Selected In-Season Nutritional Strategies to Enhance Recovery for Team Sport Athletes: A Practical Overview.

Team sport athletes face a variety of nutritional challenges related to recovery during the competitive season. The purpose of this article is to review nutrition strategies related to muscle regeneration, glycogen restoration, fatigue, physical and immune health, and preparation for subsequent training bouts and competitions. Given the limited opportunities to recover between training bouts and games throughout the competitive season, athletes must be deliberate in their recovery strategy. Foundational components of recovery related to protein, carbohydrates, and fluid have been extensively reviewed and accepted. Micronutrients and supplements that may be efficacious for promoting recovery include vitamin D, omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids, creatine, collagen/vitamin C, and antioxidants. Curcumin and bromelain may also provide a recovery benefit during the competitive season but future research is warranted prior to incorporating supplemental dosages into the athlete's diet. Air travel poses nutritional challenges related to nutrient timing and quality. Incorporating strategies to consume efficacious micronutrients and ingredients is necessary to support athlete recovery in season.

Acute Effects of Carbohydrate Supplementation on Intermittent Sports Performance.

Intermittent sports (e.g., team sports) are diverse in their rules and regulations but similar in the pattern of play; that is, intermittent high-intensity movements and the execution of sport-specific skills over a prolonged period of time (~1-2 h). Performance during intermittent sports is dependent upon a combination of anaerobic and aerobic energy systems, both of which rely on muscle glycogen and/or blood glucose as an important substrate for energy production. The aims of this paper are to review: (1) potential biological mechanisms by which carbohydrate may impact intermittent sport performance; (2) the acute effects of carbohydrate ingestion on intermittent sport performance, including intermittent high-intensity exercise capacity, sprinting, jumping, skill, change of direction speed, and cognition; and (3) what recommendations can be derived for carbohydrate intake before/during exercise in intermittent sports based on the available evidence. The most researched intermittent sport is soccer but some sport-specific studies have also been conducted in other sports (e.g., rugby, field hockey, basketball, American football, and racquet sports). Carbohydrate ingestion before/during exercise has been shown in most studies to enhance intermittent high-intensity exercise capacity. However, studies have shown mixed results with regards to the acute effects of carbohydrate intake on sprinting, jumping, skill, change of direction speed, and cognition. In most of these studies the amount of carbohydrate consumed was ~30-60 g/h in the form of a 6%-7% carbohydrate solution comprised of sucrose, glucose, and/or maltodextrin. The magnitude of the impact that carbohydrate ingestion has on intermittent sport performance is likely dependent on the carbohydrate status of the individual; that is, carbohydrate ingestion has the greatest impact on performance under circumstances eliciting fatigue and/or hypoglycemia. Accordingly, carbohydrate ingestion before and during a game seems to have the greatest impact on intermittent sports performance towards the end of the game.

Validity and relative validity of a novel digital approach for 24-h dietary recall in athletes.

BACKGROUND: We developed a digital dietary analysis tool for athletes (DATA) using a modified 24-h recall method and an integrated, customized nutrient database. The purpose of this study was to assess DATA's validity and relative validity by measuring its agreement with registered dietitians' (RDs) direct observations (OBSERVATION) and 24-h dietary recall interviews using the USDA 5-step multiple-pass method (INTERVIEW), respectively. METHODS: Fifty-six athletes (14-20 y) completed DATA and INTERVIEW in randomized counter-balanced order. OBSERVATION (n = 26) consisted of RDs recording participants' food/drink intake in a 24-h period and were completed the day prior to DATA and INTERVIEW. Agreement among methods was estimated using a repeated measures t-test and Bland-Altman analysis. RESULTS: The paired differences (with 95% confidence intervals) between DATA and OBSERVATION were not significant for carbohydrate (10.1%, -1.2-22.7%) and protein (14.1%, -3.2-34.5%) but was significant for energy (14.4%, 1.2-29.3%). There were no differences between DATA and INTERVIEW for energy (-1.1%, -9.1-7.7%), carbohydrate (0.2%, -7.1-8.0%) or protein (-2.7%, -11.3-6.7%). Bland-Altman analysis indicated significant positive correlations between absolute values of the differences and the means for OBSERVATION vs. DATA (r = 0.40 and r = 0.47 for energy and carbohydrate, respectively) and INTERVIEW vs. DATA (r = 0.52, r = 0.29, and r = 0.61 for energy, carbohydrate, and protein, respectively). There were also wide 95% limits of agreement (LOA) for most method comparisons. The mean bias ratio (with 95% LOA) for OBSERVATION vs. DATA was 0.874 (0.551-1.385) for energy, 0.906 (0.522-1.575) for carbohydrate, and 0.895(0.395-2.031) for protein. The mean bias ratio (with 95% LOA) for INTERVIEW vs. DATA was 1.016 (0.538-1.919) for energy, 0.995 (0.563-1.757) for carbohydrate, and 1.031 (0.514-2.068) for protein. CONCLUSION: DATA has good relative validity for group-level comparisons in athletes. However, there are large variations in the relative validity of individuals' dietary intake estimates from DATA, particularly in athletes with higher energy and nutrient intakes. DATA can be a useful athlete-specific, digital alternative to conventional 24-h dietary recall methods at the group level. Further development and testing is needed to improve DATA's validity for estimations of individual dietary intakes.

Dietitian-observed macronutrient intakes of young skill and team-sport athletes: adequacy of pre, during, and postexercise nutrition.

CONTEXT: Sports nutrition experts recommend that team-sport athletes participating in intermittent high-intensity exercise for ≥1 hr consume 1-4 g carbohydrate/kg 1-4 hr before, 30-60 g carbohydrate/hr during, and 1-1.2 g carbohydrate/kg/hr and 20-25 g protein as soon as possible after exercise. The study objective was to compare observed vs. recommended macronutrient intake of competitive athletes under free-living conditions. METHODS: The dietary intake of 29 skill/team-sport athletes (14-19 y; 22 male, 7 female) was observed at a sports training facility by trained registered dietitians for one 24-hr period. Dietitians accompanied subjects to the cafeteria and field/court to record their food and fluid intake during meals and practices/competitions. Other dietary intake within the 24-hr period (e.g., snacks during class) was accounted for by having the subject take a picture of the food/fluid and completing a log. RESULTS: For male and female athletes, respectively, the mean ± SD (and percent of athletes meeting recommended) macronutrient intake around exercise was 1.4 ± 0.6 (73%) and 1.4 ± 1.0 (57%) g carbohydrate/kg in the 4 hr before exercise, 21.1 ± 17.2 (18%) and 18.6 ± 13.2 (29%) g carbohydrate/hrr during exercise, 1.4±1.1 (68%) and 0.9± 1.0 (43%) g carbohydrate/kg and 45.2 ± 36.9 (73%) and 18.0 ± 21.2 (43%) g protein in the 1 hr after exercise. CONCLUSION: The male athletes' carbohydrate and protein intake more closely approximated recommendations overall than that of the female athletes. The most common shortfall was carbohydrate intake during exercise, as only 18% of male and 29% of female athletes consumed 3060 g carbohydrate/hr during practice/competition.