Sports require your body to consume fuel much in the way a car uses gasoline. Your diet is essentially that fuel. Without adequate fuel, your body can turn on itself and make it impossible to sustain any type of physical activity for a long period of time. Likewise, too much fuel can needlessly burden your system with extra weight making it harder to do the physical aspects of sports. While a body needs more fuel to play sports, you have to make the healthy choices that sustain your physically activity.
Sugar has a very short term affect on physical energy. The problem with too much sugar is that it cannot sustain any type of energy level for very long. This means after a short burst, the sugar is used up and your energy level drops off dramatically. This dramatic change in energy level can slow you down when it comes to sports or sustaining any type of physical activity for a long period of time.
Fat is essentially stored energy that the body has pushed aside for later use. The problem with too much fat is that it accumulates in the areas. Even if some of it is used up in physical activity, eating too much of it will still put on the weight. It is then harder to move physically and it is easier to obtain an injury when playing. Although, the benefits of exercise negate some of this effect, it does not eliminate totally.
A healthy diet is necessary to keeping your body fueled for those important games. It is not necessary to eliminate all the fat or sugar from your diet. But you need to understand the effects of having too much. Finally, it is very important to talk to a nutritionist if you have any questions regarding your body’s fuel.
