How to eat when doing ice and snow sports? A balance between eating and moving will lead to success

Have you been enjoying watching the Winter Olympics in recent days?

Have you ever thought that for athletes to have such dazzling performances, their dietary nutrition is also very important?

Indeed, providing athletes with adequate nutrition is a very important Olympic safeguard. Athletes who consume a lot of physical energy during training and competitions have a much greater demand for nutrients such as energy, protein, and B vitamins in their diet than ordinary people.

Many people think that athletes can supplement their nutrition by simply "eating more chicken breast". In fact, this approach is not feasible, because maintaining muscles and endurance during exercise requires a large amount of carbohydrates.

For example, speed skaters consume a lot of energy, so at least 60% of their total calories must come from carbohydrates, or even higher, so they must eat enough staple food. It is not okay to eat a small bowl of rice at each meal and eat meat as a meal.

At the same time, since ice and snow sports are performed at low temperatures, the sportswear worn cannot be thick, and the heat consumption is particularly large (sportswear is already made of high-tech thermal insulation materials, but even so, a long time below zero will still consume a lot of heat).

Studies have shown that sports events held under ice and snow conditions consume 10 to 40% more calories than those held at room temperature.

Since the human stomach capacity is limited, and fat has the smallest volume and the highest calorie density, athletes competing in cold conditions cannot have too little daily fat intake, and there is no need to deliberately pursue "zero fat".

On the basis of a high-calorie diet, it is easy to reach a sufficient amount of protein. For example, if a female athlete eats 3,000 kcal per day, with an energy supply ratio of 60% carbohydrates, 15% protein, and 25% fat, she needs to eat

——450 grams of pure carbohydrates, equivalent to 600 grams of dry food (such as raw rice, flour, oatmeal); of course, a small amount of it also comes from fruits and vegetables.

- 112.5 grams of protein, which is equivalent to 150 grams of beef shank, 2 eggs and 350 grams of milk in addition to the staple food (600 grams of staple food contains about 60 grams of protein);

——83.3 grams of fat, which is equivalent to adding about 40 grams of cooking oil/butter in addition to the above meat, eggs and milk.

At the same time, we need to achieve food diversification and rich in various nutrients. The specific amount of each food to be eaten depends on the requirements of each sport, and sports nutritionists can provide guidance.

Most athletes undergo high-intensity physical training during puberty. For example, Su Yiming and Gu Ailing both participated in international sports competitions before the age of 18. Young athletes should pay special attention to avoiding malnutrition because they have the needs of growth and development in addition to sports. Healthy diets require eating enough, not only vegetables, but also staple foods, proteins, and fats. Adequate and balanced nutrition supply is an important reason for their motivation.

Due to the high energy demand, athletes with high physical energy consumption cannot try diets such as "light fasting" and "low-carb water", otherwise it will seriously affect their athletic performance. On the contrary, they need to replenish energy and water several times a day to avoid excessive depletion of liver glycogen and muscle glycogen, which will cause muscle fatigue. At this time, sports nutrition drinks that can be consumed at any time can help.

Be sure to replenish food in time after exercise and never let yourself feel tired and hungry.

Some may ask: What happens if you don’t eat enough?

That would create a vicious cycle.

Since the energy and nutrition intake is insufficient and normal training is required, the body has to find ways to "save energy".

In other words, if you consume as little energy as possible when completing your training, your training efficiency will decrease.

After training, try to conserve your energy and move less, and you will feel lazy and don’t want to move in your daily life.

Because there is insufficient energy during training, the body will break down muscles to provide energy, and muscles will be lost.

If this continues for a long time and the income is always less than the expenditure, the body will be forced to lower the level of thyroid hormone and slow down the metabolic rate.

Because the metabolic rate decreases, people are more likely to store fat and gain weight if they are not careful.

Because they are afraid of getting fat, they eat even less, which makes malnutrition more serious and their athletic performance becomes worse.

Due to lack of physical strength and decreased muscle control, it is more likely to get injured and various accidents during exercise.

This is a vicious cycle.

In fact, if you go to the sports nutrition clinic, you will know that such tragedies have already happened to many athletes and amateur sports enthusiasts. Female athletes in particular often suffer from anemia, amenorrhea and other problems due to excessive exercise and insufficient nutrition. Some also develop eating disorders, such as anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa.

You will lose muscle, damage your metabolism, reduce your performance, and hurt your body...that would be destroying your future in sports.

The forecast says that Beijing will cool down over the weekend, with the highest daytime temperature dropping below zero degrees, and outdoor skiing competitions will be held during this period. It can be expected that insufficient calorie intake will seriously affect the athletes' athletic ability.

Now our country's athletes also have nutritionists to guide them, but I don't know whether every athlete can truly accept and implement the advice of nutrition guidance. Here I would also like to advise friends who love sports to remember the basic principle of "balance between eating and moving". Happy exercise, coupled with a nutritious diet, will make our bodies stronger and stronger, and the quality of life will be higher and higher!