What to Eat Before the Games?

For athletes, the food they take before their game is an important part of their performance. There are some things to keep in mind while you take a meal before your athlete activity. By eating good and healthy food before an event, you can avoid low blood sugar, which includes dizziness, nausea, muscle weakness, fatigue, blurred vision, and indecisiveness.

Try to take your post-meal, 3-4hrs before the game because the body takes time to digest. A rich carbohydrate snack one hour before the game also is a good idea to give your body a rich source of fuel. Carbohydrates are a primary fuel source. Sources include: - Starches and Grain example; Bread, cereals, crackers, rice, and potato, fresh fruit is always a good option. Try to avoid dry or canned fruits, Milk/ Yogurt is also good to take complementary. Be sure to choose a familiar carbohydrate source that your body can tolerate.

For some athletes, it's not possible to eat before the game, what they can do is they can take a good amount of meal before D-day. To avoid Dehydration, make sure that players have taken plenty amount of water on the day and prior to the event day. Sports drinks are recommended more for long-lasting than one hour to replenish electrolytes. Fatty food slows digestion so avoid taking such food like; fries or pizza. These kinds of food can leave you feeling sluggish and tired. If your activity is intense go for High GI refined grains that raise blood sugar fast and skip whole grain. If your stomach gets easily upset go for liquid meals like shakes, blended meals, etc.

Specific suggestions for eating before events
• 8 am event: Eat a rich carbohydrate dinner and drink lots of water the night.
• 10 am event: Eat a high carbohydrate dinner, extra water, have breakfast by 7 am.
• 2 PM event: Eat a high carbohydrate breakfast and a light lunch or have a brunch eaten by 10 am.
• 8 PM event: Eat a high carbohydrate breakfast and lunch, have dinner by 5 pm or a lighter meal by 6-7 pm, drink extra fluids all day.
• All-day event: Rest completely the day before, eat a rich carbohydrate breakfast, lunch, and dinner the day before and drink extra fluids, eat breakfast you can tolerate on the day of the event, drink fluids before you feel thirsty.

By: Janvi Aggarwal