Nutrient Balance
Carefully planned nutrition must provide an energy balance and a nutrient balance.
The nutrients are:
- Proteins – essential to growth and repair of muscle and other body tissues
- Fats – one source of energy and important in relation to fat soluble vitamins
- Carbohydrates – our main source of energy
- Minerals – those inorganic elements occurring in the body and which are critical to its normal functions
- Vitamins – water and fat soluble vitamins play important roles in many chemical processes in the body
- Water – essential to normal body function – as a vehicle for carrying other nutrients and because 60% of the human body is water
- Roughage – the fibrous indigestible portion of our diet essential to health of the digestive system
What are the daily energy requirements?
Personal energy requirement = basic energy requirements + extra energy requirements
Basic energy requirements (BER) includes your basal metabolic rate (BMR) and general daily activities
- For every Kg of body weight 1.3 Calories is required every hour. (An athlete weighing 50Kg would require 1.3 × 24hrs × 50Kg = 1560 Calories/day)
- For a calculation of your BMR, see the calculator on the Resting Daily Energy Expenditure (RDEE) page
Extra energy requirements (EER)
- For each hours training you require an additional 8.5 Calories for each Kg of body weight. (For a two hour training session our 50Kg athlete would require 8.5 × 2hrs × 50Kg = 850 Calories)
An athlete weighing 50Kg who trains for two hours would require an intake of approximately 2410 Calories (BER + EER = 1560 + 850)
Energy Fuel
Like fuel for a car, the energy we need has to be blended. The blend that we require is as follows:
- 57% Carbohydrates (sugar, sweets, bread, cakes)
- 30% Fats (dairy products, oil)
- 13% Protein (eggs, milk, meat, poultry, fish)
The energy yield per gram is as follows: Carbohydrate – 4 Calories, Fats – 9 Calories and Protein – 4 Calories.
What does a 50 kg athlete require in terms of carbohydrates, fats and protein?
- Carbohydrates – 57% of 2410 = 1374 Calories – at 4 Calories/gram = 1374 ÷ 4 = 343 grams
- Fats – 30% of 2410 = 723 Calories – at 9 Calories/gram = 723 ÷ 9 = 80 grams
- Protein – 13% of 2410 = 313 Calories – at 4 Calories/gram = 313 ÷ 4 = 78 grams
Our 50kg athlete requires 343 grams of Carbohydrates, 80 grams of Fat and 78 grams of Protein
