Explore the vast range of titles available.

Sports Nutrition, which focuses on the importance of proper nutritional preparation for athletes, provides a practical supplement to Nutrition in Sport. It provides an essential reference on all aspects of sports nutrition for the team coach, athletic trainer, physical therapist and allied health-related professional working with athletes and sports teams, and the knowledgeable athlete.

Basic nutrition requirements and proper training are the two most important factors for athletes to achieve peak performance levels. This volume addresses these needs on a comprehensive basis from a training table perspective. Offering practical guidelines for practitioners and athletes, the book focuses on the key macronutrients that fuel daily metabolism and exercise training, and explores differing needs for various athletes and their individual goals. It discusses how to determine body weight for a desired body fat percentage, recommended calorie consumption, dietary suggestions, and useful meal planning tools for a wide variety of caloric needs.

Background: Sports nutrition is a rapidly developing field of study, and optimum nutrition can have a crucial impact on athletic performance and, in turn, overall well-being. Nutritional knowledge and dietary intake of athletes are paramount in terms of reaching optimum athletic performance and promoting recovery. This review will scope the current literature in relation to nutritional knowledge and dietary intake of athletes in order to establish gaps in the research that require further exploration. Methods: A review of papers (n = 21) related to athletes’ nutritional knowledge and dietary intake in Sage, Pub-Mud, EBESCO and Sports-Discus databases was undertaken up to October 2024. Each of these papers met the strict eligibility criteria for inclusion following the adoption of the guidelines of Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analysis Extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA–ScR). Results: Studies reported that gaps exist in the nutritional knowledge and awareness of athletes in relation to nutrient intake and the recommended dietary guidelines. Furthermore, a disparity in knowledge exists with females overall exhibiting superior awarenesses in comparison to male counterparts. The findings of this study suggest that food supplements are being used to compensate for a shortfall in nutrition. A lack of access to evidence-based nutritional advice and practical, hands-on nutritional education have been cited as major barriers to enhancing and addressing nutritional awareness and knowledge. Conclusions: This scoping review mapped the existing literature relating to athletes’ nutritional knowledge and dietary practices and, in turn, revealed critical gaps and barriers The review established the need for further research to explore and address these gaps.

Optimal nutrition in athletes can contribute to training adaptations, recovery, performance, and injury prevention in addition to supporting their overall health and well-being. Macronutrient intake and the link to role in athletic performance has been investigated by several studies, while micronutrient intake in athletes appears to be understudied. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to assess caloric and selected micronutrient intakes in female collegiate student-athletes across several sports. The participants from seven sports were instructed to complete 3-day food records; dietary intakes were compared to their individual nutritional needs. Results of this study indicated that average intakes of our participants for vitamin C (132.3%), vitamin K (110.5%), and sodium (173%) intakes were significantly above the recommended intakes. However, average intakes for calories (78.0%), calcium (63.1%), magnesium (68.7%), potassium (83.8%), and iron (80.8%) were all significantly below the recommended intakes. More specifically, indoor volleyball and golf athletes exhibited significantly lower vitamin A intake (53.3% and 43.6%, respectively), while iron insufficiency (% of recommendation) was more pronounced in the indoor volleyball (59.8%), golf (65.4%), and tennis (69.9%) teams. Chronic underconsumption of calories and micronutrients can lead to numerous health and athletic performance related consequences. Thus, recognizing and addressing inadequate intakes is imperative to help the student-athletes meet their needs in alignment with dietary guidelines through nutrition education and counseling, as well as dedicated funding and resources towards promoting their overall health, well-being, and athletic as well as academic performance and success.

Adolescent athletes face unique nutritional challenges due to the simultaneous demands of growth, development, and athletic performance. This review synthesizes current evidence on energy and macronutrient requirements, hydration strategies, and key micronutrients, including iron, calcium, and vitamin D, which are essential for supporting health and performance in youth sport. It explores the physiological risks associated with low energy availability (LEA), while emphasizing the importance of carbohydrate and protein timing, quality, and distribution. The review also evaluates the role of dietary supplements and ergogenic aids, including creatine and energy drinks, highlighting safety concerns and advocating for a food-first approach. Practical strategies for nutrition education, interdisciplinary collaboration, and individualized care are presented to guide healthcare professionals, coaches, and caregivers in fostering sustainable, performance-supportive eating habits. By aligning intake with training demands and developmental needs, adolescent athletes can optimize performance, recovery, and long-term well-being.

Background Sports nutrition is a constantly evolving field with hundreds of research papers published annually. In the year 2017 alone, 2082 articles were published under the key words ‘sport nutrition’. Consequently, staying current with the relevant literature is often difficult. Methods This paper is an ongoing update of the sports nutrition review article originally published as the lead paper to launch the Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition in 2004 and updated in 2010. It presents a well-referenced overview of the current state of the science related to optimization of training and performance enhancement through exercise training and nutrition. Notably, due to the accelerated pace and size at which the literature base in this research area grows, the topics discussed will focus on muscle hypertrophy and performance enhancement. As such, this paper provides an overview of: 1.) How ergogenic aids and dietary supplements are defined in terms of governmental regulation and oversight; 2.) How dietary supplements are legally regulated in the United States; 3.) How to evaluate the scientific merit of nutritional supplements; 4.) General nutritional strategies to optimize performance and enhance recovery; and, 5.) An overview of our current understanding of nutritional approaches to augment skeletal muscle hypertrophy and the potential ergogenic value of various dietary and supplemental approaches. Conclusions This updated review is to provide ISSN members and individuals interested in sports nutrition with information that can be implemented in educational, research or practical settings and serve as a foundational basis for determining the efficacy and safety of many common sport nutrition products and their ingredients.

Position statement The International Society of Sports Nutrition (ISSN) provides an objective and critical review related to the intake of protein for healthy, exercising individuals. Based on the current available literature, the position of the Society is as follows: An acute exercise stimulus, particularly resistance exercise, and protein ingestion both stimulate muscle protein synthesis (MPS) and are synergistic when protein consumption occurs before or after resistance exercise. For building muscle mass and for maintaining muscle mass through a positive muscle protein balance, an overall daily protein intake in the range of 1.4–2.0 g protein/kg body weight/day (g/kg/d) is sufficient for most exercising individuals, a value that falls in line within the Acceptable Macronutrient Distribution Range published by the Institute of Medicine for protein. There is novel evidence that suggests higher protein intakes (>3.0 g/kg/d) may have positive effects on body composition in resistance-trained individuals (i.e., promote loss of fat mass). Recommendations regarding the optimal protein intake per serving for athletes to maximize MPS are mixed and are dependent upon age and recent resistance exercise stimuli. General recommendations are 0.25 g of a high-quality protein per kg of body weight, or an absolute dose of 20–40 g. Acute protein doses should strive to contain 700–3000 mg of leucine and/or a higher relative leucine content, in addition to a balanced array of the essential amino acids (EAAs). These protein doses should ideally be evenly distributed, every 3–4 h, across the day. The optimal time period during which to ingest protein is likely a matter of individual tolerance, since benefits are derived from pre- or post-workout ingestion; however, the anabolic effect of exercise is long-lasting (at least 24 h), but likely diminishes with increasing time post-exercise. While it is possible for physically active individuals to obtain their daily protein requirements through the consumption of whole foods, supplementation is a practical way of ensuring intake of adequate protein quality and quantity, while minimizing caloric intake, particularly for athletes who typically complete high volumes of training. Rapidly digested proteins that contain high proportions of essential amino acids (EAAs) and adequate leucine, are most effective in stimulating MPS. Different types and quality of protein can affect amino acid bioavailability following protein supplementation. Athletes should consider focusing on whole food sources of protein that contain all of the EAAs (i.e., it is the EAAs that are required to stimulate MPS). Endurance athletes should focus on achieving adequate carbohydrate intake to promote optimal performance; the addition of protein may help to offset muscle damage and promote recovery. Pre-sleep casein protein intake (30–40 g) provides increases in overnight MPS and metabolic rate without influencing lipolysis.

Sport nutrition knowledge has been shown to influence dietary habits of athletes. The purpose of the current study was to examine relationships between sport nutrition knowledge and body composition and examine potential predictors of body weight goals in collegiate athletes. Participants included National Collegiate Athletic Association Division III women (n = 42, height: 169.9 ± 6.9 cm; body mass: 67.1 ± 8.6 kg; fat-free mass: 51.3 ± 6.6 kg; body fat percent: 24.2 ± 5.3%) and men (n = 25, height: 180.8 ± 7.2 cm; body mass: 89.2 ± 20.5 kg; fat-free mass: 75.9 ± 12.2 kg; body fat percent: 13.5 ± 8.9%) athletes. Body composition was assessed via air displacement plethysmography. Athletes completed a validated questionnaire designed to assess sport nutrition knowledge and were asked questions about their perceived dietary energy and macronutrient requirements, as well as their body weight goal (i.e., lose, maintain, gain weight). Athletes answered 47.98 ± 11.29% of questions correctly on the nutrition questionnaire with no differences observed between sexes (men: 49.52 ± 11.76% vs. women: 47.03 ± 11.04%; p = 0.40). An inverse relationship between sport nutrition knowledge scores and body fat percentage (BF%) (r = −0.330; p = 0.008), and fat mass (r = −0.268; p = 0.032) was observed for all athletes. Fat mass (β = 0.224), BF% (β = 0.217), and body mass index (BMI) (β = 0.421) were all significant (p < 0.05) predictors of body weight goal in women. All athletes significantly (p < 0.001) underestimated daily energy (−1360 ± 610.2 kcal/day), carbohydrate (−301.6 ± 149.2 grams/day [g/day]), and fat (−41.4 ± 34.5 g/day) requirements. Division III collegiate athletes have a low level of sport nutrition knowledge, which was associated with a higher BF%. Women athletes with a higher body weight, BF% and BMI were more likely to select weight loss as a body weight goal. Athletes also significantly underestimated their energy and carbohydrate requirements based upon the demands of their sport, independent of sex.

This study investigated whether athletes meet micronutrient recommendations and whether the adequacy of their intake is related to the use of dietary supplements, sport nutrition products or a combination. Micronutrient intakes of 553 Dutch (sub-) elite athletes were assessed using web-based 24-h dietary recalls with accompanying nutritional supplement questionnaires. In the majority of both users and non-users of dietary supplements, vitamin D intake was below the estimated average requirement (AR) if supplements were not included in the analysis. Including dietary supplements improved vitamin D intake, but still a part of the athletes, both men and women, reported an intake below the AR. Non-users of dietary supplements were particularly at risk for low intakes of vitamins B1, B2, B3 and vitamins A, C and selenium. Mean iron intake was reported below the AR in a substantial group of women, both users and non-users. The use of sport nutrition products contributed only slightly to micronutrient intake. A small prevalence of athletes using dietary supplements showed intakes of some micronutrients above the Upper Level. In conclusion, both users and non-users of nutritional supplements reported inadequate intake of micronutrients. For most micronutrients, use of nutritional supplements does not completely compensate for intakes below AR. Athletes should consider making better food choices and the daily use of a low-dosed multivitamin supplement.