Sports and Nutrition:

What's good for your Teen!

By Nicholas Romain

 

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Eat Extra for Excellence

There are hundreds of books, dvd's, websites, and a thousand other ways to get information today on what's good for teen athletes, but keeping it simple, let us just say that more is less!

There's a lot more to eating for sports than chowing down on carbs or chugging sports drinks. The good news is that eating to reach your peak performance level likely doesn't require a special diet or supplements. It's all about working the right foods into your fitness plan in the right amounts.

Teen athletes have unique nutrition needs. Because athletes work out more than their less-active peers, they generally need extra calories to fuel both their sports performance and their growth. Depending on how active they are, teen athletes may need anywhere from 2,000 to 5,000 total calories per day to meet their energy needs.

So what happens if teen athletes don't eat enough? Their bodies are less likely to achieve peak performance and may even break down rather than build up muscles. Athletes who don't take in enough calories every day won't be as fast and as strong as they could be and may not be able to maintain their weight. Extreme calorie restriction could lead to growth problems and even cause other health problems, so eat right, and eat plenty.

 

Athletes and Dieting

Since teen athletes need extra fuel, it's usually a bad idea to diet. Athletes in sports where weight is emphasized — such as wrestling, swimming, dance, or gymnastics — might feel pressure to lose weight, but they need to weigh that choice with the possible negative side effects mentioned above.

If a coach, gym teacher, or teammate says that you need to go on a diet, talk to your doctor first or visit a dietitian who specializes in teen athletes. If a health professional you trust agrees that it's safe to diet, he or she can work with you to develop a plan that allows you get the proper amount of nutrients, perform your best, and lose weight.

Eat a Variety of Foods

You may have heard about "carb loading" before a game. But when it comes to powering your game for the long haul, it's a bad idea to focus on only one type of food.

Carbohydrates are an important source of fuel, but they're only one of many foods an athlete needs. It also takes vitamins, minerals, protein, and fats to stay in peak playing shape.

Muscular Minerals and Vital Vitamins

Calcium helps build the strong bones that athletes depend on, and iron carries oxygen to muscles. Most teens don't get enough of these minerals, and that's especially true of teen athletes because their needs may be even higher than those of other teens.

To get the iron you need, eat lean red meats (meats with not much fat on them); green, leafy vegetables; and iron-fortified cereals. Calcium — a must for protecting against stress fractures — is found in dairy foods, such as low-fat milk, yogurt, and cheese.

In addition to calcium and iron, you need a whole bunch of other vitamins and minerals that do everything from help you access energy to keep you from getting sick. Eating a balanced diet, including lots of different fruits and veggies, should provide the vitamins and minerals needed for good health and sports performance.

Athletes, in general, need to eat everything that's healthy like every other active adult... but, because of growth factors, teen athletes need to pay even more attention to what, and how much they eat in order to get maximum output from a growing body!

*TeenHealth

*www.womenssportsfoundation.org