Sports Nutrition And Kids

Sports for kids are supposed to be fun right? It's how you played the game not if you won or lost. Today kids are told that no one remembers second place and that the must win! One saying that still sticks is "2nd place is nothing but the first loser". No wonder over the last 20 years there has been a significant rise in performance enhancing drug use amongst teens.
The Big Picture
In a world that only the winners count how can kids get the edge on the competition? The teenage years are a very tough time because kids want to be liked, respected and admired. Athletes many times are elevated too high for their accomplishments, but kids see it and they want to be in the spotlight! When I get a kid asking about product X,Y, or Z? I generally respond with lets look at the big picture. The big picture is how are you training, eating, sleeping, and generally dealing with stress? Obviously going over the entire big picture is beyond the scope of this article so I will focus upon the basics of nutrition only.
As a teenager your performance at your next game dependent upon your nutrition. How you recover between plays and events is directly effected by how you have eaten before and after the sporting event. Most teens eat about whatever they want, but by eating better you will have better performance.
If you are serious about performance you should be eating 5-7 meals daily. When eating to enhance performance you should concentrate on low fat protein, clean (starchy, fibrous and fruit) carbohydrates, and limiting fat intake.
Protein
When selecting protein foods, drop the heavier meats such as: sausage, bacon, hamburger, (unless it is 92% lean). These meats are very slow to digest because of the massive amounts of fat are naturally occurring in the meats. Choose meats such as lean steak, lean pork, chicken, turkey, fish, egg whites, lowfat milk products and high quality supplemental protein. I personally cut out my steak at least 3 days from an event. Protein should make up 20-30% of total calories.
Carbohydrates
Carbohydrates (carbs) are the bodies preferred fuel source. Most kids I know run out of gas quickly because they just don't eat enough. I eat a plethora of different carb sources; breads, pasta, rice, oatmeal, cream of wheat, yams, any fruit or vegetable. You should eat 3-5 fruits and veggies a day just for health reasons, the phytochemicals in them help prevent certain cancers! Carbs should make up 50-60% of total calories.
Fat
A certain amount of fat (10-20% of total calories) is needed in the diet just for basic health concerns such as; fat (cholesterol) donates the back bone for all steroid-hormones, fat is needed for joint health, and brain function just to name a few. To explain the needs for proper fat would require a whole article so I will tell you what you need. Most Americans do not get enough good fat so I suggest getting some flax seed oil or an "efa"(essential fatty acid) oil to make sure you are getting enough of the right fats.
I take 1-2 tablespoons of Total EFA (Health From The Sun) or a blend called Udo's Choice. I add this to my foods. Some may ask about the other fat-well by choosing leaner meats you will limit the other fat, but also grilling, baking, broiling or boiling your meats will also limit the unneeded fats.
Water
Water is the most over looked nutrient. Remember both protein and fat metabolism are dependent upon water. Without adequate water carbs can't be stored properly. Most doctors recommend 8-10 eight ounces glasses of water a day-this is too little for a hard training athlete. I would suggest at least 1 gallon a day if not more. During exercise/competition stick only with water. A few hours before the event or after you can drink stuff that contains electrolytes, but during the event stick with plan old "cold" water. The water will replenish fluid and the "cold" will keep the bodies core temperature down, which will help prevent overheating!
In a nutshell once a young athlete has a good working knowledge of the basics of the big picture then and only then will I even discuss the use of sports nutrition with them. There are a few that are a must and they are a multi vit/min and some type of essential fatty acid supplement. There are a few supplements that I will never suggest that they use and they are any type of pro-hormone, herbal testosterone booster, or thermogenic aid. Teen athletes don't need higher testosterone so anything that may enhance hormone levels is off limits.
Thermogenics not only aid in fat loss, but the also have the potential of increasing performance, but with the downside of dehydration. Any possible benefits of thermogenics are generally negated by the cramping that most of the time follows their use. When dealing with young athletes I stick with the use of MRP's, protein, carbohydrate type supplements, weight gainers bars and occasionally creatine and glutamine.
The bars and various types of protein powders come in handy between classes. Getting 5-7 meals a day takes timing and for kids in school it is tough to have time to eat a meal between classes, but it would be easy to eat a bar or slam a shake. In an ideal world they would just eat real food.
A weight gain drink could be used by those that need to put on weight in the off season or those that have a problem maintaining weight during the event season. If I have a kid that is Spartan like with his meals I will consider them using creatine and or glutamine. I generally don't let any of my young athletes use these two because they still have not rasped the whole of the big picture, but the ones that have with their parents and Doctors permission I will allow them to use them.
I know, I know but they are kids they shouldn't use these things! I see them as a better alternative to steroids, which like I said before are being used at an alarming rate!

The role of hormones on muscle growth & fat loss

There are plenty of hormones in the human body that regulate all sorts of physical development and metabolic processes. Some of them contribute in an important way to regulate the anabolic and the catabolic processes. This post reviews the main hormones involved in muscle growth and fat loss, namely testosterone, growth hormone, insulin, glucagon and cortisol, which are of primary interest for the bodybuilder.We have already described insulin and glucagon role in a previous post dedicated to metabolism. Remember that these are antagonistic hormones responsible for regulating blood glucose levels. Insulin is an anabolic hormone which facilitates glucose and amino acid transport into muscle cells (stimulating protein synthesis and inhibiting protein breakdown), but also fatty acid transport into fat cells. Glucagon is a catabolic hormone which mobilizes glycogen stores to recuperate glucose levels as well as stimulates breakdown of body fat to be used for energy. Both hormones are controlled entirely by diet.Testosterone is a steroid hormone which is the responsible for the development of male sex characteristics (e.g. body and facial hair, deep voice, etc.) and the maturation of sperm and male sexual organs. In addition, testosterone is probably the most important hormone for building muscle through the promotion of protein biosynthesis. This accelerates muscle buildup and regeneration, and increases your recovery capacity after exercise, injuries, and illness. In addition, protein biosynthesis also stimulates the metabolism and promotes the burning of fat. You can stimulate your testosterone production through intense exercise and adequate sleep and nutrition. In addition, some bodybuilders use natural boosters when testosterone levels begin to drop due to age.Human growth hormone (GH), also known as somatotropin, is the primary hormone responsible for stimulating tissue repair, cell replacement, brain function, and enzyme production. GH is a highly anabolic hormone having profound effects on the growth of the skeleton and the muscles. You can naturally control your GH levels through exercise, rest and nutrition. First, intense and strenuous workouts stimulate GH release because these catabolic states require extra protein synthesis and in case of lack of energy, fat metabolization to make up for glycogen depletion. Second, most part of your total daily GH is released while sleeping, especially during REM phase. For this reason, having a good sleep is mandatory for building muscle. Finally, a high protein diet contributes also to raise your GH levels.Cortisol is a catabolic hormone which reduces cellular synthesis, and carries out the gluconeogenesis process (conversion of amino acids from muscle tissue to glucose for energy), causing in this way muscle breakdown. On the other side, cortisol is also involved in fat mobilization. Cortisol levels are highest early in the morning and during periods of high stress (i.e. after training). In order to control your cortisol levels, you should eat first thing in the morning and right after your workout (since insulin nullifies the effects of cortisol), limit your workouts to no more of 1 hour and have a good sleep. In addition, some amino acids (e.g. glutamine) and vitamins (e.g. vitamin C) help also to control cortisol levels.