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A special issue of Nutrients (ISSN 2072-6643). This special issue belongs to the section "Sports Nutrition".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (20 July 2023) | Viewed by 8303

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Dr. Shelley L. Holden

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Guest Editor

Department of Health, Kinesiology and Sport, University of South Alabama, Mobile, AL, USA
Interests: health and wellness; coach and athlete; burnout; nutritional knowledge; nutritional intake

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The Special Issue discusses sports nutrition for athletes. Sports nutrition has emerged as a specialty area of nutrition because athletes must fuel their bodies properly to meet the physical demands of their sport or activity. Sports nutrition also facilitates repair and rebuilding processes while promoting overall health and wellness and optimizing athletic performance. Sports nutrition professionals in the field working with athletes (including coaches, athletic trainers, etc.) must be up-to-date with the latest nutrition research and guidelines in order to pass this on to athletes.

The goal of this Special Issue is to present the latest research on sports nutrition for athletes. In this Special Issue of Nutrients, we welcome the submission of manuscripts that provide either original research or reviews on the current state of research on this topic.

Dr. Shelley L. Holden
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Nutrients is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2900 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

sports nutrition
athletes
nutrition education
nutrition knowledge

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

12 pages, 1268 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Dark Chocolate Intake Positively Modulates Gut Permeability in Elite Football Athletes: A Randomized Controlled Study

by Cristina Nocella, Elena Cavarretta, Chiara Fossati, Fabio Pigozzi, Federico Quaranta, Mariangela Peruzzi, Fabrizio De Grandis, Vincenzo Costa, Carwyn Sharp, Massimo Manara, Antonia Nigro, Vittoria Cammisotto, Valentina Castellani, Vittorio Picchio, Sebastiano Sciarretta, Giacomo Frati, Simona Bartimoccia, Alessandra D’Amico and Roberto Carnevale

Nutrients 2023, 15(19), 4203; https://doi.org/10.3390/nu15194203 - 28 Sep 2023

Viewed by 4870

Abstract

Gut barrier disruption can lead to enhanced intestinal permeability, which allows endotoxins, pathogens, and other proinflammatory substances to move through the intestinal barrier into circulation. Intense exercise over a prolonged period increases intestinal permeability, which can be further worsened by the increased production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and pro-inflammatory cytokines. The aim of this study was to assess the degree of intestinal permeability in elite football players and to exploit the effect of cocoa polyphenols on intestinal permeability induced by intensive physical exercise. Biomarkers of intestinal permeability, such as circulating levels of zonulin, a modulator of tight junctions, occludin, a tight junction protein, and LPS translocation, were evaluated in 24 elite football players and 23 amateur athletes. Moreover, 24 elite football players were randomly assigned to either a dark chocolate (>85% cocoa) intake (n = 12) or a control group (n = 12) for 30 days in a randomized controlled trial. Biochemical analyses were performed at baseline and after 30 days of chocolate intake. Compared to amateur athletes, elite football players showed increased intestinal permeability as indicated by higher levels of zonulin, occludin, and LPS. After 30 days of dark chocolate intake, decreased intestinal permeability was found in elite athletes consuming dark chocolate. In the control group, no changes were observed. In vitro, polyphenol extracts significantly improved intestinal damage in the human intestinal mucosa cell line Caco-2. These results indicate that chronic supplementation with dark chocolate as a rich source of polyphenols positively modulates exercise-induced intestinal damage in elite football athletes. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sports Nutrition for Athletes)

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12 pages, 636 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Assessment of the Dietary Intake and Nutritional Status of Polish Professional Futsal Players: A Descriptive Study—Do Futsal Players Require Nutritional Education?

by Anna Gogojewicz, Anna Straburzyńska-Lupa, Tomasz Podgórski, Paulina Frajtag, Karol Bibrowicz and Ewa Śliwicka

Nutrients 2023, 15(17), 3720; https://doi.org/10.3390/nu15173720 - 25 Aug 2023

Viewed by 1803

Abstract

Futsal is a discipline with high training and nutritional requirements. Despite growing research interest in athletes’ diet and nutritional status, no studies have examined Polish male futsal players. Therefore, the aim of this descriptive study was an assessment of the dietary intake and nutritional status in a selected group of futsal players. The study comprised 11 members of a top Polish futsal team (aged 26 ± 3.62 years). Dietary intake was assessed using a standardized 3-day food record. Body composition, total energy expenditure, physical fitness level, and concentrations of the biochemical indices of each participant were estimated. The energy availability in the diet was lower than recommended. Moreover, low consumption of carbohydrates was stated, as well as an inadequate intake of Vitamins E and D. Higher protein and cholesterol intake than recommended were also observed. To conclude, our results point to the need for educating athletes and coaches, particularly teaching about proper food choices, promoting quality foods, and, in some cases, using individual dietary plans to meet energy and nutrient needs. Nutrition education would help to improve their dietary and health habits and optimize their performance in sports training. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sports Nutrition for Athletes)

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11 pages, 933 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Intermediate-Level Diet Quality of Brazilian Paralympic Athletes Based on National and International Indexes

by Willian V. D. Schneider, Carolina A. L. Sasaki and Teresa H. M. da Costa

Nutrients 2023, 15(14), 3163; https://doi.org/10.3390/nu15143163 - 17 Jul 2023

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1121

Abstract

Diet quality indexes are used to characterize the dietary patterns of individuals and populations. The objective of this study was to compare two specific diet quality indexes, namely the Brazilian Healthy Eating Index Revised (BHEI-R) and the Global Diet Quality Score (GDQS), among Brazilian parathletes. This comparison was performed using either the initial 24 h recall (Rec1) or an assessment of usual dietary intake. Additionally, our study aimed to explore the association of these indexes with sociodemographic and behavioral sport variables. This cross-sectional, observational study evaluated 101 disabled athletes, including 23 international-level and 78 regional-/national-level participants, with a distribution of 82 males and 19 females across 13 Paralympic modalities. The Multiple Source Method (MSM) was employed, utilizing data from two or four non-consecutive 24 h food recalls. The comparison between the Rec1 and the assessment of usual dietary intake revealed the following median (IQR) values: for the BHEI-R, they were 60.3 ± 11.1 and 80.7 ± 6.2, respectively; for the GDQS, they were 19.5 ± 6.5 and 18.3 ± 2.6, respectively. Most athletes had diets classified as either “in need of modification” (according to BHEI-R) or of “moderate risk” (according to GDQS). The comparison between type of sport (team/individual), age, sex, income, education, sport scholarship, and nutritional support between the diet quality indexes is presented. Athletes involved in individual sports exhibited higher scores than team sports for BHEI-R (p < 0.02), and athletes receiving nutritional support achieved higher scores on both indexes (p < 0.03). The analysis of diet quality using the initial Rec1 with the BHEI-R was deemed sufficient to evaluate the diet quality of these athletes. However, when evaluating sporadically consumed food groups, the adoption of GDQS is necessary to assess usual dietary intake. We found that both BHEI-R and GDQS can be utilized to evaluate the diet quality of athletes with disabilities, and the diet quality of parathletes reached an intermediate score level. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sports Nutrition for Athletes)

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