Which of the following foods would be a nutritious low-fat, high-carbohydrate food for an athlete?

The good news about eating for sports is that reaching your peak performance level doesn't take a special diet or supplements. It's all about working the right foods into your fitness plan in the right amounts.

Teen athletes have different nutrition needs than their less-active peers. Athletes work out more, so they need extra calories to fuel both their sports performance and their growth.

So what happens if teen athletes don't eat enough? Their bodies are less likely to achieve peak performance and may even break down muscles rather than build them. Athletes who don't take in enough calories every day won't be as fast and as strong as they could be and might not maintain their weight.

Athletes and Dieting

Teen athletes need extra fuel, so it's usually a bad idea to diet. Athletes in sports where there's a focus on weight — such as wrestling, swimming, dance, or gymnastics — might feel pressure to lose weight. But drastically cutting back on calories can lead to growth problems and a higher risk of fractures and other injuries.

If a coach, gym teacher, or teammate says that you need to go on a diet, talk to your doctor first or visit a dietitian who specializes in teen athletes. If a health professional you trust agrees that it's safe to diet, they can work with you to create a healthy eating plan.

Eat a Variety of Foods

When it comes to powering your game for the long haul, it's important to eat healthy, balanced meals and snacks to get the nutrients your body needs. The MyPlate food guide can guide you on what kinds of foods and drinks to include in your diet.

Vital Vitamins and Minerals

Besides getting the right amount of calories, teen athletes need a variety of nutrients from the foods they eat to keep performing at their best. These include vitamins and minerals. Calcium and iron are two important minerals for athletes:

• Calcium helps build the strong bones that athletes depend on. Calcium — a must for protecting against stress fractures — is found in dairy foods, such as low-fat milk, yogurt, and cheese.
• Iron carries oxygen to muscles. To get the iron you need, eat lean meat, fish, and poultry; leafy green vegetables; and iron-fortified cereals.

Protein Power

Athletes may need more protein than less-active teens, but most get plenty through a healthy diet. It's a myth that athletes need a huge daily intake of protein to build large, strong muscles. Muscle growth comes from regular training and hard work. Good sources of protein are fish, lean meats and poultry, eggs, dairy, nuts, soy, and peanut butter.

Carb Charge

Carbohydrates are an excellent source of fuel. Cutting back on carbs or following low-carb diets isn't a good idea for athletes. That's because restricting carbs can make you feel tired and worn out, which can hurt your performance.

Good sources of carbs include fruits, vegetables, and grains. Choose whole grains (such as brown rice, oatmeal, whole-wheat bread) more often than processed options like white rice and white bread. Whole grains provide the energy athletes need and the fiber and other nutrients to keep them healthy.

Sugary carbs such as candy bars or sodas don't contain any of the other nutrients you need. And eating candy bars or other sugary snacks just before practice or competition can give athletes a quick burst of energy, but then leave them to "crash" or run out of energy before they've finished working out.

Fat Fuel

Everyone needs some fat each day, and this is extra true for athletes. That's because active muscles quickly burn through carbs and need fats for long-lasting energy. Like carbs, not all fats are created equal. Choose healthier fats, such as the unsaturated fat found in most vegetable oils, fish, and nuts and seeds. Limit trans fat (like partially hydrogenated oils) and saturated fat, found in fatty meat and dairy products like whole milk, cheese, and butter.

Choosing when to eat fats is also important for athletes. Fatty foods can slow digestion, so it's a good idea to avoid eating them for a few hours before exercising.

Skip the Supplements

Sports supplements promise to improve sports performance. But few have proved to help, and some may do harm.

Anabolic steroids can seriously mess with a person's , causing unwanted side effects like testicular shrinkage and baldness in guys and facial hair growth in girls. Steroids can cause mental health problems, including depression and serious mood swings.

Some supplements contain hormones related to testosterone, such as DHEA (dehydroepiandrosterone). These can have similar side effects to anabolic steroids. Other sports supplements (like creatine) have not been tested in people younger than 18. So the risks of taking them are not yet known.

Salt tablets are another supplement to watch out for. People take them to avoid dehydration, but salt tablets can actually lead to dehydration and must be taken with plenty of water. Too much salt can cause nausea, vomiting, cramps, and diarrhea and may damage the stomach lining. In general, you are better off drinking fluids to stay hydrated. Usually, you can make up for any salt lost in sweat with sports drinks or foods you eat before, during, and after exercise.

Ditch Dehydration

Speaking of dehydration, water is as important to unlocking your game power as food. When you sweat during exercise, it's easy to become overheated, headachy, and worn out — especially in hot or humid weather. Even mild dehydration can affect an athlete's physical and mental performance.

There's no one set guide for how much water to drink. How much fluid each person needs depends on their age, size, level of physical activity, and environmental temperature.

Athletes should drink before, during, and after exercise. Don't wait until you feel thirsty, because thirst is a sign that your body has needed liquids for a while.

Sports drinks are no better for you than water to keep you hydrated during sports. But if you exercise for more than 60 to 90 minutes or in very hot weather, sports drinks may be a good option. The extra carbs and electrolytes may improve performance in these conditions. Otherwise your body will do just as well with water.

Avoid drinking carbonated drinks or juice because they could give you a stomachache while you're training or competing. Don't use energy drinks and other caffeine-containing drinks, like soda, tea, and coffee, for rehydration. You could end up drinking large amounts of caffeine, which can increase heart rate and blood pressure. Too much caffeine can leave an athlete feeling anxious or jittery. Caffeine also can cause headaches and make it hard to sleep at night. These all can drag down your sports performance.

Game-Day Eats

Your performance on game day will depend on the foods you've eaten over the past several days and weeks. You can boost your performance even more by paying attention to the food you eat on game day. Focus on a diet rich in carbohydrates, moderate in protein, and low in fat.

Here are some tips:

• Eat a meal 3 to 4 hours before activity. Include plenty of carbs and some protein but keep the fat low. Fat takes longer to digest, which can cause an upset stomach. Carbs may include pasta, bread, fruits, and vegetables. Avoid sugary foods and drinks.
• When there are 3 hours or less before game or practice, eat a lighter meal or snack that includes easy-to-digest carbohydrate-containing foods, such as fruit, crackers, or bread.
• After the game or event, experts recommend eating within 30 minutes after intense activity and again 2 hours later. Your body will be rebuilding muscle and replenishing energy stores and fluids, so continue to hydrate and eat a balance of lean protein and carbs.

Everyone is different, so get to know what works best for you. You may want to experiment with meal timing and how much to eat on practice days so that you're better prepared for game day.

The current recommendations for fat intake are for most athletes to follow similar recommendations to those given for the general community, with the preference for fats coming from olive oils, avocado, nuts and seeds.

Athletes should also aim to minimise intake of high-fat foods such as biscuits, cakes, pastries, chips and fried foods.

Carbohydrates and exercise

During digestion, all carbohydrates are broken down into sugars (primarily glucose), which are the body’s primary energy source.

After absorption, glucose can be converted into glycogen and stored in the liver and muscle tissue. It can then be used as a key energy source during exercise to fuel exercising muscle tissue and other body systems.

Athletes can increase their stores of glycogen by regularly eating high-carbohydrate foods.

If carbohydrate in the diet is restricted, a person’s ability to exercise may be compromised because there is not enough glycogen kept in storage to fuel the body. If dietary protein intake is insufficient, this can result in a loss of protein (muscle) tissue, because the body will start to break down muscle tissue to meet its energy needs, and may increase the risk of infections and illness.

Carbohydrates are essential for fuel and recovery

Current recommendations for carbohydrate requirements vary depending on the duration, frequency and intensity of exercise.

Foods rich in unrefined carbohydrates, like wholegrain breads and cereals, should form the basis of the athlete’s diet. More refined carbohydrate foods (such as white bread, jams and lollies) are useful to boost the total intake of carbohydrate, particularly for very active people.

Athletes are advised to adjust the amount of carbohydrate they consume for fuelling and recovery to suit their exercise level. For example:

• light intensity exercise (30 mins/day): 3 to 5 g/kg/day
• moderate intensity exercise (60 mins/day): 5 to 7 g/kg/day
• endurance exercise (1–3 hrs/day): 6 to 10 g/kg/day
• extreme endurance exercise (more than 4 hrs/day): 8 to 12 g/kg/day.

Training with low carbohydrate availability

There may be some situations in an athlete’s training program that warrants a period of restricted carbohydrate intake. A more recent strategy adopted by some athletes is to train with low body carbohydrate levels and intakes (train low).

There is accumulating evidence that carefully planned periods of training with low carbohydrate availability may enhance some of the adaptations in muscle to the training program. However, currently the benefits of this approach to athletic performance are unclear.

Sporting performance and glycaemic index

The glycaemic index (GI) ranks food and fluids by how ‘carbohydrate-rich’ they are and how quickly they affect the body’s blood sugar levels. The GI has become of increasing interest to athletes in the area of sports nutrition.

Evidence does not generally support a significant impact of manipulation of GI in the diet on exercise performance, assuming total carbohydrate and energy intake are sufficient in an athlete’s diet. However, the particular timing of ingestion of carbohydrate foods with different GIs around exercise might be important. There is a suggestion that low GI foods may be useful before exercise to provide a more sustained energy release, although evidence is not convincing in terms of any resulting performance benefit.

Moderate to high GI foods and fluids may be the most beneficial during exercise and in the early recovery period. However, it is important to remember the type and timing of food eaten should be tailored to personal preferences and to maximise the performance of the particular sport in which the person is involved.

Pre-event meal

The pre-event meal is an important part of the athlete’s pre-exercise preparation.

A high-carbohydrate meal 3 to 4 hours before exercise is thought to have a positive effect on performance. A small snack one to 2 hours before exercise may also benefit performance.

It is important to ensure good hydration prior to an event. Consuming approximately 500 ml of fluid in the 2 to 4 hours prior to an event may be a good general strategy to take. Some people may experience a negative response to eating close to exercise. A meal high in fat, protein or fibre is likely to increase the risk of digestive discomfort. It is recommended that meals just before exercise should be high in carbohydrates as they do not cause gastrointestinal upset.

Examples of appropriate pre-exercise meals and snacks include cereal and low-fat milk, toast/muffins/crumpets, fruit salad and yoghurt, pasta with tomato-based sauce, a low-fat breakfast or muesli bar, or low-fat creamed rice. Liquid meal supplements may also be appropriate, particularly for athletes who suffer from pre-event nerves.

For athletes involved in events lasting less than 60 minutes in duration, a mouth rinse with a carbohydrate beverage may be sufficient to help improve performance. Benefits of this strategy appear to relate to effects on the brain and central nervous system.

Eating during exercise

During exercise lasting more than 60 minutes, an intake of carbohydrate is required to top up blood glucose levels and delay fatigue. Current recommendations suggest 30 to 60 g of carbohydrate is sufficient, and can be in the form of lollies, sports gels, sports drinks, low-fat muesli and sports bars or sandwiches with white bread.

It is important to start your intake early in exercise and to consume regular amounts throughout the exercise period. It is also important to consume regular fluid during prolonged exercise to avoid dehydration. Sports drinks, diluted fruit juice and water are suitable choices. For people exercising for more than 4 hours, up to 90 grams of carbohydrate per hour is recommended.

Eating after exercise

Rapid replacement of glycogen is important following exercise.

Carbohydrate foods and fluids should be consumed after exercise, particularly in the first one to 2 hours after exercise. While consuming sufficient total carbohydrate post-exercise is important, the type of carbohydrate source might also be important, particularly if a second training session or event will occur less than 8 hours later. In these situations, athletes should choose carbohydrate sources with a high GI (for example white bread, white rice, white potatoes) in the first half hour or so after exercise. This should be continued until the normal meal pattern resumes.

Suitable choices to start refuelling include sports drinks, juices, cereal and low-fat milk, low-fat flavoured milk, sandwiches, pasta, muffins/crumpets, fruit and yoghurt.

Since most athletes develop a fluid deficit during exercise, replenishment of fluids post-exercise is also a very important consideration for optimal recovery. It is recommended that athletes consume 1.25 to 1.5 L of (non-alcoholic) fluid for every kilogram of body weight lost during exercise.

Protein and sporting performance

Protein is an important part of a training diet and plays a key role in post-exercise recovery and repair. Protein needs are generally met (and often exceeded) by most athletes who consume sufficient energy in their diet.

The amount of protein recommended for sporting people is only slightly higher than that recommended for the general public. For example:

• General public and active people – the daily recommended amount of protein is 0.8 to 1.0 g/kg of body weight (a 60 kg person should eat around 45 to 60 g of protein daily).
• Sports people involved in non-endurance events – people who exercise daily for 45 to 60 minutes should consume between 1.0 to 1.2 g/kg of body weight per day.
• Sports people involved in endurance events and strength events – people who exercise for longer periods (more than one hour) or who are involved in strength exercise, such as weight lifting, should consume between 1.2 to 2.0 g protein/kg of body weight per day.
• Athletes trying to lose weight on a reduced energy diet – increased protein intakes up to 2.0 g/kg of body weight per day can be beneficial in reducing loss of muscle mass.

For athletes interested in increasing lean mass or muscle protein synthesis, consumption of a high-quality protein source such as whey protein or milk containing around 20 to 25 g protein in close proximity to exercise (for example, within the period immediately to 2 hours after exercise) may be beneficial.

As a general approach to achieving optimal protein intakes, it is suggested to space out protein intake fairly evenly over the course of a day, for instance around 25 to 30 g protein every 3 to 5 hours, including as part of regular meals.

There is currently a lack of evidence to show that protein supplements directly improve athletic performance. Therefore, for most athletes, additional protein supplements are unlikely to improve sport performance.

While more research is required, other concerns associated with very high-protein diets include:

• increased cost
• potential negative impacts on bones and kidney function
• increased body weight if protein choices are also high in fat
• increased cancer risk (particularly with high red or processed meat intakes)
• displacement of other nutritious foods in the diet, such as bread, cereal, fruit and vegetables.

Using nutritional supplements to improve sporting performance

A well-planned diet will meet your vitamin and mineral needs. Supplements will only be of any benefit if your diet is inadequate or you have a diagnosed deficiency, such as an iron or calcium deficiency. There is no evidence that extra doses of vitamins improve sporting performance.

Nutritional supplements can be found in pill, tablet, capsule, powder or liquid form, and cover a broad range of products including:

• vitamins
• minerals
• herbs
• meal supplements
• sports nutrition products
• natural food supplements.

Before using supplements, you should consider what else you can do to improve your sporting performance – diet, training and lifestyle changes are all more proven and cost effective ways to improve your performance. Relatively few supplements that claim performance benefits are supported by sound scientific evidence. Use of vitamin and mineral supplements is also potentially dangerous. Supplements should not be taken without the advice of a qualified health professional. It’s best if dietary imbalances are adjusted after analysing and altering your diet, instead of by using a supplement or pill.

The ethical use of sports supplements is a personal choice by athletes, and it remains controversial. It’s important to remember that if you take supplements, you are responsible for the ingestion of these and any subsequent health, legal or safety consequences that may occur. If taking supplements, you are also at risk of committing an anti-doping rule violation no matter what level of sport you play.

Water and sporting performance

Dehydration can impair athletic performance and, in extreme cases, may lead to collapse and even death.

Drinking plenty of fluids before, during and after exercise is very important. Don’t wait until you are thirsty. Fluid intake is particularly important for events lasting more than 60 minutes, of high intensity or in warm conditions.

Water is a suitable drink, but sports drinks may be required, especially in endurance events or warm climates. Sports drinks contain some sodium, which helps absorption. A sodium content of 30 mmol/L (millimoles per litre) appears suitable in sports nutrition.

While insufficient hydration is a problem for many athletes, excess hydration may also be potentially dangerous. In rare cases, athletes might consume excessive amounts of fluids that dilute the blood too much, causing a low blood concentration of sodium. This condition is called hyponatraemia, which can potentially lead to seizures, collapse, coma or even death if not treated appropriately.

Consuming fluids at a level of 400 to 800 ml per hour of exercise might be a suitable starting point to avoid dehydration and hyponatraemia, although intake should ideally be customised to individual athletes, considering variable factors such as climate, sweat rates and tolerance.

Where to get help

• Burke L, Deakin V, Mineham M 2021, Clinical sports nutrition , McGraw-Hill, Sydney.
• Gejl KD, Nybo L 2021, ‘Performance effects of periodized carbohydrate restriction in endurance trained athletes – a systematic review and meta-analysis’ , Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition, vol. 18, no. 37, pp. 1-12. 
• Jäger R, Kerksick CM, Campbell BI, et al. 2017 ‘International Society of Sports Nutrition Position Stand: protein and exercise’ , Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition, vol. 14, no. 20, pp. 1-25. 
• Nutrition , Australian Institute of Sport, Australian Government. 
• Thomas DT, Erdman KA , Burke LM 2016, ‘American College of Sports Medicine Joint Position Statement: Nutrition and athletic performance’ , Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, vol. 48, no. 3, pp. 543-568.  
• Nutrition and healthy eating resources , Nutrition Australia.

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This page has been produced in consultation with and approved by:

This page has been produced in consultation with and approved by:

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