Healthy Eating Guidelines
- Plan ahead
- Eat a variety of foods
- Eat all foods in moderation
- Eat at regular intervals
- Consume lots of fruits, vegetables and whole grains
- Decrease total fat, saturated fat, and cholesterol in diet
- Drink plenty of fluid
When is Nutrition Important?
- Hydration – before, during and after training/competition is critical
- Pre-game nutrition – prepare your body for training/competition
- Post game recovery – help your body recover more quickly for the next training/competition
- Tournaments – require careful planning and nutrition in order to be able to endure the weekend
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Hydration
Hydration Is Critical To Performance
- Dehydration is the #1 cause of decreased performance
- Loss of 2% body weight can decrease performance by 10-20%
- Children have poor thermoreregulation
- Proper hydration is key to preventing heat illnesses
- Drink regularly throughout the day
- Hydrate by drinking 2-3 cups of fluid two hours prior to workout/game
- Hydrate by drinking 1 cup of fluid 10-20 minutes prior to game time
- Consume ½–1 cup of fluid every 10-20 minutes during exercise
- Cold fluids are better for the body
How much fluid do soccer players need?
- Depends on your sweat rate
- Weigh yourself before and after workouts
- Keep track of heat, humidity, time of day, length of the workout, and the amount of fluid consumed
- Too much hydration (especially water) can be bad by causing too low of a sodium level (Hyponutremia)
- Too little does not replace keep electrolytes up
- Re-hydrate with 2-3 cups of fluid for every pound of body weight lost during exercise
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Choose the right Beverage
- Water can be appropriate for shorter workouts
- Sports Drinks for activity longer than 60 – 90 min
- Absolutely NO caffeine
- Cool drinks help your body better than room temperature drinks
- Sports drinks are better!
- Gatorade is best for replacing electrolytes and nutrients
- Drinks should contain Carbohydrates- Approximately 60-70 grams of carbohydrates per hour, dependent on sweat rate (36-40 oz sports beverage)
- Drinks should contain Sodium- Approximately 200-1000 mg of sodium per hour, dependent on sweat rate (36-40 oz. sports drink)
Pre-Game Nutrition
Nutrition for Pre-workout/Game
- LOW in fat
- LOW in simple sugars
- MODERATE TO HIGH in complex carbohydrates
- Maintain carbohydrates on a regular basis, don’t carbo-load
- MODERATE amounts of protein
- FAMILIAR foods
- LOTS of fluids
- Allow 3-4 hours before game time if consuming a large meal
- Allow 2-3 hours before game time if consuming a small meal
- Allow 1-2 hours before game time if consuming a liquid meal
- Less than 1 hour only leaves time for a small snack
- Aim for 3 different food groups in your pre-game meal!
- Nothing new on game days
Post-Game Recovery
Nutrition for Optimal Post Game Recovery
- Recovery nutrition restores fluids
- Recovery nutrition replenishes energy
- Recovery nutrition repairs tissues
- Recovery nutrition increases performance
- Recovery nutrition improves overall health
- Recovery nutrition yields shortened recovery time
- Your body needs to replace Carbohydrates, Protein, Fluids and Electrolytes
- The sooner, The Better on consuming recovery nutrition
- Recovery nutrition should be consumed within 15-30 minutes after competition
- A large bagel with peanut butter is one example of a good recovery snack
- A banana and yogurt is another example of a good recovery snack
Carbohydrates for Recovery
- Replenish muscles glycogen stores with carbohydrate:
- Consume .5 grams of carbohydrates per pound of body weight within the first two hours and again following two hours.
Protein for Recovery
- Amino acids are needed to help stimulate protein synthesis to repair tissues
- Consume 6-20 grams of protein within 15 minutes
- Aim to consume a complete meal within 1-2 hours of exercise
- Don’t forget to include three different food groups in the meal
- Meat, dairy, eggs, nuts, seeds, and soy will provide protein
Replacing Lost Electrolytes with Sodium and potassium
- Replace Potassium with bananas, oranges, potatoes or milk
- Replace Sodium with pretzels, lunchmeats, cheeses or soups
Fluids for Recovery
- After training, drink 2-3 cups of fluid for every pound of body weight lost through sweat
- Recovery drinks must not be water or soft drinks
- Replace fluids lost in sweat by drinking sports drinks, juices, milk or eating watery foods such as soups, grapes, oranges, vegetables, etc.
- IU found that recovery in swimmers performing 2-a-day practices improved dramatically after consuming 12-16 oz. of chocolate milk within 30 minutes after morning workouts.