Athletes and their support personnel are constantly seeking evidence-informed recommendations to enhance athletic performance during competition and to optimize training-induced adaptations. Accordingly, nutritional and supplementation strategies are commonplace when seeking to achieve these aims, with such practices being implemented before, during, or after competition and/or training in a periodized manner. Performance nutrition is becoming increasingly specialized and needs to consider the diversity of athletes and the nature of the competitions. This Special Issue, Nutrition Support for Athletic Performance, describes recent advances in these areas.

The use of antioxidants in sports is controversial due to existing evidence that they both support and hinder athletic performance. Antioxidants in Sport Nutrition covers antioxidant use in the athlete ́s basic nutrition and discusses the controversies surrounding the usefulness of antioxidant supplementation. The book also stresses how antioxidants may affect immunity, health, and exercise performance. The book contains scientifically based chapters explaining the basic mechanisms of exercise-induced oxidative damage. Also covered are methodological approaches to assess the effectiveness of antioxidant treatment. Biomarkers are discussed as a method to estimate the bioefficacy of dietary/supplemental antioxidants in sports. This book is useful for sport nutrition scientists, physicians, exercise physiologists, product developers, sport practitioners, coaches, top athletes, and recreational athletes. In it, they will find objective information and practical guidance.

With the constant flow of information related to sports nutrition coming from scholarly journals, it is difficult to sift through it all and determine what is relevant. Sports Nutrition: Enhancing Athletic Performance helps in this endeavor, with more than 1,000 references from top academic journals, offering critical knowledge concerning nutrient ingestion for enhancing exercise and sports performance. This book offers a clear focus on scientifically based sports nutrition advice to maximize performance. It also addresses exercise metabolism, which governs how nutrients exert physiologic effects that lead to increased athletic potential. The book examines the three key macronutrients: fat, carbohydrate, and protein. It discusses various aspects of macronutrient metabolism, including differences between a body at rest and during high-intensity exercise. Topics covered in the text include the following: Nutrient timing Leucine threshold to optimize muscle protein synthesis Carbohydrate manipulations for better endurance- and resistance-exercise performance Dietary fat intake recommendations for improving performance Carbohydrate loading strategies Optimal amounts of protein to ingest on a meal-by-meal basis Pre-exercise dietary fat intake strategies Comparison of high-quality proteins In addition to enhancing performance, the book describes how to improve body composition, presenting a scientifically based strategy for losing body fat while maintaining precious lean muscle mass. Four principles of fat loss are set forth that are integral for success in optimizing body composition. This book presents both performance nutrition principles and exercise biochemistry, addressing the key questions of what, when, and how much to ingest for improved performance and training recovery.

Nutrition and Enhanced Sports Performance: Muscle Building, Endurance and Strength, Second Edition, includes comprehensive sections on the role of nutrition in human health, various types of physical exercises, including cardiovascular training, resistance training, aerobic and anaerobic exercises, bioenergetics and energy balance, and the nutritional requirements associated with each. Other sections cover sports and nutritional requirements, the molecular mechanisms involved in muscle building, an exhaustive review of various foods, minerals, supplements, phytochemicals, amino acids, transition metals, competition training, healthy cooking, physical training, and lifestyle and dietary recommendations for sports performance. This updated edition includes new chapters on mood, alertness, calmness and psychomotor performance in sports, extreme sports, natural myostatin inhibitor and lean body mass, the benefits of caffeine in sport nutrition formulations, the role of vitamin D in athletic performance, probiotics and muscle mass. - Provides a comprehensive appraisal of the nutritional benefits of exercise in human health - Compiles chapters reviewing the nutritional prophylaxis in human health - Addresses performance enhancement drugs and sports supplements - Presents various types of physical exercises and addresses exercise and nutritional requirements in special populations - Discusses sports nutrition and the molecular mechanisms involved in muscle building - Contains an exhaustive review of various food, minerals, supplements, phytochemicals, amino acids, transition metals, small molecules and other ergogenic agents - Highlights the aspects of healthy cooking, physical training, lifestyle and dietary recommendations for sports performance

This book summarizes the latest meeting of the world's leading researchers in sports nutrition, held at the IOC headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland. The aim of the conference was to review the latest developments in the world of sport nutrition, to follow up on developments since the previous 1991 conference, and to draw up guidelines to help athletes and coaches optimise their performance by using nutrition to support training and maximise performance in competition. Subjects discussed in this cutting-edge collection include: * energy balance and body composition * the role of carbohydrates * the role of proteins and amino acids * athlete fluid and electrolyte requirements * the use of dietary supplements for optimum performance and immune function.

This long-standing and renowned reference for both the seasoned and novice sports dietitian thoroughly explores all areas of nutrition for sports and fitness. Now in full colour, it also serves as an excellent text for sports nutrition courses and a study aid for the CSSD specialty exam.

It is well-established, through extensive peer-reviewed published research, that physical activity and exercise training can impact the reproductive endocrine system of women. This ground-breaking, comprehensive title presents a range of unique insights into the opposite question: how the reproductive endocrine system of women affects their exercise ability. More precisely, the thematic question explored in this work is: if exercise affects reproductive hormones, conversely then could the reproductive hormones have physiological effects unrelated to reproduction that influence the capacity of women to exercise? In exploring this question, the goal is to better understand the unique physiology of women and whether female sex hormones might account for some of the variance in physiological performance between amenorrheic and eumenorrheic women, and within women across the age span as they experience menarche to menopause. Sex Hormones, Exercise and Women: Scientific and Clinical Aspects synthesizes the research by exploring the physiology and psychology behind these occurrences. This novel title will not only be of interest to researchers, exercise scientists, graduate students, and clinicians; it will also serve as a source of valuable information for female athletes and their trainers in the context of preparing for competitions.

This book includes all the papers presented at the meeting, revised to take account of all the points made during discussions, and the Consensus Statement itself. The topics covered include recommendations for optimum carbohydrate, protein, fat, total energy, fluid and electrolyte, and vitamin mineral intakes to maximise sports performance.

It’s hard keeping up with the nutritional needs for kids, and even harder getting them to actually eat many of these foods. Learn how to get your athlete on the right track. With athletic kids, there’s even more to pay attention to! Most young athletes are not eating properly to compete--too many convenient but empty calories that are doing them more harm than good. As a result, these young athletes are losing energy when they should be increasing it, feeling deterred when they should be motivated, and decreasing muscle mass when they need it more than ever. Fortunately, with the right nutrition, young athletes can increase their energy, bolster their motivation, gain muscle mass, overcome fatigue, and improve their performance. Registered dietitian and childhood nutrition expert Jill Castle has written this must-read resource for every parent of active kids ages eight through eighteen. In Eat Like a Champion, parents will find help in: Tailoring diets for training, competition, and even off-season Finding the best food options, whether at home or on the go Addressing counterproductive or unhealthy patterns Understanding where supplements, sports drinks, and performance-enhancing substances do--and don’t--fit in Complete with charts, recipes, and practical meal and snack ideas that can help athletic youngsters eat to win, Eat Like a Champion just may be the difference-maker in your athlete’s next game!