Nutrition Tips for Athletes

Did you know that all of the energy we need for life as well as for exercise comes from the food we eat and the fluids we drink? It is true and these nutrients are commonly broken into three definitive classes:

• Protein

• Carbohydrates

• Fats

While each category of food is important for health, we should all consume foods from an equally as possible portion of each category. The absolute ratios in which we need to consume these foods; however, is often the topic of a stirring and very emotionally filled debate.

We can look at each category and tell you about what these nutrition tips for athletes is all about. Let us start with and with sports nutrition since playing basketball is what we are all interested in doing and improving our game!

Sports Nutrition – Protein

Proteins, often referred to as the building blocks of the body, are a combination of structures called amino acids that works in various ways to make muscles, skin, hair and other important issues of the body.

Protein provides the fuel for the body to make the movements such as jumping and reaching for rebounds possible in a basketball game. Proteins also serve other functions as well including nutrient transportation and enzyme production. It is estimated that there are well over 10,000 different proteins in a human body at one point in time.

Good Food

To make certain that you get an adequate supply of regular protein you need to know what foods as well as what liquid contains the highest amount of protein. You have probably heard this or seen this listing somewhere in your life before but it never hurts to have this information repeated repeatedly so that you know what to eat and what not to eat.

• Meat

• Fish

• Eggs

By taking in a variety of the above-mentioned food samplings, as a basketball player, you will be providing your body with the best and utilizing what we have to offer you here in this review of the nutrition tips for athletes.

Protein Needs for Basketball Players

Basketball players need protein primarily to repair and rebuild muscle that is broken down during exercise and to help optimizes carbohydrate storage in the form of glycogen. Protein is not an ideal source of fuel for exercise, but can be used when the diet lacks an adequate supply of carbohydrates.

This can be detrimental, though, because if used for fuel, there is not enough available to repair and rebuild anatomically correct body tissues, including muscle. In addition, we all know you need as much muscle as you can get especially in your legs and the actual muscles that propel air into your lungs when playing the sport of basketball on any level.