Are the Dietary-Nutritional Recommendations Met? Analysis of Intake in Endurance Competitions.

BACKGROUND: In recent decades the number of endurance events has increased, as well as the number of athletes participating in them. Adequate nutritional and water planning is essential to maintain optimal sports performance and to reduce the incidence of gastrointestinal problems. The main objective of this study is to determine the dietary intake and compliance with nutritional recommendations of athletes in two endurance competitions, as well as to assess the incidence of gastrointestinal complaints. METHODS: An observational and cross-sectional study was carried out on the consumption of liquids, food, and supplements in 42 triathletes and mountain runners (MRs) participating in a Vi-Half-Gasteiz triathlon and the Ultra Sierra de Cazorla trail run. At the completion of the trials, participants completed a validated questionnaire (NIQEC). RESULTS: The mean caloric intake during the test of the participants in this study was 192.17 kcal/h, while the mean carbohydrate intake was 43.67 g/h, the mean sodium intake was 267.43 mg/h, and the mean caffeine intake was 15.53 mg/h, with no significant differences between the two sports. The amount of liquids consumed by the participants was 421.21 mL/h, with no significant differences between the triathletes and MRs. As for gastrointestinal problems, it was observed that the participants presented gastrointestinal discomfort in 61.9% of the cases. CONCLUSIONS: The intakes of energy, carbohydrates, water, sodium, and caffeine were lower than the current recommendations. There were no differences in the energy, carbohydrate, water, sodium, and caffeine intakes between the triathletes and mountain runners. Gastrointestinal problems showed a high prevalence in these athletes.

Development of an Instrument to Evaluate the Intake of Liquids, Food and Supplements in Endurance Competitions: Nutritional Intake Questionnaire for Endurance Competitions-NIQEC.

BACKGROUND: In the last few years endurance sports have experienced a great increase in the number of competitions and participants. Dietary-nutritional planning is key for performing well during such competitions. To date, there is no questionnaire expressly developed to be able to analyze the consumption of liquids, foods, and supplements, as well as gastrointestinal problems in these events. This study describes the development of the Nutritional Intake Questionnaire for Endurance Competitions (NIQEC). METHODS: The study was composed in the following phases: (1) Bibliographic search for the most important nutrients, (2) focus groups (17 dietitian-nutritionists and 15 experienced athletes) and generation of items, (3) Delphi surveys, and (4) cognitive interviews. RESULTS: After an initial shaping of the questionnaire with the items that emerged in the focus groups, their relevance was evaluated by means of the Delphi survey, which showed more than 80% approval for most items. Finally, the cognitive interviews indicated that the questionnaire was simple and complete for its purpose. The final NIQEC (n = 50 items) was divided in 5 sections: Demographic data; sports data; consumption of liquids, food and supplements before, during, and after the competition; gastrointestinal complaints, and dietary-nutritional planning for the competition. CONCLUSIONS: The NICEQ is a useful tool that allows collecting information from participants on sociodemographic factors and gastrointestinal complaints, and estimating the intake of liquid, food, and supplements, for endurance competitions.

Early maternal hypothyroxinemia alters histogenesis and cerebral cortex cytoarchitecture of the progeny.

Epidemiological studies from both iodine-sufficient and -deficient human populations strongly suggest that early maternal hypothyroxinemia (i.e., low circulating free thyroxine before onset of fetal thyroid function at midgestation) increases the risk of neurodevelopmental deficits of the fetus, whether or not the mother is clinically hypothyroid. Rat dams on a low iodine intake are hypothyroxinemic without being clinically hypothyroid because, as occurs in pregnant women, their circulating 3,5,3'-triiodothyronine level is usually normal. We studied cell migration and cytoarchitecture in the somatosensory cortex and hippocampus of the 40-day-old progeny of the iodine-deficient dams and found a significant proportion of cells at locations that were aberrant or inappropriate with respect to their birth date. Most of these cells were neurons, as assessed by single- and double-label immunostaining. The cytoarchitecture of the somatosensory cortex and hippocampus was also affected, layering was blurred, and, in the cortex, normal barrels were not formed. We believe that this is the first direct evidence of an alteration in fetal brain histogenesis and cytoarchitecture that could only be related to early maternal hypothyroxinemia. This condition may be 150-200 times more common than congenital hypothyroidism and ought to be prevented both by mass screening of free thyroxine in early pregnancy and by early iodine supplementation to avoid iodine deficiency, however mild.