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Game Day Nutrition
Athletes have unique nutritional needs. Because athletes use more energy than their less-active peers, they generally need extra calories to fuel both their sports performance and their growth. Depending on how active they are, athletes may need anywhere from 2,000 - 5,000 total calories per day to meet their energy needs.
Most of the body's energy on game day will come from the foods consumed over the past several days. Strive for a game-day diet rich in carbohydrates, moderate in protein, and low in fat.
Here are some guidelines on what to eat and when:
- The bigger the meal, the more time you should allow for digestion. It takes the stomach approximately 4 hours to empty. Meals 4-6 hours before the game should include lean sources of protein, carbohydrates and a small amount of fat. The ratio would be 60% carbohydrates, 30% fat (healthy fats) and 20% protein. Choose a protein and carbohydrate meal like a turkey sandwich or sub sandwich, yams and chicken breast with a few nuts, cereal and milk, chicken noodle soup, yogurt or cottage cheese with fruit, apple and peanut butter, cheese and crackers, granola or trail mix with nuts and dried fruit or pasta with a meat sauce.
- Meals or snacks 2 hours before the game should consist of fast digesting carbohydrates; Toast, English muffins, a banana, apples, fruit smoothies, crackers, low fat yogurt or a granola bar.
- The only foods that should be consumed in the hour prior to exercise are simple carbohydrates that metabolize quickly. These would include fruits (apples, melon, berries), fruit juices, and sports drinks. Eating food too close to any kind of activity can leave food in the stomach, making you feel full, bloated, crampy, and sick.
Everyone is different, so get to know what works best for you. You may want to experiment with meal timing and how much to eat on practice days so that you're better prepared for game day.
Some suggestions for a traveling emergency food kit:
Seal-able bags of dry cereal, crackers, meal-replacement bars, granola bars, fig bars, Trail mix with dried fruit and nuts, peanut butter sandwich, pouches or easy-open cans of tuna or chicken, water, juice, sport drinks
