 Caffeine enhances the contractility of skeletal and cardiac
muscle, and helps metabolize fat, thereby sparing muscle
glycogen stores.
 It stimulates a central nervous system, which can aid in
activities that require concentration.
 Adverse Effects
 Ergogenic doses of caffeine may cause restlessness,
nervousness, insomnia, tremor.
 Legality
 Caffeine is part of a regular diet for most people and is legal
to a certain level.
 The legal urine level for athletes is 12 μg per mL (IOC
standards). 26
Anabolic Steroids
Anabolic steroids are testosterone derivatives,
with three mechanisms of action:
1- Anticatabolic effects, it helps metabolize
ingested proteins, converting a negative
nitrogen balance into a positive one.
2- Anabolic effects directly induce skeletal muscle
synthesis.
3- They have a “steroid rush” a state of euphoria
and decreased fatigue that allows the athlete to
train harder and longer.
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