The association of dietary insulin load and dietary insulin index with body composition among professional soccer players and referees.

BACKGROUND: There has been limited research undertaken about the association of dietary insulin load (DIL) and dietary insulin index (DII) with body composition in non-athletic adults, however, to the best of our knowledge No previous study has investigated such an association in an athletic population. PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to explore the association of DII and DIL with body compositions in male and female soccer players and referees. METHODS: The cross-sectional study was conducted on 199 professional male and female soccer players and referees. A 147-item semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) was adopted to congregate the participants' dietary data. Body composition was measured using InBody to gain a detailed understanding of fat mass, percent body fat (PBF), lean mass, percent muscle mass (PMM), and bone mineral content (BMC). Waist circumference (WC), hip circumference (HC), waist-to-hip ratio (WHR), and waist-to-height ratio (WHtR) were obtained from all participants. Other body composition parameters include a body shape index (ABSI), abdominal volume index (AVI), body adiposity index (BAI), body roundness index (BRI), conicity index (CI), weight-adjusted waist index (WWI) and waist-to-hip-to-height ratio (WHHR) were calculated using a particular defined formula. RESULTS: Results of multiple linear regression revealed that there is a significant association between DIL and BMI (P = 0.04) in < 18 male soccer players, CI (P = 0.04) and WWI (P = 0.03) in ≥ 18 female soccer players, PBF (P = 0.02), PMM (P = 0.01) and WWI (P = 0.01) in ≥ 18 female soccer players. Nevertheless, no significant associations between DIL and body composition parameters were found in the referees. Additionally, there is a significant association between DII and BMC (P = 0.02) in male soccer referees, however, no significant associations were found in young soccer players and female athletes. CONCLUSION: This study demonstrates that DIL is positively associated with BMI, CI, and WWI in male soccer players and PBF, and WWI in female soccer players. Although, there was an observed negative association between DIL and PMM in females. In addition, a significant negative association between DII and BMC was observed in male soccer players.

Effects of Inhaled Salbutamol on Sport-Specific Fitness of Non-Asthmatic Football Players.

In this article, we investigated the effectiveness of inhaled salbutamol withtherapeutic dose on the sport-specific performance of non-asthmatic young football players. In a double-blinded, randomised placebo controlled trial with 2-treatment, 2-period crossover design, twenty participants who were non-asthmatic junior professional football players were randomly allocated to two groups. Fifteen minutes before sport-specific fitness testing, each group randomly received 2 inhalations (200 micrograms) of salbutamol or placebo, respectively. After 1 week wash-out period, each participant has tested again, this time with the alternative inhaler. The primary outcomes were the differences between salbutamol and placebo groups in six tests of 7×30-m repeated sprint, Loughborough soccer dribbling, vertical jump, agility, Loughborough soccer passing, 20-m multistage shuttle run. A total of twenty players did two test batteries completely. There was no significant difference between salbutamol and placebo users in the tests [Treatment effect (CI95%); 7×30 sprint: -2.4 (-7.6-2.9), dribbling: -3.8 (-12.2-4.5), vertical jump: -1.2 (-3.7-1.3), agility: -0.4 (-0.9-0.1), passing: 0.2 (-12-12.4), shuttle run distance: -112 (-503.2-279.2)]. Furthermore, no period or carry-over effects were detected. It seems that single therapeutic dose of inhaled salbutamol (200 micrograms) does not appear to improve football related performance.

Acupuncture decreases competitive anxiety prior to a competition in young athletes: a randomized controlled trial pilot study.

Background Although a certain level of competitive anxiety may increase performance, many athletes with anxiety experience uncontrolled negative feelings and cognition that in turn can have overwhelming effects on their performance. Methods We aimed to assess the effect of acupuncture on competitive anxiety of the adolescent football players prior to the competition using psychological and physiological markers. A total of 30 athletes were randomly and equally allocated to either acupuncture or sham control group. Results The results of t-test on posttest scores showed that acupuncture had a significant effect on cognitive anxiety (p=0.001) and somatic anxiety (p<0.001) but not self-confidence (p>0.05). Furthermore, the results showed that acupuncture significantly decreased the skin conductance in acupuncture group compared to sham group (p=0.006) (p<0.001). Conclusions In conclusion, the results suggested that acupuncture has the capacity to decrease cognitive and somatic anxiety prior to competition in adolescent athletes while this was accompanied by significant physiological changes.

Travelling fellowship program for football medicine; report on an experience.

Football medicine has developed in the world in recent years. AFC Medical Committee, established the idea of football medicine travelling fellowship two years ago and provided high-level healthcare services to football players in Asian countries. This is a report on my one month experience in a travelling fellowship program for football medicine which is attempting to tell the reader about the interesting event that I experienced. This course has been held between Jan 15 to Feb 10, 2012 in 3 Asian countries: Qatar, Thailand and Malysia. The experience provided me with the valuable suggestions for future travelling fellowship periods.