Insufficient nutrition can impair athletes' performance on the field and lead to more serious health consequences
A new article led by researchers from the Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de São Paulo (FMUSP) brings an updated review of the scientific knowledge about the nutrition of female professional soccer players, especially about energy consumption. The work was published in December 2021 by the Scandinavian Journal of Medicine and Science in Sport, and should be part of a special issue of the scientific journal on elite women's football.
In addition to identifying recurring practices that can harm the performance of athletes in matches and even increase the risk of health problems, the article brings relevant nutritional recommendations for elite players, nutritionists, and sports scientists.
“Soccer is a predominantly aerobic sport of intermittent nature, alternating periods of high and low intensity”, says researcher Maysa Vieira de Sousa, first author of the article and scientist at the Laboratory of Carbohydrates and Radioimmunoassays (LIM-18) at the Hospital das Clínicas of FMUSP.
She explains that the energy demand during the players' training is high and even greater during matches, which can require around 10 kilometers of running distance covered, with several high-intensity runs (sprints) and periods of acceleration and deceleration. “It is, therefore, superior in terms of caloric expenditure when compared to other sports such as volleyball, Olympic gymnastics, swimming and short and medium distance running”, says Maysa.
The high number of practices and matches played during a long competitive season and the limited recovery time between them demand specific nutritional strategies for athletes. In order to maximize their sports performance, in addition to keeping their health up to date, they need an optimal energy intake.
However, when carrying out a review of the scientific literature on the subject, the article concluded that a significant proportion of women elite soccer players eat insufficiently in order to match their energy expenditure. This results in low power availability, which can degrade field performance and even trigger more serious physiological consequences.
“Energy deficiency considerably compromises the adequate intake of all nutrients, bringing negative consequences such as chronic fatigue, increased risk of infections and some other complications in the cardiovascular, digestive, endocrine, reproductive, skeletal and central nervous systems, in addition to negatively impacting bone mass, muscle mass and general health”, says researcher Maysa de Sousa.
Turning the game
Care with food intake is essential to avoid imbalance or dysfunctions that result in lack of energy and health problems. In the case of professional women's football, nutrition strategies must also support training and competition goals.
According to the article, carbohydrates are the primary fuel for athletes, contributing about 60% to 70% of the total energy supply during matches. “Thinking about an athlete weighing 62 kilograms, for example, the approximate intake is 370 grams of carbohydrates per day, corresponding to 1500 kilocalories from carbohydrates alone”, says researcher Maysa de Sousa. She also explains that adequate caloric intake reduces the risk of hypovitaminosis and micronutrient deficiencies such as calcium and iron, for example.
Other strategies should include the intake of important macro and micronutrients for optimizing performance and for the general health of the players, adjusting the diet for training and rest periods, adjusting the intake of water and fluids containing electrolytes and even the use of nutritional supplements, which can provide a "small improvement in performance during training and games."
Also according to the researcher, more individualized nutritional plans, which take into account the physical characteristics and specific sports requirements of each athlete on the team, can greatly benefit teams. “I see them as fundamental to adequate nutrition in the different phases of training and games, in addition to optimizing recovery, preventing nutritional deficiencies and avoiding negative health consequences.”
The article is available for free access at: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/sms.14102
