This PhD candidate and nutrition expert is helping Pan Am/Parapan Am athletes fuel up for competition
At the Pan Am Games, anxiety and nerves can have athletes skipping meals and not drinking enough water before key events. How do you ensure they鈥檙e still fueled and ready to go?
Give them sport drinks to supply carbohydrates and electrolytes, says the University of Toronto's Nanci Guest, lead dietitian to the .
What about athletes with early morning competitions who can鈥檛 stomach a big breakfast? Provide a 鈥減re-competition鈥 meal at bedtime, the night before, and then a light snack and fluids in the AM, Guest says.
A registered dietitian and PhD candidate in nutritional sciences at 老司机直播, Guest conducts research into high performance athletes and their unique response to dietary nutrients and supplements based on their DNA. The founder of a company called PowerPlay: Nutrition, Training, Genetics, she was head dietitian for the 2010 Winter Olympics and has worked with various international and Canadian sports teams like the Vancouver Canucks and the National Women鈥檚 Field Hockey Team.
鈥淪maller countries often don鈥檛 bring along a dietitian 鈥 it鈥檚 an extra expense 鈥 and team physicians don鈥檛 always have good nutritional information,鈥 Guest says. 鈥淪o it鈥檚 nice to have someone who specializes in this, give athletes the advice they need.鈥
For the next four weeks, Guest is on site at the Athlete鈥檚 Village, checking into meals at the dining hall, dealing with food emergencies such as athletes suffering from bloating or diarrhea. She鈥檚 doing hydration tests, a wake-up call for many athletes who are unaware they鈥檙e suffering from mild to moderate dehydration. And she鈥檚 helping international athletes navigate culturally different foods, on standby for any athlete who has questions on food and nutrition-related issues.
For many athletes, being careful with the food they eat, especially in a different country, can be as critical to their performance as adapting to a new climate. A major competition isn鈥檛 the time to experiment with new food.
Guest says even before they fly into town, athletes need to prepare for travel days, knowing they鈥檇 be inactive and eating in airports and on planes. If they鈥檙e not strict or careful with what they consume, they can gain two or three pounds within 48 hours.
Athletes鈥 approaches to diet have changed over the years. For example, carb-loading pre-race or pre-game is not practiced like it was in the past. Marathon runners, for example, now want to start out lighter and consume carbs along the way 鈥 with sports drinks and specialized fuel in a form resembling Jujube candy 鈥 ensuring that they have a lower bodyweight and are more agile for a quicker start, Guest says.
Last week, she reminded a tennis player to take extra sodium. Because tennis players sweat more than most athletes, they鈥檙e advised to consume electrolyte drinks/powder, or to lick a dash of salt on their hand and wash it down with a sports drink or water.
鈥淪ports nutrition has turned out to be a very complex science with many nuances that have to incorporate everything from individual food preferences and intolerances, to body composition goals, and the type of sport, to environmental stressors and psychological factors, and even individual genetics,鈥 Guest says. 鈥淲e also know that the type and timing of specific nutrients can make or break an athlete鈥檚 performance in training or competition at these elite levels.鈥