Athletes need to replenish their energy, and the number of calories they need can be difficult to fit in.
British number one padel tennis player Tia Norton explains that her replenishment routine was influenced by some, perhaps, surprising advice from nutritionist. “One of the things that I’ve taken away from it is eating a full fat diet is actually much, much better for performance. So I’m not cutting out full fat milk, bacon, cheese etc. Since I have incorporated full fat into my diet, I’m enjoying it much more because I’m not having to restrict myself.”
Not all sugar rushes are created equally
Fruit, including the fast-digesting carb of bananas, is a handy pre-training snack and one that can be also used for a quick sugar injection during many sporting activities.
However, the kinds of energy-boosting snacks and drinks that are targeted at the average gym-goer are sometimes “pushing your sweet tooth” according to Matt Gardner, head of nutrition at Virgin Active. He feels that they should be used when people are “caught short” and can’t find an alternative.
Sports shops are entering the food market
Producer Nina meets a group of people involved in Bite Back, a youth activist organisation campaigning against junk food. They tell her that the range of junk food available in sports shops is staggering and includes a ”rainbow” of energy drinks, many of which boast that they contain electrolytes and B vitamins, but don’t say as much about the amount of ultra-processed products, chemicals and sugar within.
Many of the protein bars are essentially chocolate bars; meanwhile some of the products were just chocolate but labelled with slogans like “I Love Football”, “Man of the Match” and “Game On” to promote an association with sport.
Alice, one of the Bite Back activists believes that junk food “has become the cultural wallpaper”. She adds: “We could do 24 hours of sport every single day of the week, and that still wouldn’t be enough to combat the flood of junk food that’s just constantly pumped towards us.”
Laura Adams is a tech enthusiast residing in the UK. Her articles cover the latest technological innovations, from AI to consumer gadgets, providing readers with a glimpse into the future of technology.
