Characterization and Comparison of Nutritional Intake between Preparatory and Competitive Phase of Highly Trained Athletes

Abstract

Background and objective: For a high level athlete, it is essential to ensure optimal energy as well as macro- and micro-nutrient and fluid intakes, in order to improve their performance during training and competition. Protein intake should be 1.2–2.1 g/kg/d, whereas the requirements for carbohydrate and fat intakes should be >5g/kg/d and 20–35% of energy, respectively. The micronutrient and fluid intakes in athletes were compared to the Dietary Reference Intake (DRI) and European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) recommendations, respectively. This study aimed to characterize and compare the nutritional habits of athletes at the preparatory and competitive phase, and to test if their nutritional intakes were in accordance with the recommendations. Materials and methods: A total of 276 professional athletes were assessed. To evaluate their nutritional intake, the athletes completed a 7 days food record. Under reporting was defined using a ratio of energy intake to basal metabolic rate (BMR) of 1.1. Body composition was assessed using dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA). Results: Almost half (49%) of the athletes from the final sample reported lower measured intakes of carbohydrates and 27% reported a higher consumption of proteins than what was recommended. In both the preparatory and competitive phases, the micronutrients with a higher mismatch between the actual and recommended intakes were vitamins D and E, magnesium, folate, calcium, and zinc for both sexes, and iron intake for females. A large proportion of athletes reported a lower water intake. Compared to the recommendations, males reported a higher intake of carbohydrates, lipids, vitamins E, calcium, and magnesium (p <0.05) in the competitive phase, while females reported a lower ingestion of water, vitamins A and D, and calcium (p <0.05) in the preparatory phase. Conclusions: Overall, in the preparatory and competitive phases of the season, athletes reported a macro- and micro-nutrient intake below the recommendations, especially in the female athletic population. Dietary intakes in athletes need to be optimized and adjusted to their requirements, according to sex and sport, so as to avoid compromising health and performance.

Selected personal conditions determining the frequency of consuming groups of products among athletes professionally training individual sports disciplines

“…Potential food shortages in this area may generate decreased exercise capacity owing to the special role of carbohydrates in the energy of physical exercise, of calcium in regulating skeletal muscle contractions, and of antioxidant vitamins in eliminating the effects of oxidative stress developing under the conditions of intense physical exercise [1][2][3][4][5]. the observed nutritional anomalies corresponded with tendencies described by other authors in various groups of athletes performing team and individual disciplines, including Polish team sports players [9,13,14], professional English footballers [15], professional british rugby players [16], Australian football players [17], Lithuanian sportsmen of endurance disciplines [18], women training medium-and long-distance running [19], racecar drivers [20], and Portuguese athletes [21]. the following were found in the case of the Lithuanian endurance disciplines: carbohydrate deficiencies (80.8%) and excess fats, saturated fatty acids and cholesterol (> 70%) [18].…”

“…race-car drivers showed insufficient intake of some nutrients, including energy, carbohydrates, dietary fibre, and folic acid [20], which could have resulted from insufficient consumption of highdensity food products, such as cereals, vegetables, and fruit. Also, among high-class Portuguese athletes, Statistically significant values: * p < 0.05, ** p < 0.01, *** p < 0.001 the diet was unbalanced, characterized by low carbohydrate supply (49%), oversupply of protein (27%), and a deficit in the supply of some vitamins (D, E, b 9 ) and minerals (Mg, ca) [21]. Unbalanced supply of some nutrients, including carbohydrates, vitamins (antioxidants and group b), mineral salts (potassium and magnesium), and fibre, has also been described in other groups of athletes training various endurance disciplines [22][23][24][25].…”

“…Unbalanced supply of some nutrients, including carbohydrates, vitamins (antioxidants and group b), mineral salts (potassium and magnesium), and fibre, has also been described in other groups of athletes training various endurance disciplines [22][23][24][25]. Athletes' diets should instead be optimized and adapted to one's needs, sex, and type of discipline [21]. in turn, among Polish amateur mountain bikers, the highest rate in health-promoting behaviours was demonstrated in the area of positive eating habits [26].…”

“…the larger scale of consuming less recommended products (rich in saturated fatty acids and simple sugars) among men referred to the trends demonstrated among young Spanish players [28], youth from Warsaw sports schools [29], and teenage youth from Lesser Poland [30]. the women's tendency to apply more rational dietary choices was also described in other groups of athletes, including high-class Portuguese athletes during the preparatory and starting period [21]. Differences in nutrition depending on sex were also demonstrated among Lithuanian athletes of endurance disciplines, with an indication of carbohydrate, protein, omega 3, dietary fibre, group b vitamins, and mineral salts (ca, K, Fe, Zn, P, Mn) in women's diets [18].…”

Dietary mistakes of Polish athletes in relation to the frequency of consuming foods recommended in the Swiss food pyramid for active people

“…In these studies, a tendency was shown to make more rational dietary choices among people with a high level of personal resources (self-efficacy, optimism and life satisfaction) [16,18] and women and athletes with a higher sports level [13,15,17,18] At the same time, however, these and other works on determinants of nutrition among competitive athletes, generally focusing on the scale of rational nutritional behaviours, pointed to the legitimacy of further research to verify and clarify relationships between variables and to look for other factors related to the quality of nutritional behaviours. The diet of athletes should be optimized and adapted to individual needs, adequate to gender and type of discipline [34,40].…”