Fuel for Sport: The Basics

Fuel for Sport: The Basics is a nutrition text designed to help readers understand and apply basic sports nutrition information. It emphasizes the unique needs and challenges of meeting those needs in adolescent athletes. Readers can expect to learn and understand theories related to nutrition and human performance, such as energy content of food and how this energy is transferred to the body; how ATP relates to energy and force production; the concepts of energy balance and fuel storage within the body and their effects on power output and endurance; the important roles of each of the macronutrients and micronutrients; and how fluids before, during, and after exercise facilitate thermoregulation, nutrient transport, and maintenance of stroke volume. In addition to important information related to exercise physiology and nutrient metabolism, readers are presented with real-world applications of these principles. The author often relates theories and principles to dietary recommendations and athletic scenarios. Understanding of each topic is also enhanced through liberal use of summaries, lists, and tables. Fuel for Sport presents up-to-date, sport-specific dietary and fluid recommendations and adopts a foods-first approach to meeting macro- and micronutrient needs; included are ample examples of convenient sources of the discussed nutrients as well as dietary strategies and ideas to implement recommendations.