Sport nutrition is an essential part of your training strategy. It's a new system in which the athlete's performance is mainly, or at least greatly, influenced by his diet. Sport nutrition is a combination of things: you need to target certain types and amounts of food, and maximize the effect of your diet by timing your meals. Low GI (glycemic index) foods should be consumed before, and high GI foods during or after your exercise.

To perform well, muscles need energy (glycogen); by eating appropriately, and following the rules of sport nutrition, glycogen is available when it's needed the most, and the athlete sees his performance greatly improved. So, if you take sport nutrition seriously, you will not only perform far better, you will also remain in good health.

For many years, weight loss supplements have enjoyed a huge market. However, they do involve certain risks, and it's ill-advised to take them on your own! So do consult an expert for advice. There is no benefit in taking protein supplements, and vitamin supplements are only beneficial in vitamin deficient athletes.

Let an expert help you with your diet program, which should be adapted to your training and competition schedule. Eat fresh food as often as possible. Whatever your sport of choice is, balance your diet. However, be careful when you are not actively competing for any length of time, while you are on vacation or injured: adapt your diet to reflect lessened activity and avoid weight (fat) gain.

As losing weight is all about spending more energy than you consume by eating alone, more often than not a successful diet is accompanied by a fitness program. A fitness program will help you raise your metabolism, which is particularly beneficial once you get older. If you exercise regularly for a limited amount of time, your metabolism will remain higher throughout the day. You'll not only burn more fat and lose weight, but your muscles will grow stronger; you are far less likely to fall, and your brain will also benefit and remain more flexible!

An example. A thermogenic diet contains MCTs (medium-chain triglycerides, which are present e.g. in milk fat and coconut oil), and can be considered a valid weight loss regime. MCTs are more water-soluble than long-chain fatty acids. They reach the liver more quickly and are immediately available for conversion into energy instead of fat.

Another principle is really considering your diet as a change of diet. Simply change your eating habits, and take it slowly. If you lose no more than a pound a week (2 kg a month), it's far more likely to stay off!

Beware though: 1. fat is still an essential nutrient, and 2. just because a food is fat-free doesn't mean it's calorie-free.

Sport nutrition is new in the sense that, for the first time, an awful lot of research is being carried out at the moment, and papers published pertaining to the functional food market.