When it comes to world-class athletes, choosing high-quality foods and sticking to a diet year-round gives them a strong basis on which to perform at their best. Nutrition is an important aspect of training for any footballer. However, professional footballers have it easy with professional teams employing nutritionists to ensure each player has a good diet program.
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No worries! If you do not have a nutritionist to guide you, we have listed down simple tips professional football athletes follow to boost their performance. Essentially, when it comes to athletes, there are three main categories that you need to be thinking about: Carbohydrates, Proteins, Vitamins, and Minerals.
CARBOHYDRATES – ATHLETES’ FUEL
Cereals, rice, pasta, fruits, and vegetables like potato, corn, beans are your daily carbs consumption. These carbohydrates, after consumption, are broken down into smaller sugars, and anything not used straight away is stored in your muscles and liver in the form of glycogen. This provides the fuel for the muscles and brain to carry out daily activities, and it is especially important for dealing with the stress of exercise. In simple words, carbs fuel your muscle contractions.
A healthy, balanced diet will give you the carbs you need to focus on in your day-to-day training. You should try to consume good sources of carbohydrates and avoid nutrient-poor and high-fat foods like soft drinks, sports drinks, sweet candies, fries, chips, and pies.
PROTEIN – ATHLETES’ BUILDING BLOCK
Protein can be obtained from a number of different sources. For example, simply by eating 2 eggs, 30g cheese, 30-50g of meat, fish, or chicken, 10g of protein can be covered. Also, 4 pieces of bread, 90g breakfast cereal, or 60g nuts/seeds all provide 10g. You must know the kind of meat you should have in your diet according to your protein requirement. Carnivore Style can be useful in getting all the necessary support related to a meat diet.
Like carbohydrates, it’s likely you are already getting enough for your daily usage through your everyday diet. But unlike carbohydrates, protein only provides a very small source of fuel for exercising muscles. Instead, it consists of amino acids, which are the building blocks for making muscles, bone, tendons, skin, hair, and other tissues.
These amino acids also form the base for hormones and enzymes that control metabolism and other biological activities. A quick tip: consuming 20-25g of protein is desirable straight after exercise to help your muscles grow, repair, and adapt.
VITAMINS AND MINERALS: ATHLETES’ INTERNAL MECHANIC
Essential vitamins include A, C, E, B6, and B12, while minerals include iron, copper, magnesium, selenium, sodium, zinc. A better way to understand the role of vitamins and minerals is like the role of oil in a car. It is what keeps everything in nice working order.
For athletes, vitamins and minerals are essential nutrients your body needs in small amounts to work properly and are necessary to maintain your long-term health. Vegetables, fruits, legumes, grains, lean meat, fish, dairy products, and unsaturated oils are all good sources of these nutrients.
Adapting a nutrient-rich diet is one step closer to your goal of being a professional athlete. Here are seven foods that every professional football player consumes to boost performance and reduce recuperation time.
1 WHITE MEAT
White meat like Salmon is full of healthy fats like Omega 3. These fats are effective for reducing inflammation in the body. Omega 3 can help you recover, improve your immune system and improve bone and joint aches, allowing you to train harder and more regularly. It is also full of protein which is important to help repair muscle and recover after training.
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2 SPINACH
Spinach is a super-food. When it comes to physical sports, spinach covers two important factors on the road to recovery in sport. Spinach has various beneficial benefits on the quality of your blood due to its iron content. Spinach has a powerful effect on recharging your energy and boosting your vigor. Other viable alternatives like kale, Swiss chard, and romaine lettuce are all shown to decelerate mental deterioration and improve mental focus.
3 MILK
Athlete’s white gold is loaded with vitamins and minerals, which can improve your hydration levels both for pre and in-game. Milk has high levels of protein which boost muscle recovery and strengthening. Elsewhere, milk contains calcium which is vital for good strong bones and teeth. Milk may become a part of your energy-storing pre-match ritual due to its high carbohydrate content.
4 EGGS
Every football player's must-eat list includes eggs. This cheap protein-rich food has remarkable benefits. Eggs are generally a high-protein food that assists muscle recovery after a game. This is because eggs contain a healthy dose of essential amino acids, including high levels of leucine, which is a dominant amino acid in repairing muscle.
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5 BLUEBERRIES
Blueberries are superfoods. It has antioxidants that help protect the body’s tissues against the stresses of hard exercise. Blueberries also contain Vitamins C and K, which can help you stay energized. It helps in repairing bones and protects from infectious diseases. Nowadays, many pro athletes have included blueberries in their post-match recovery diet.
6 AVOCADOS
Avocados are the king of superfoods. This small fruit is packed with Vitamins K, Folate, Vitamin C, Potassium, Vitamin B5, Vitamin B6, Vitamin E, magnesium, manganese, copper, iron, zinc, phosphorous, Vitamin A, Vitamin B1, Vitamin B2, and Vitamin B3. These nutrients have numerous health benefits, including the maintenance of a healthy immune system, the production of hormones, and the support of proper growth and development.
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7 COCONUT WATER
Besides antioxidants, coconut water can also be the perfect beverage for restoring hydration and replenishing electrolytes lost during exercise. It's low in carbohydrates and calories.
If you want to be an athletic footballer, who performs at the highest level, you have to adapt to a more nutrient-filled diet. Footballers like Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi have even employed their chefs. But don’t worry, the above-listed foods essentially cover what world-class footballers eat to maximize their performance both on and off the field.