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Sports Nutrition and Athletes’ Health

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A special issue of International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (ISSN 1660-4601). This special issue belongs to the section "Exercise and Health-Related Quality of Life".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (1 May 2024) | Viewed by 6773

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Dr. Floris Wardenaar

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Guest Editor

College of Health Solutions, Arizona State University, Phoenix, AZ 85004, USA
Interests: sports nutrition; hydration; thermoregulation; dietary supplements
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Dear Colleagues,

The majority of the time, sports nutrition concepts are targeted to athletes; however, the concept itself can often be applied by all that are active, especially those working or being active under extreme circumstances, such as tactical athletes and occupational professions. Hence, the adequate intake of energy and nutrients is of great importance for a wide range of active populations, to ensure optimal performance, adaptation, and recovery. In order to minimize health risks, people need to meet nutrition demands; as such, specific sports nutrition recommendations have been formulated. However, the recommended habitual dietary intake can be difficult to reach as part of the athlete’s available energy budget. A large variation is observed in dietary intake by athletes. An obvious reason for this is that sports differ regarding their nutritional demands, in particular, when it comes to macronutrients and total energy intake. Additionally, some sport disciplines make it difficult for, or do not allow, the athlete to always consume the right quantity and type of foods at the appropriate time. For example, during competition, this could be due to the intensity of exercise, or because of the rules applicable to the field of sport. Planning dietary intake before, during, and after exercise can be quite demanding. In addition, physiological limitations, such as gastrointestinal (GI) distress, can interfere with the recommended dietary intake related to exercise. As a result of having a strong winners’ mentality and personality, some may be tempted to follow certain food hypes or take products that promise benefits. Commercial pressure may also play a role. Suppliers consider top athletes an interesting target group to promote the sales of their products, and they sometimes sponsor teams or individual athletes. In summary, sports nutrition presents specific challenges for the athletes, but also health professionals, such as sports dietitians, athletic trainers, strength coaches, and coaches. It is, therefore, also understandable that several athletes experience difficulties in meeting the recommendations or their personal dietary goals.

This Special Issue of the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (IJERPH) focuses on the current state of knowledge on the links between Sports Nutrition and Athletes' Health. New research papers, reviews, and case reports are welcome to this issue. Other manuscript types accepted include methodological papers, position papers, and brief reports.

Examples of the topics that may be considered for publication are:

Sports nutrition interventions that improve markers of health and performance, including whole diet interventions or specific isolated sports nutrition supplements.
Dietary exposure assessment in athletic populations; in particular, studies that combine dietary intake with biomarkers reporting nutrient status are welcomed.
Normative dietary intake data for specific sports or athletic populations, including articles that assess regional or geographical differences that influence dietary preferences, concerning international sports nutrition recommendations.
Validation studies for dietary intake assessment methods in athletic populations, including the validation of existing methods translated into a different language, such as food frequency questionnaires.
Studies assessing athlete perception, attitudes, and knowledge towards sports nutrition and dietary supplements, including the athlete’s compliance with guidelines, recommendations, and nutrition counseling.
Studies assessing the interdisciplinary interaction between health professionals working in sports within the field of sports nutrition.

Dr. Floris Wardenaar
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2500 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

exercise
activity
performance
diet
supplement
biomarker
assessment
sports foods
normative data
validation

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

15 pages, 3511 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Continuous Glucose Monitoring (CGM) in Sports—A Comparison between a CGM Device and Lab-Based Glucose Analyser under Resting and Exercising Conditions in Athletes

by Helen Bauhaus, Pinar Erdogan, Hans Braun and Mario Thevis

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2023, 20(15), 6440; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20156440 - 25 Jul 2023

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1416

Abstract

The objective of this pilot study was to compare glucose concentrations in capillary blood (CB) samples analysed in a laboratory by a validated method and glucose concentrations measured in the interstitial fluid (ISF) by continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) under different physical activity levels in a postprandial state in healthy athletes without diabetes. As a physiological shift occurs between glucose concentration from the CB into the ISF, the applicability of CGM in sports, especially during exercise, as well as the comparability of CB and ISF data necessitate an in-depth assessment. Ten subjects (26 ± 4 years, 67 ± 11 kg bodyweight (BW), 11 ± 3 h) were included in the study. Within 14 days, they underwent six tests consisting of (a) two tests resting fasted (HC_Rest/Fast and LC_Rest/Fast), (b) two tests resting with intake of 1 g glucose/kg BW (HC_Rest/Glc and LC_Rest/Glc), (c) running for 60 min at moderate (ModExerc/Glc), and (d) high intensity after intake of 1 g glucose/kg BW (IntExerc/Glc). Data were collected in the morning, following a standardised dinner before test day. Sensor-based glucose concentrations were compared to those determined from capillary blood samples collected at the time of sensor-based analyses and subjected to laboratory glucose measurements. Pearson’s r correlation coefficient was highest for Rest/Glc (0.92, p < 0.001) compared to Rest/Fast (0.45, p < 0.001), ModExerc/Glc (0.60, p < 0.001) and IntExerc/Glc (0.70, p < 0.001). Mean absolute relative deviation (MARD) and standard deviation (SD) was smallest for resting fasted and similar between all other conditions (Rest/Fast: 8 ± 6%, Rest/Glc: 17 ± 12%, ModExerc/Glc: 22 ± 24%, IntExerc/Glc: 18 ± 17%). However, Bland–Altman plot analysis showed a higher range between lower and upper limits of agreement (95% confidence interval) of paired data under exercising compared to resting conditions. Under resting fasted conditions, both methods produce similar outcomes. Under resting postprandial and exercising conditions, respectively, there are differences between both methods. Based on the results of this study, the application of CGM in healthy athletes is not recommended without concomitant nutritional or medical advice. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sports Nutrition and Athletes’ Health)

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11 pages, 586 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Athletes Perceived Level of Risk Associated with Botanical Food Supplement Use and Their Sources of Information

by Bridin McDaid, Floris C. Wardenaar, Jayne V. Woodside, Charlotte E. Neville, David Tobin, Sharon Madigan and Anne P. Nugent

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2023, 20(13), 6244; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20136244 - 28 Jun 2023

Viewed by 1487

Abstract

Athletes should carefully consider the use of botanical food supplements (BFSs) given the current lack of substantiation for botanical nutrition and health claims under EU and UK food laws. In addition, athletes may be at an increased risk of doping violations and other adverse outcomes potentially associated with BFS use; however, little is known about athletes’ intake, knowledge, or perceptions in relation to BFS use. An online cross-sectional survey of n = 217 elite and amateur athletes living on the island of Ireland was conducted using Qualtrics XM to assess intake, knowledge, attitudes, and perceptions. General food supplements (FSs) were reported by approximately 60% of the study cohort, and 16% of the supplements reported were categorized as BFS. The most frequently consumed BFSs were turmeric/curcumin (14%), Ashwagandha (10%), and Beetroot extract (8%). A higher proportion of amateur athletes would source information about BFSs from less credible sources, such as fellow athletes, or from internet sources or their coach, compared to elite athletes. Those who sourced information about botanicals from fellow athletes (p = 0.03) or the internet (p = 0.02) reported a lower perceived level of risks associated with BFS use. This study therefore suggests that amateur athletes may be more likely to source information from less credible sources compared to elite athletes who may have more access to nutrition professionals and their knowledge/advice. This may have potential adverse implications for amateur athletes, e.g., Gaelic games players, who are included within the doping testing pool but who may not have access to evidence-based nutrition advice. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sports Nutrition and Athletes’ Health)

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14 pages, 357 KiB

Open AccessArticle

How Sports Health Professionals Perceive and Prescribe Nutritional Supplements to Olympic and Non-Olympic Athletes

by Floris C. Wardenaar and Daan Hoogervorst

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19(19), 12477; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph191912477 - 30 Sep 2022

Cited by 7 | Viewed by 1500

Abstract

Background: A wide range of sports health professionals provide nutritional supplement advice. We aimed to better understand the expertise, knowledge, and attitudes of sports health professionals toward nutritional supplements and third-party supplement testing. Methods: A web-based questionnaire was used to ask questions about nutritional supplement knowledge and attitudes toward the Dutch third-party supplement testing system (NZVT), about supplement efficacy, and if professionals advise these supplements, as well as which profession can be deemed the expert on nutritional supplements. Results: A total of n = 320 sports health professionals delivered input, of which 45% worked with Olympic athletes and 18% were sports dietitians. Sports dietitians were ranked as the most knowledgeable professionals about sports nutrition (80%) and nutritional supplements (74%), and a literature-based comparison showed the most favorable knowledge, attitudes, and ergogenic classifications of supplement scores for sports dietitians compared with other sports health professions. Sports health professionals working with Olympic athletes scored similar but slightly lower trends on self-reported knowledge, attitude and third-party supplement testing than sports dietitians but substantially better than professionals not working with Olympic athletes. Conclusion: Sports dietitians are seen as the absolute expert on supplements by other sports health professionals, with professionals working with Olympic athletes reporting similar trends, and other sports health professionals do have lower self-reported knowledge and preferred attitudes toward effective and safe use of dietary supplements. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sports Nutrition and Athletes’ Health)

12 pages, 789 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Reliability of the Athlete Food Choice Questionnaire in Diverse Settings

by Rachael L. Thurecht, Fiona E. Pelly and Sarah Burkhart

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19(16), 9981; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19169981 - 12 Aug 2022

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1738

Abstract

Understanding the factors that influence an athletes’ food choice is important to supporting optimal dietary intake. The Athlete Food Choice Questionnaire (AFCQ) is a new validated tool for assisting practitioners and researchers to understand athlete eating behaviours. However, the AFCQ previously has only been applied at international competition events. This observational study explored the online application of the AFCQ outside of the competition environment with detailed examination of factor reliability. The AFCQ factors include ‘nutritional attributes of the food’, ‘emotional influences’, ‘food and health awareness’, ‘influence of others’, ‘usual eating practices’, ‘weight control’, ‘food values and beliefs’, ‘sensory appeal’, and ‘performance’. A total of 131 athletes, representing 19 countries and 36 sports, participated using an online questionnaire. Reliability via Cronbach’s alpha (α) and item correlation scores were compared to those from previous competition events. Acceptable reliability was attained for seven of the nine factors (α ≥ 0.7, range 0.70–0.92). ‘Food values and beliefs’ and ‘usual eating practices’ (α = 0.60, 0.64) were tolerable and consistent against previous major competition samples, indicating that the setting is unlikely responsible for lower reliability scores. Three factors (‘emotional influence’; ‘nutritional attributes of the food’; ‘influence of others’) differed in reliability between the online sample compared to one or both major competition samples. The ‘religious food beliefs’ item within the ‘food values and beliefs’ factor may warrant removal due to recurrent low internal consistency. This study confirms the AFCQ’s reliability regardless of competition phase and supports use of the AFCQ for understanding the eating behaviours of athletes. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sports Nutrition and Athletes’ Health)

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