Nutrition in sports

If you exercise regularly or if you are an athlete in training, you are trying to make your muscles work better. You want to be stronger if you are a weightlifter, you want to be able to throw a blistering fast ball if you are a baseball pitcher or you want to be able to finish strong at the end of a 26-mile race if you are a marathon runner. Adequate nutrition is a key component of sports performance. The greater the demands for increased performance both in training and competition, the higher the nutritional value must be. This means good nutritional habits before, during and after performance.

In this essay I will be discussing whether creatine phosphate can be a positive addition to sports performance, why carbohydrates are the primary supplement for energy, why water is important for a athletes, how fats can be used in a good sports diet, why vitamin and mineral are essential for a peak performance, and why iron helps with stamina in an athletes performance.

Can creatine phosphate be a positive addition to an athlete's nutritional diet?

In the research that I've found, creatine can be used in a positive way when added to an athlete's diet properly. Creatine can provide additional energy for the muscles. In your body you have a compound called ATP (adenosine tri-phosphate); the body can very quickly get energy from an ATP reaction. You have other sources of energy such as carbohydrates and fat, but they take longer to convert into a useable energy source. When you are doing an intense quick burst activity - such as lifting a weight or sprinting, your muscles must contract and need a quick source of energy. This immediate energy comes from ATP; the body can very quickly get energy from an ATP reaction. You have other sources of energy such as carbohydrates and fat - but they take longer to convert into a useable energy source. When you are doing an intense quick burst activity - such as lifting a weight or sprinting, your muscles must contract and need a quick source of energy. This immediate energy comes from ATP. When your muscles use ATP for energy a chemical process happens where the ATP is broken down into two simpler chemicals ADP (adenosine di-phosphate) and inorganic phosphate, ADP releases the energy which gives your muscles the ability to contract. Unfortunately, we do not have an endless supply of ATP. In fact, your muscles only contain enough ATP to last about 10-15 seconds at maximum exertion. And this is were the creatine phosphate (CP) comes in; CP is able to react with the ADP in your body and turn "useless" ADP back into the "useful" energy source ATP. More ATP in your body means more fuel for your muscles.

Creatine can be used in volumization of your muscles, which means the process of pulling fluid into the muscle cells and thus increasing the volume of the muscles. Creatine has been shown to pull water into your muscle cells, which increases the size of your muscles. New research has shown that creatine can help buffer lactic acid that builds-up in the muscles during exercise. This leads to that nasty burning feel you get in your muscles. Basically the creatine bonds with a Hydrogen ion and that helps delay the build up of lactic acid. (Absolute, 2002)

Are carbohydrates the primary supplement for energy?

Energy supplements come primarily from carbohydrates. Carbohydrates are a large group of sugars, starches, celluloses, and gums that contain carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen in similar proportions. The primary function of carbohydrates is to provide energy for the body, especially the brain and the nervous system. The body breaks down starches and sugars into a substance called glucose, which is used for energy by the body.

The simplest carbohydrate is glucose. Glucose, also called "blood sugar" and "dextrose," flows in the bloodstream so that it is available to every cell in your body. Your cells absorb glucose and convert it into energy to drive the cell. Specifically, a set of chemical reactions on glucose creates ATP, and a phosphate bond in ATP powers most of the machinery in any human cell. The word "carbohydrate" comes from the fact that glucose is made up of carbon and water. (How food, 2002)

The chemical formula for glucose is: C6H12O6

You can see that glucose is made of six carbon atoms (carbo...) and the elements of six water molecules (...hydrate). Glucose is a simple sugar, meaning that to our tongues it tastes sweet. There are other simple sugars that you have probably heard of. Fructose is the main sugar in fruits. Fructose has the same chemical formula as glucose (C6H12O6), but the atoms are arranged slightly differently. Glucose, fructose and galactose are monosaccharides and are the only carbohydrates.