Sports Nutrition

Discuss the three E’s of nutrition. Explain how PDIs fit into the three E’s of nutrition.

The three Es of nutrition detail the categories of nutrition approaches that are in practice today. They include essential nutrients for survival and basic health, essential nutrition for optimum health, and essential nutrition for athletic performance. Essential nutrition for survival and basic health is based on the recommended dietary allowances that entail estimates of the amounts of nutrients required per day to maintain good health. Essential nutrition for optimum health focuses on a diet that is rich in all the necessary nutrients and in higher amounts that will provide optimum health. This model tailors nutrition to suit its necessity among different individuals. It prescribes higher amounts to the proportion that requires it most, such as in special groups, e.g., athletes, and in deficiencies. Essential nutrition for athletic performance is a more specific model aimed at ensuring optimum nutrition and fitness among athletes. It prescribes foods that offer essential nutrition as well as ensures the athlete performs maximally. This diet also offers nutrients that compensate for the elevated calorie requirements.

PDIs tailor nutrient requirements to individuals depending on their needs. It is designed for utilization by athletes and physically active adults, and it targets the compensation of the elevated requirement of nutrients among these groups of people. Its design takes into consideration the three Es. This is evident by its utilization of the three Es in providing nutrition that is sufficient for survival and basic health and nutrition that provides optimal health by increasing the proportions of nutrients as per the need (Mann, 2018). The fact that it tailors nutrition to athletes and takes care of their specific nutritional needs is in conformation with the essential nutrition for athletes’ objectives.

Describe the significance of carbohydrates, fats, and proteins on health and performance? What are general recommendations for each macronutrient intake? How does body type, health status, and performance goals influence these recommendations?

Carbohydrates, fats, and proteins are major macronutrients essential to the body’s normal functioning. Carbohydrates are a major source of glucose in the body. Glucose is the body’s major energy source and has a role in the various metabolic pathways that promote good health and performance. Fats are equally important. They provide linoleic and linolenic acids that are important to the general functionality of the body. Linoleic acid and linolenic acids have been documented to lower total cholesterol and low-density lipoproteins, thus preventing cardiovascular-related problems.

These recommendations are, however, subject to variations based on body type, health status, and performance goals. People with lean body masses are required to take diets with higher amounts of fats and proteins than those with more body mass, such as the obese. Additionally, higher protein intake is recommended in disease states such as those of wasting disorders to compensate for the wasted mass. Disease states that are attributable to fats, such as atherosclerotic disorders, require a diet low in fats. Performance requires adequate energy sources as well as fitness of the body, especially muscles. Therefore, athletes should take diets rich in carbohydrates, proteins, and fats to maintain the required muscle mass and provide the necessary energy.

Various macronutrient utilization follows the acceptable macronutrient distribution range that prescribes recommended amounts of an individual’s daily calories that should be sourced from these macronutrients. For proteins: 10-35% – diet provisions that are towards the upper range are recommended because of the vast utility of proteins in the body. For carbohydrates: 45-65% – these higher proportions are due to the use of glucose – the metabolic product of carbohydrates that forms the majority of human energy sources. For fats: 20-35%: fats are necessary for the absorption of fat-soluble vitamins, among others. (Zanecosky, 2017).

Explain the difference between micronutrients and macronutrients. What role do micronutrients play in maintaining and optimizing health and performance? What are common micronutrient deficiencies seen in athletes?

Micronutrients are nutrients required by the body in smaller proportions, while macronutrients are nutrients required by the body in larger proportions. Micronutrients include vitamins and minerals, while macronutrients include vitamins, carbohydrates, and fats. Vitamins, a macronutrient, enhance the release of energy from food, enhance the buildup of proteins, and are significant in cell multiplications, help in the synthesis of collagen, promote bone development, enhance vision, and protect against diseases and infection, among others. On the other hand, minerals are responsible for electrolyte balance, promotion of healthy bones, as well as other stability structures such as skin and transportation of oxygen, among others.

A deficiency in any micronutrient results in symptoms related to that specific micronutrient’s functionality. The most common deficiency state among athletes includes vitamin D deficiency, which results in rickets. Other vitamin deficiencies include vitamin B complex deficiencies, such as those seen in deficiencies of thiamine, niacin, and B6-these results in a disruption in energy production. Significant mineral deficiencies are seen in calcium deficiency and iron deficiency, among others.

Describe the path of food through the digestive system and explain each organ’s role in the digestive process. What are some factors that influence digestion?

Food ingested in the mouth is initially broken down by the action of the teeth in a process known as mastication. Saliva found in the mouth produced by the salivary, parotid, and sublingual glands is mixed with food and is responsible for the initial digestion of carbohydrates. It also serves as a lubricant to enable swallowing. The broken food particles are then rolled into a bolus by the action of the tongue and then swallowed into the stomach through the esophagus.

The entry of food into the stomach signals the release of the gastrin hormone from the gastric glands in the stomach’s mucosal lining. Gastrin stimulates the production of hydrochloric acid. The function of hydrochloric acid is to stimulate pepsin production, which digests proteins. Food resides in the stomach for 2-3 hours, under which extensive digestion of food occurs, resulting in chyme, which passes to the duodenum. Upon entry into the duodenum, the acidic chyme signals the release of bicarbonate from the pancreas, which neutralizes the acidity of the chyme. Digestion continues in this phase before the entry of the cyme into the ileum, where most absorption occurs. The ileum carries out most absorption due to the presence of folding called villi, which increases the surface area for absorption. Digestion of carbohydrates is also finished in this phase by enzymes secreted from the pancreas. Fats are also broken down into fatty acids by the action of bile secretions, sodium glycocholate, and sodium taurocholate.

The non-absorbed food particles are passed into the large intestines, where water is abundantly absorbed before passing through the appendix and rectum before being passed out as feces. Large intestines also serve as the site where vitamin K is produced by intestinal bacteria and absorbed. Digestion is affected by factors such as disorders affecting the digestive tract that reduce its functionality, foods that cause irritation of the stomach, such as alcohol, and improper or lack of chewing action on food that reduces the surface area available for interaction with the digestive juices. Nervousness during mealtime may affect the movement of food through the gut.

Perform a body composition assessment on a subject using one of the methods outlined in Unit 14. Discuss the methodology you used, including possible deviations that could have occurred during testing. Then identify the somatotype of your subject and provide a macronutrient split recommendation for your subject based on his/her somatotype. Explain why you feel that the macronutrient split you provided is appropriate for your client.

Body composition assessment is an important evaluative tool as it gives insight into the overall fitness of new as well as continuing athletes. It utilizes anthropometric measurements such as weight, stature, skinfold measurements, and abdominal circumference. The method used in this individual was underwater weighing. The subject is a 32-year-old male weighing 95 kg and has a height of 164cm. The individual weight was obtained in air and found to be 95kgs and then 83kgs upon being completely submerged in water upon complete exhalation. Body density was then determined by measuring and then converted to a percentage of fat, which was found to be 28%. However, This method is subject to several interindividual variations since it depends on an individual’s performance regarding the ability to exhale completely and completely submerge in water. This is particularly difficult in obese persons.

The subject is an extreme endomorph with a somatype of 711. Therefore, he requires a diet with minimal calories to prevent further buildup of body fat. His diet should contain macronutrients in the split of 30% carbohydrates, 35% protein, and 35% fats (Crabtree et al., 2019). Additionally, an exercise regimen should be prescribed with a combination of training on cardio and weight to achieve the necessary fitness levels. This macronutrient split will minimize caloric additions above that which the body can utilize and thus prevent any buildup of fats that would be attributed to otherwise excess nutrition. Moreover, this split still ensures that the general body requirements are met and that the body is not starved – an aspect that may result in lethargy, dizziness, and fatigue.

References

Crabtree, C. D., LaFountain, R. A., Hyde, P. N., Chen, C., Pan, Y., Lamba, N., … Simonetti, O. P. (2019). Quantification of Human Central Adipose Tissue Depots: An Anatomically Matched Comparison Between DXA and MRI. Tomography (Ann Arbor, Mich.), 5(4), 358–366. https://doi.org/10.18383/j.tom.2019.00018

Mann, G. (2018). Nutrition for Athletes. JAMA: The Journal of the American Medical Association, 237(11), 1076–1077. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.1977.03270380020003

Zanecosky, A. (2017). Nutrition for athletes. Clinics in Podiatric Medicine and Surgery, 3(4), 623–630. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-3010.1989.tb00327.x

ORDER A PLAGIARISM-FREE PAPER HERE

We’ll write everything from scratch

Question