Myths about sports nutrition
Recently, sports nutrition has become very popular. Agree, many people have felt the harm from the usual, tasty, but too high-calorie diet. Healthy eating is very important for maintaining a healthy lifestyle, but “canned food” still raises a lot of doubts and mistrust. Against this background, a lot of all kinds of myths appear, which often do not correspond to the truth. It is unlikely that it will be possible to consider all the existing myths, since their number is large and new “interesting facts” about sports nutrition constantly appear. But I would like to dwell on the most common ones.
So, first and popular myth – sports nutrition is required exclusively for athletes. In fact, this is only partially true – this composition of nutrients originally came to the taste of athletes. But it was developed not only for them, but for everyone who is engaged in hard physical labor. Take, for example, industrial climbers or rescuers – their calorie consumption per day is no less than that of an athlete. Therefore, you need to take nutrients from somewhere. Carbohydrate-protein mixtures have enough calories to maintain performance at the proper level.
The second myth – sports nutrition is “chemistry”, from which only muscles grow. So, proper sports nutrition is absolutely not “chemistry” Products of well-known companies have only natural ingredients, so you should pay attention to the manufacturer. If the manufacturer does not inspire confidence, you should think about buying, since it is such food that may contain prohibited ingredients.
The third common myth is that you can achieve good results without sports nutrition.… No, you can, of course, achieve results. Only this is much more complicated. With strong physical exertion, you can eat as usual, only in this case, in accordance with the energy expended, you will have to absorb more food. The stomach is not prepared for this and a slowdown in the absorption of nutrients can occur, and, as a result, obesity. In the case when physical strength is necessary for losing weight, the amount of proteins and carbohydrates that are part of daily consumed foods will have to be measured almost by grams. This is hardly real in everyday life. Otherwise, the state of health sharply worsens, muscle weakness may occur, and, as a result, there will be a decrease in motor activity.
Another nutritional myth about strict adherence to the consumption of supplements by the hour is true only of athletes who are involved in bodybuilding. In this case, food is something akin to a ritual. The rest of the meal does not matter, the main thing is that the intake of protein-protein shakes was not later than 20-30 minutes before the start of the workout, and the intake of protein products – immediately after the end of it.
Some people believe that sports nutrition can be used at home as well. There is some truth in this, but then you need to move your workouts home or take food with you to the gym. This is due to the rules of admission, which suggest taking it 20 minutes before the start of the workout.
There are several other common myths about protein intake or water intake.
The myth that the more protein you eat, the better – completely unreasonable. Proteins are necessary for physical activity, but at the same time, 1,2-1,8 grams is enough for each kilogram of body weight.
The myth that you can take any amount of water also has no reason. On the contrary, a lot of water is dangerous for the health of an athlete, swelling, vomiting, headaches and even respiratory arrest may occur.
It should be noted that very often sports supplements are also used in cases of recovery from injuries, illnesses, or according to special recommendations of nutritionists. In this case, most often, specific supplements are recommended, which are necessary in each specific situation. But there are also universal supplements that will help you achieve the ideal balance of vitamins and minerals to maintain the body’s tone.
Sports nutrition is also supported by the fact that even the most, at first glance, healthy set of foods is not able to give our body everything it needs – sometimes, in order to get the daily intake of vitamins, you will need to eat several kilograms of vegetables or fruits.
So, high-quality nutritional supplements are an excellent tool for maintaining fitness, healthy tone, and achieving sports goals.