Athletes need a healthy, nutritional balance to help them perform at a high level. In some circumstances, athletes have a certain dietary guideline to help them with their nutrition and getting their energy up.
KSC Women’s Soccer Player Taylor Bisaillon said, “Nutrition is so important for athletes because it fuels performance and progress as well. I don’t think someone can reach their full potential if they aren’t eating properly.”
Angelique Inchierca / Photo Editor
Bisaillon also said that a certain diet would be beneficial for athletes because it leads to a faster and more successful recovery after injuries.
Athletes tend to use more calories comparing towards non-athletes.
Bisaillon said, “I think athletes need more calories than non-athletes but it also depends on how active non-athletes are.”
Sugary foods can hurt an athlete’s performance and is not good for the individual to eat a lot of sugary and unhealthy foods during the season. It affects their health during the season and long term performance if athletes don’t eat a nutritional balance.
Niamh Dodd, a KSC volleyball player said that sugary foods will hurt athletes performance and the more sugary foods that athletes consume, the more likely that they will crash.
Athletes also consume more calories to help with their energy. Dodd also said, “Athletes need more calories because you need enough energy to perform at your peak and enough energy to burn through a lot of calories at a high level.”
Mia Brickley, a KSC field hockey player said, “In running, you work a lot of calories off and if you don’t burn your calories off, you won’t be able to perform well.”
Eating protein is really important to keep a healthy diet, also, eating things with more nutritional value such as fruits and vegetables, so an athlete can maintain a healthy lifestyle.
“Granola bars, fruits and vegetables, meat and variety of other protein will give you a lot of energy to perform well at the highest level,” Brickley said.
Bisaillon said, “Lean protein and carbo hydrate protein helps players before games and eating a healthy balance before the season helps eating protein during the season.”
Bad nutrition during the season affects athletes more than others think. It slows up their performance and athletes don’t reach their full potential during the season if they don’t eat healthy.
Bisaillon said, “Bad nutrition during the season could affect athletes overall health and wellness, which is important to their performance on and off the field.”
Dodd said, “Bad nutrition doesn’t give you adequate energy during the season and it will decrease your performance and doesn’t give you lasting energy during the season.”
With all the nutrients athletes must follow during and before the season it’s easy to see why athletes need to follow dietary guidelines to help them stay in shape during the season. It’s important for everyone to get a healthy balance of food everyday, but athletes especially need to follow healthy dietary outlines in order to maintain high energy, and a high level of momentum.
Simon Mauchly can be contacted at smauchly@kscequinox.com