By Merrick Andrews,
Staff ReporterTRAVELLING FROM Manchester you, the star forward, and your team-mates are on a bus en route to the National Stadium in Kingston to play a football match.
On reaching May Pen your coach stops the bus for something to eat.
"Don't worry, it's just 3 o' clock, we have plenty time because the match begins at five," he assures the team.
He asks what they want for lunch and someone in the crowd calls for fried chicken. Everyone except you roars with agreement.
You frown and say it's not healthy, but your coach says there's ample time to digest the food, plus it's not like eating a whole cow. Or a whole chicken.
Everyone laughs.
They fill up on chicken and cola. You eat a hamburger and an orange juice instead.
By the time the bus reaches the stadium everyone, except you, is asleep.
When the match ends, your team has lost 5-0.
Your coach curses, saying that everyone was sluggish.
WHAT WENT WRONG?
According to Dr. Heather Little-White, Nutritionist and Lifestyle Consultant, the problem is that fried chicken is high in fats and fats are hard to digest. That would've contributed to their sluggish performance, she adds.
No matter the sport, proper nutrition is essential, says Dr. Little-White. Carbohydrates and fluids are mandatory to an athlete's daily diet because they are involved in training actively. Athletes therefore need to drink juices to supply water, carbohydrates and minerals.
"When you sweat, you lose a lot of minerals. To replace that, you need the juices. You also need lots of water." Fluid, she says, prevents dehydration. Watery foods such as water melons, Jamaican apples, grapes and soups also provide fluids and replenish some of the minerals that an athlete loses in perspiration.
If an athlete's urine is very dark, it indicates that the athlete is not taking in enough fluid. Lucozade contains a lot of this nutrient and is ideal to be drunk after performances.
THERE IS A TIME AND PLACE FOR SODAS
Mark Prince, a former middle distance athlete and current coach of the Immaculate Conception High School track and field team, said he does not allow his athletes to drink sodas too often because it hampers their performance.
However, Dr. Little-White says athletes can have sodas, but it's usually best after performing or training.
"After the game, soft drinks and high complex carbohydrate drinks, are also good," she says. "Some people say soft drinks are not too good, but there is a time and place for them. So after the game and after training, they can have soft drinks or high complex sports drinks to supply fluid and carbohydrates."
Carbohydrates which are sugars and starches, is important to an athlete's diet because it replaces lost energy, she notes.
However, Dr. Little-White cautions that athletes can overeat or over drink. Marketing, she says, is the main reason for this problem. "Some of the drinks on the market that are aimed to provide certain minerals and nutrients to help the development of the body, are actually giving excess. We can't always go by what the market says."
CALCIUM AND PROTEIN ALSO IMPORTANT
Proteins help to build muscles, while the calcium is good for the bones. "Proteins help to repair muscles, so after performance you need to have the right combination of proteins to repair muscles and other body tissues," Dr. Little-White notes.
Athletes should ensure that they eat three meals a day which contain the basic food groups. For example, cornmeal porridge combined with oat wheat bread and vegetables.
Athletes need to consume an average of about 2,500 calories per day, although this varies depending on the type of sport, says Dr. Little-White.
