Protein's Role as a Team Player

Protein has always been a particularly popular nutrient with athletes because of its role in building and maintaining muscles. Indeed, athletes need to consume a wide variety of high quality protein foods in their diets. However, while protein is necessary, it is not the primary fuel for working muscles and more protein than the body can use is not going to give athletes larger and stronger muscles. While research shows that protein requirements are higher for athletes to aid in muscle repair and growth, most athletes are already consuming more protein than the body can process. Use the following formulas as guidelines to ensure proper amounts of protein are included in your dietary intake.

Building Body Mass

Many athletes want to add more bulk to their bodies in the form of lean muscle. Many supplement products claim to build muscles. Athletes should take special caution when considering supplementation. Due to the limited regulations of the dietary supplement industry, there is risk of products being contaminated with prohibited substances with or without the manufacturer knowing. Athletes should take special caution when considering supplementation. There is no guarantee that the product contents match with those listed on the label. Taking a lot of extra protein either from supplements or food does not guarantee bigger muscles. If it did, athletes could spend time lounging instead of lifting to build muscles.

A healthier regimen for building muscles would include:

Following a strength training program that challenges muscles.

Adding 500 to 1,000 more calories each day to current dietary intake, to allow the body to use protein already present in the diet for muscle growth and not be broken down to fuel activity.

Eating foods that are both high in carbohydrates and proteins like grilled chicken sandwiches, peanut butter sandwiches, cheese, and crackers.

Choosing low-fat sources of both carbohydrates and protein.

Eating several small meals throughout the day to support training and muscle-building.

Protein After Exercise

The body’s ability to recover from games, practices, or intense workouts requires adequate rest and proper nutrition. An important component of the recovery process is consuming carbohydrates shortly after exercise, which facilitates the restoration of muscle glycogen (stored carbohydrate energy). Some believe that a mixture of carbohydrates and protein will speed up this process, but that contention is still under debate, with research available to support both theories.

Keep in mind that food is fuel and athletes should not come to practice or games without having had enough food to support the energy requirements for their sport. To keep athletes properly fueled and have protein needs met, use the EAT guidelines:

EAT BREAKFAST. It is the best way to start the day well fueled. Include foods that contain carbohydrates and protein such as nonfat milk, yogurt, or an egg.
ADD CARBOHYDRATES AND PROTEIN TO POST-EXERCISE MEALS. Some energy bars provide carbohydrates to replenish the muscle glycogen stores and protein to help build and repair muscles. TOSS THE SUPPLEMENTS. Athletes should rely on protein from food sources first, instead of supplements. This helps ensure that diets are balanced for health and performance. In addition to meat sources of protein, dairy products, nuts, and seeds are all rich sources of protein and can easily be added to any meal or snack.

Dietary Fat

Fat is the primary fuel for light to moderate intensity exercise. Although fat is a valuable metabolic fuel for muscles during endurance exercise and performs many important functions in the body, no attempt should be made to consume more fat. With that said, some studies have shown, athletes that consume high-fat diets typically consume fewer calories from carbohydrates.

The more efficient an athlete becomes in their respective sport, the easier it is for them to operate at a lower intensity while maintaining the same level of work or maintaining the same speed (metabolic efficiency). At this lower intensity, stored fat in the muscle can be used as a fuel source. The average 150 lbs athlete carries 1,500-2,000 calories in the form of carbohydrates but up to 80,000 calories in the form of fat. The old saying, "Fat burns in a carbohydrate flame" holds true, as fat cannot be used without the presence of carbohydrates. Thus, for efficient endurance and ultra-endurance athletes, carbohydrates are still important, but stored fats help them reach the finish line as well.

A recent study looked at muscle biopsies of elite rowers who consumed either 40 percent of their calories from fat or 20 percent of their calories from fat, and also compared the power output and speed of the rowers. The following is a summary of the results:

The rowers who consumed the low-fat, high-carbohydrate diet had more muscle glycogen.

The rowers on the high-fat, low-carbohydrate diet had moderate levels of muscle glycogen but were still able to complete the workout sets.

When it came to power output and faster speeds, those rowers who consumed the low-fat, high-carbohydrate diets had significantly higher power and speed.

This has significant implications for athletes in muscular endurance sports that require a burst of power, such as rowing, swimming, gymnastics, figure skating, judo, boxing, baseball, basketball, or soccer, to have energy generated aerobically.
It is important to recognize that there are many sources of hidden fat in foods. Fat is present, but not separately visible, in:

Dairy products such as cheese, whole milk, sour cream, and ice cream

Processed foods such as chips, crackers, granola bars, and french fries

Other food sources like nuts or avocados

Other more obvious sources of fat are in products like margarine, butter, mayonnaise, salad dressing, oils and meats with marbling or visible fat.

Athletes should consume 20 percent to 30 percent of their calories from fat. Aside from decreasing overall calories, limiting consumption of dietary saturated fat is the first step toward losing excess body fat. Doing so eliminates excess calories, but not nutrients. Following a low-fat, high-carbohydrate diet is also important for health reasons, because diets high in saturated fat have been associated with cardiovascular disease, obesity, diabetes, and some types of cancer.

Vitamins and Minerals

Many athletes may turn to vitamin and mineral supplementation due to confusion over the Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA) and the Dietary Reference Intakes (DRI). The RDAs are recommendations suited for 97-98 percent of the population, based on extensive research. DRIs include RDA recommendations but also include Adequate Intakes (AIs) for nutrients that need more research.

Dietary supplements are defined as products containing “dietary ingredients” intended to supplement the diet. These include vitamins, minerals, amino acids, botanicals, herbs, and substances such as enzymes, organ tissues and glandulars, metabolites, and other dietary supplements.

The question that arises is “do most athletes need to take dietary supplements?” The answer to that question generally is no. Athletes have increased energy needs, which allows them more opportunities to obtain the nutrients they need through a balanced diet composed of a variety of natural foods. Most sports medicine professionals agree that unless an individual has a nutrient deficiency, supplementation may not improve athletic performance. The athlete who takes a simple one-a-day type of vitamin or mineral that does not exceed the nutrient levels of the RDA/DRI is probably not doing any harm. An athlete should consult with his or her physician, or other health care professional, to determine whether vitamin and mineral supplementation is needed to maintain optimal health.

An athlete who replaces food with supplements can put his or her health at risk. A handful of supplements for breakfast, followed by several tablespoons of assorted products containing trace minerals or powdered protein supplements and herbs throughout the day, will not provide the health benefits and needs found in food.


Natural foods contain a matrix of various nutrients that researchers are continuing to discover and learn more about. Often individual nutrients don't work as effectively when isolated in a pill or supplement form.

Self-prescribed supplement users should heed overdose warnings, and look for symptoms of toxic levels of supplementation, such as diarrhea, skin rashes that do not fade, and unexplained joint pain. Fat soluble vitamins (A, D, E, and K) can be toxic when misused. Unlike water soluble vitamins in which excess amounts are excreted in the urine, fat soluble vitamins are metabolized in body fat and remain in the body.

Remember that more is not always better. The established recommended RDA and DRI for vitamins and minerals are to be used as a guide in determining nutritional needs. These allowances have a large margin of safety built into the recommendations. Even though it has been shown that a severely inadequate intake of certain vitamins and/or minerals can impair performance, it is unusual for an athlete to have such severe nutritional deficiencies. Even marginal deficiencies do not appear to markedly affect the ability to exercise efficiently.

Athletes searching for a competitive edge often look to a supplement or special combination of nutrients to find it. Research has shown, however, that there are no quick-fix supplements for improving sports performance. Consuming a wide variety of foods and staying well hydrated are the basic cornerstones to reaching athletic potential.