Preventing and managing medical issues – nutritional links
05/25/2011 | Written by: uspta
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Preventing and managing medical issues – nutritional links
Description:
Page Love presents a list of the medical issues tennis player may encounter. She discusses: iron deficiency, hypoglycemia, loss of muscle mass, loss of bone density, heat illness, overall fatigue and low energy level. She explains why these medical issues happen and what needs to be done to prevent them, with food instead of pills.
Tip:
As players and coaches, we have all encountered different types of tennis-related medical issues over the years, but may not have thought about the nutritional links behind them. It is very important to understand the role nutrition plays in our lives and what we can do to prevent or overcome specific problems by including the right foods in our diets versus taking pills.
Nutritionist Page Love discusses some of the medical issues encountered by tennis players:
Iron deficiency – A condition resulting from too little iron in the body and a leading cause of anemia. Include in your diet iron-rich foods, such as lean meat, fish, poultry, eggs, peas, beans, potatoes, rice, etc.
Hypoglycemia – A condition that occurs when your blood sugar (glucose) is too low. It indicates insufficient, infrequent, low-carb intake. It is recommended that players/coaches eat snacks in between meals/matches/practices that provide little amounts of protein and carbs such as energy bars.
Loss of muscle mass – This condition indicates low protein and calorie intake leading to a low level of energy.
Loss of bone density – This may be caused by insufficient amounts of minerals and nutrients, a low-fat and low-calcium diet, amenorrhea and also overtraining. It can lead to bone fractures.
Heat illness – This may be caused by not drinking enough fluids, low sodium intake and/or combined with high plain water intake and a high level of caffeine consumption. Replacing the large sweat losses that occur during matches/practices in the heat is essential.
Overall fatigue and low energy level – Many factors can rob you of energy, but the main cause for a tennis player/coach is usually related to the carbohydrate and energy intake. Make sure you combine the excessive effort with proper rest and fuelling your body with the correct foods.
In all the causes mentioned above, nutrition remains a top priority, because if we don’t feed our body the right foods, we will not have the building blocks for health and high performance.
Learn more about nutrition and medical issues at www.TennisResources.com. Simply type into the Quick Search key words such as “food,” “nutrition” or “medical” or choose the Advanced Search where you can choose from the outlined options and a number of resources featuring some of the world’s top teaching professionals will match your search.
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