“The key to our success? Nutrition,” Richard Plugge, general manager of Team Jumbo-Visma, the team of recent Tour de France winner Jonas Wingegaard, regularly boasts. The Dutchman knows that in order to achieve high athletic performance, a suitable and correct diet is necessary.
But this also applies to Sunday athletes, as explained. Laurie-Anne Marche, nutritionist for the French judo team and the northern Cofidis cycling team.
Why is nutrition important when playing sports?
LAURIE ANN MARQUET. First of all, diet is important not only when playing sports. But nutrition and exercise often go hand in hand, especially when we want to lose weight or gain muscle mass. If you play sports as a hobby, I wouldn’t say that diet is much different from healthy eating. We will only have a higher energy expenditure and therefore a higher calorie intake. But it’s not because we don’t exercise that we shouldn’t eat well and, conversely, it’s not sports that should force us to eat well.
What does proper nutrition give the body?
Many things. It provides energy to the body, especially through carbohydrates and lipids. Eating protein will allow you to maintain all the muscle mass, but it will also be a component of certain hormones, certain enzymes. It also strengthens the immune system, especially if we provide vitamins and minerals, especially through the consumption of fruits and vegetables, which also provide fiber, which will help regulate transit and better manage the liver.
Why is nutrition more important when you are young?
Above all, these are good habits to adopt. Eating well at a young age is almost a guarantee that you will eat well throughout your life. While it is true that if we have had bad habits for a long time of eating a lot of processed foods, few vegetables, a lot of snacks or sodas, we will carry them with us throughout our lives, and that can affect our health for a long time. term.
How important is hydration?
Our body is 60-70% water, and for good reason. Water helps remove toxins and prevents muscle and tendon injuries. Too often we see soda or juice on the table instead of water. However, the main drink should remain water. However, as children we are not necessarily as sensitive to the feeling of thirst, so parents should offer water to avoid dehydration.
When sports practice intensifies, when desire appears at a high level, does this change the attitude towards food?
Once physical activity begins to increase, energy demands will increase significantly and the need for health will become even greater as we try to protect the body from this very important activity. To become a great athlete, good nutrition is essential. It is illusory to think that by eating chips, sausage and cola you can perform at a high level, even if you are talented. But this also applies to health. The body functions the same way to meet its basic needs whether you exercise or not. The functioning of the heart, kidneys or brain is the same. Everyone needs to be careful.
Source: Le Parisien
I have worked in the news industry for over 10 years. I have a keen interest in sports and have written for many different publications. I am currently working as an author at 24 News Recorder. I cover mostly sports news but also write about other topics such as current affairs and politics. I have a strong interest in social media and how it can be used to engage with audiences.
