Practical Approaches to Nutrition for Female Athletes

The Older Athlete: Exercise in Hot Environments

Adequate fluid intake before, during and after exercise in hot conditions should be emphasized for older exercisers. Aerobic fitness, acclimation and hydration status are important factors to consider when exercising in the heat.

Contagious Infections in Competitive Sports

Many athletes believe that physical training enhances immunity and helps prevent upper respiratory tract infection (URTI) like the common cold or \"flu\" (influenza). They also believe that physical activity and fitness help them overcome any minor infections they do get. On the other hand, based largely on anecdotes and on popularization of a link between physical or psychological stress and \"impaired immunity,\" the athletic community in general seems persuaded that intensive training, exhaustive exercise, or competition predisposes athletes to infections.

The Role of Red Meat in an Athlete's Diet

Iron & zinc are the two nutrients most often deficient in vegetarian or modified-vegetarian diets. Athletes who choose to exclude meat from their diets must carefully plan diets to enhance nutrient availability, particularly for iron and zinc.

Carbohydrates, Branched-Chain Amino Acids and Endurance: The Central Fatigue Hypothesis

The central fatigue hypothesis suggests that increased brain serotonin (5-HT) can cause a deterioration in sport and exercise performance. Whether branched-chain amino acid supplementation can effect performance remains uncertain.

Spinal Cord Injury and Exercise in the Heat

Opportunities to compete in the Para-Olympics, advances in medical treatment and therapies for functional recovery of the disabled, and the recognition that physical activity is beneficial for the health of everyone, abled or disabled, have contributed to increased participation of disabled individuals in regular physical exercise. Like able-bodied athletes, disabled athletes face limitations to performance-fatigue, nutrition and fluid needs, and the possibility of heat exhaustion. In this report, we will discuss thermoregulation and cardiovascular function in the disabled athlete. We will make several recommendations to reduce the chance of heat illness and to delay fatigue in the disabled athlete.\r\n

Anti-Inflamatory Drugs, Kidney Function, and Exercise

Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are used by competitive athletes and recreational exercisers because of their analgesic (pain reduction) and anti-inflammatory benefits. A list of common NSAIDs and other analgesics available over-the-counter (OTC) is presented in Table 1 (Physicians' Desk Reference, 1997).

Optimizing Bone Health: Impact of Nutrition, Exercise, and Hormones

Osteoporosis is a preventable condition, but the fact is that too few Americans (men and women) ingest enough calcium or exercise enough to\r\nprevent it. Everyone should try to maximize peak bone mass by age 30 and attempt to slow the rate of loss afterwards. The latest research on osteoporosis, exercise to maximize peak bone mass, and the role of calcium intake are issues addressed in this article by Dr. Susan Bloomfield

Heat Stroke in Sports: Causes, Prevention and Treatment

Heat stroke is typically caused by a combination of environmental, physical, and behavioral factors. Dr. Eichner summarizes the causes that contribute to this illness, its treatment, and also the preventive measures to protect the athletes. Heat stroke is very serious. Preventing this illness involves acclimation, hydration, pacing, cooling and vigilance. It is important to recognize its early symptoms and to provide fast and effective treatment. Cooling the athlete is the first priority before transporting to the emergency room. This can save lives.

Hyponatremia in Athletes

Hyponatremia is a rare disorder that results from a combination of abnormal water retention and/or sodium loss. Water retention can occur from excessive water retention by the kidneys or from drinking too much water. A combination of excessive drinking and salt loss reduces plasma sodium concentration. This can prompt a cascade of events that might result in a rapid and dangerous swelling of the brain that could cause seizures, coma, and even death.

The risk of hyponatremia can be reduced by making certain that fluid intake does not exceed sweat loss and by ingesting sodium containing beverages or foods to help replace the sodium lost in sweat.

Diabetes, Exercise and Competitive Sports

Regular exercise is highly recommended for many people who have either Type 1 DM or Type 2 DM diabetes. During exercise there is a rapid uptake of glucose from the blood and people with diabetes must adjust their pre-exercise insulin dosage and carbohydrate intake, before, during and after exercise. The benefits of regular exercise in people with diabetes are similar to those in persons without the disease as long as the diabetic is in good glucose control and has no major complications of the disease.

Dietary Water and Sodium Requirements For Active Adults

Optimal hydration requires the replacement of water and electrolytes based on individual needs. Physically active people who lose more than 2 liters of sweat in a day should make sure they are ingesting adequate amounts of water and salt.

Collapse in the Endurance Athlete

Collapse is perhaps the most dramatic of all medical problems affecting athletes. Though collapse can be seen in any athletic event requiring maximal exertion, it is most common in endurance events, such as marathons and triathlons. The incidence seems to increase as the race distance, temperature, and humidity increase (OÂ’Conner et al., 2003).

Herbs and Athletes

Although there is insufficient high-quality research to support the claims, there are many herbs marketed to help athletes achieve their goals. More research on herbs, health, and athletic performance is needed to better assess efficacy and safety. This article includes a table that highlights many of the herbs athletes may be interested in using with claimed benefits and examples of safety concerns. Sports professionals working with athletes can serve as sound resources for helping athletes find reputable information about herbs.

Hydration Assessment of Athletes

This article reviews several clinical hydration assessment techniques for\r\ndetecting changes in hydration status, provides criteria for the most\r\naccurate and reliable methods, and offers application guidance for athletes\r\nand coaches. The most common assessment techniques include total body\r\nwater, plasma osmolality, urine osmolality and body mass. Plasma\r\nosmolality\r\nand total body water measurements are the best ways to assess fluid needs\r\nbut are technically difficult and not very practical. A more practical way\r\nfor athletes to monitor fluid needs is to 1) assess day-to-day body weight,\r\n2) monitor urine frequency and color and 3) pay attention to thirst.\r\nMaintaining a stable body weight, frequent, pale urination and occasional\r\nthirst are all indications of good body fluid balance. While any one of\r\nthese can be a sufficient monitor, attention to all three will provide\r\nbetter assurance for hydration status.

Carbohydrate Supplementation During Exercise: Does It Help? How Much is Too Much?

Protein Consumption and Resistance Exercise: Maximizing Anabolic Potential

The processes of muscle protein synthesis (MPS) and muscle protein breakdown (MPB) occur concurrently. This constant protein turnover allows the muscle fiber to change its protein structure if loading demands or diet changes. The plasticity of skeletal muscle to respond to altered loading and contractile patterns is evidence of the capacity for remodeling that a fiber can undergo. It is quite well documented for example that mitochondrial content increases with endurance-type work.

Multiple Transportable Carbohydrates and Their Benefits

During moderate intensity exercise carbohydrate and fat are the two important fuels and their relative contribution is dependent on a number of factors including the pre-exercise carbohydrate stores, the exercise intensity and duration and the training status of the subject (Jeukendrup, 2003).

Is There a Need for Protein Ingestion During Exercise?

Allowing muscle protein synthesis rates to increase during exercise training may facilitate the skeletal muscle adaptive response to exercise training and improve training efficiency.

Dietary Nitrate: The New Magic Bullet?

Nitric oxide (NO) is an important physiological signaling molecule that can modulate skeletal muscle function through its role in the regulation of blood flow, muscle contractility, glucose and calcium homeostasis, and mitochondrial respiration and biogenesis.

Assessing Hydration in the Laboratory and Field

According to Eric Klinenberg’s book Heat Wave: A Social Autopsy of Disaster in Chicago, “the loss of human life in hot spells in summer exceeds that caused by all other weather events combined, including lightning, rain, floods, hurricanes and tornadoes” (Klinenberg, 2002).