Sports nutrition

According to recent statistics from the NHS Information Centre for Health and Social Care, 32% of men and 33% of women said they were sedentary for six or more hours on weekdays, and 44% of men and 39% of women said they were sedentary for six or more hours at weekends.
There is mounting evidence to support the notion that regular exercise is an essential component of a healthy lifestyle, and that those who do lead active lifestyles stand a reduced risk of developing a range of health concerns, are less likely to get ill and generally live longer. However, actually mustering up the motivation to get active is very challenging for some.


Figures from the same NHS Information Centre report show that many individuals are trying to increase their physical activity levels. According to the report, 24.3% of adult respondents in England reported that they had taken part in sport on 11 to 28 days in four weeks. It was also stated that 86% of 5-10 year olds surveyed had taken part in extra curricular sporting activates in the past four weeks. However, despite these positive steps in the right direction, more needs to be done to encourage active lifestyles in the UK.
Physical activity does not have to be vigorous and everyone and anyone from young children and teenagers through to pregnant women and the elderly can incorporate at least some form of exercise into their daily routine.

Whether you are just trying to get started at incorporating exercise into your lifestyle, or you are a body builder or a professional athlete, nutrition and hydration play a key role in physical activity and training, providing you with the fuel you need in order to carry out the exercise.

Energy

Energy is measured in calories, a word that we should all be very familiar with as it is how our intake of food is calculated. On average a man needs around 2,500 calories a day to maintain his weight, and for women this figure is slightly lower at around 2,000 calories per day. These amounts are just approximates and can vary depending on a persons age, level of physical activity and a combination of additional factors.

Often when individuals are trying to maintain a healthy weight they can become focused on monitoring their calorie consumption, but it is important to remember that eating a healthy and balanced diet, staying physically active, and balancing the amount of calories eaten with the amount of calories burned is also important.
A calorie is a unit of energy which is defined by the amount of energy or heat it takes to increase the temperate of 1 gram of water by 1 degree Celsius. Nowadays we tend to associate calories with food and drink, but in actual fact they can apply to anything which contains energy, such as electricity or gas.

In food terms nutritionists tend to substitute the word kilocalorie with the word calorie. This terminology is technically incorrect, as 1000 calories are equal to 1 kilocalorie, though food packaging tends to use the former term to refer to the latter.
This also seems to be the chosen terminology in many food charts etc. and so for simplicities sake we will continue to use the term ‘calorie’ to refer to food calories (kilocalorie) throughout the remainder of this fact-sheet.
The calories we do consume must provide a good energy and nutrient balance and ideally the average day-to-day diet should include the following nutrients:
  • Carbohydrates – these are our key energy source. 
  • Fats – another key energy source important in relation to fat soluble vitamins.
  • Minerals – inorganic elements which occur in the body.
  • Proteins – needed for the growth and repair of muscles and body tissue.
  • Roughage – the fibrous indigestible portion of our diet which is needed for a healthy digestive system.
  • Vitamins – water soluble and fat solublevitamins are important in many of the body’s chemical processes.
  • Water – carries other nutrients around the body and is required for normal body functioning.


 http://www.nutritionist-resource.org.uk/nutritionist-articles/sports-nutrition