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There is no question that nutrition is one of the hottest topics in medicine today. In the United States and Canada nutrition is a billion dollar a year business so there has got to be some interest in the general population at large for some good, sound nutritional products. The purpose of this issue will be to touch on some general principles of sports nutrition in relation to the active tennis player.
We have all been taught that there are three major food types in the categories of carbohydrates (CHO), proteins (PRO), and fats (FAT). Fats are important in our diets but they shouldn't make up more than 20 % of our total calories, on average. The total CHO's and PRO's should be about 65 % and 15-20 % of the total calories respectively. Too often we are much too preoccupied with losing weight without really knowing what our bodies require for what we are asking them to do for us. The ideal % body fat for a male is between 13 and 18 while for the female it is between 18 and 24. Weight loss is strictly contraindicated if a males % body fat is lower than 7 while if it is less than 12 for a female. The caloric value for the three basic food types CHO's, PRO's, and FAT's is 4 cal/gm, 4 cal/gm, and 9 cal/gm respectively. Therefore, if one eats 100 gms of a CHO, then one will have eaten 400 calories of food. Everyone has different metabolic rates and activity levels and therefore very different caloric requirements. On average though, a female requires between 1500-2500 calories/day and a male requires between 3000-3500 calories/day.
The most important issue for each individual is that each person is unique and that one should not compare him/herself to anyone else. A persons height, present body weight, % body fat (by skin caliper measurement) and body stature are all important in assessing the ideal body weight for the individual. Once the ideal body weight has been identified you can then discuss what would be the best and safest way to achieve the ideal body weight (IBW). Following Canada's Food Guide is what we in the sports medicine world abide by.
There are four main food groups in Canada's Food Guide. The milk/dairy products, fish/poultry, bran/cereals, and fruit/vegetables. There are then a recommended number of servings to be eaten in a day which will cover the total number of calories that your body requires for the day as a baseline. If one is particularly active that day, then he/she will have to add food calories on top of this. In addition to these foods, it is ideal to be drinking 6-8 8 oz glasses of water/day.
As you can see, nutrition is not a topic that can be covered in one article. One can also appreciate how important it is when you see some of the top professional tennis players have their own nutritional consultant as part of their coaching team. There is not enough time to discuss it adequately here, but hopefully we have stimulated some food for thought. The information covered may be old for some of you and new for others, but it should be a priority for everyone who takes their game and life seriously. It is important to realize that what you eat can dictate how well you compete. The next article will deal with a really NEWtritional topic, so stay tuned !
Respectfully submitted,
Howard A. Winston
MD, CCFP, FCFP
Dip. Sport Med. (CASM)
Medical Director, The Centre for Health & Sports Medicine
07/2000
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