Thursday
Mar 28/24
6:22 pm
EST

SDFC 09 Inter
NUTRITION
BallCharts.com/NewGenInter

Admin

Attendance:


Soccer Domain Montclair
NJ
USA






 

An athletes' performance , to some extent, is directly related to their level of hydration or dehydration. The better the body is hydrated, the better they will be able to keep their performance at a high level and fatigue will also settle in harder than with a person who is suffering from mild or acute dehydration.

 Obviously, this is not the only factor that affects performance, but it's one of those small details that make up a whole. And as a soccer player, you'll want to take care of each detail in order to ensure that the whole, your performance, is intact by the time the ref blows his starting whistle.

 They noticed that a lot of soccer player (especially younger ones) tend to put an equality sign between dehydration and thirst. Although both concepts face the same bodily requirement to replace fluids, thirst is a momentary situation that you can solve with a single drink, whereas dehydration is a chronic state. For example, you're lacking certain vitamins from your body and you're hungry. Eating a plateful of chicken wings may settle your hunger, but that doesn't mean that your vitamin problem will be solved.


 
What should you drink?

There's such a large gamma of sports drinks out there that it's quite hard to choose the "right" one for yourself, or for your team if you're a coach. A good sports drink is one that offers a high amount of carbohydrates and water, but that doesn't mean that good old H2O can't be good for proper hydration just by itself.

Sports drinks do have some advantages though: they're better tasting so they can be drank in larger quantities, they have carbs that can't be found in simple water and they have glucose which helps with reducing fatigue and muscle tiredness.

Obviously, juices and sodas aren't the best choice. Anything that has carbonation in it can cause you an aching stomach and that's the worst you could get in a soccer match. Milk is way too heavy on the stomach and can also cause an upset belly, so it's best if you think of milk as a source of macronutrients rather than a means of proper hydration.


When should I drink it?

In order to keep your self well hydrated, you need to drink well at least 16 hours before the match, several times during the match and a few hours after it's over. You can start by drinking plain water a few days prior to the match, at set intervals, even when you're not particularly thirsty.

You don't need to hydrate yourself using sports drinks that early on, since the extra carbohydrates you get from them will go to waste. However, it's a good idea to use a sports drink in your light pre game meal as a source of carb fuel for the upcoming effort.

If the game allows it, try drinking sips of a sports drink during the match as well. Don't drink too much, or you'll get a full belly that can hinder you from running or being as mobile. However, short sips can replenish your carbohydrate storage and fluids, keeping you at 100% performance at all times.

After the game, you can hydrate yourself using an inverse method to the one used before it. Right after the match has ended, drinking some carb rich fluid will help you relax and replenish your energies faster, so you won't feel as tired as you would otherwise. It will also help relax your muscles so you'll be ready to jump right back into training the next day or the day after.

After you feel you've refreshed yourself enough using the carb rich sports drink, you can switch to plain water again, drinking it at set intervals for a couple more days, again, even when you're not thirsty.


The Hydration Chart –

Find out if you're well hydrated or dehydrated with a simple hydration test

The symptoms of dehydration are harder to spot and even when you do, you'll probably attribute them to tiredness, your diet and so forth. However, there is a simple method of determining whether or not you are dehydrated, using a hydration test and your urine.

Look for the chart on the page, having 8 rectangles of different colors and numbers 1-8 next to them. You'll notice that the deeper the chart goes down, the darker the colors. It's these colored rectangles that the chart will have you comparing your urine against.

What you need to do is get a clean jar and early in the morning, collect a sample of your urine in it. Pack it up and fill another jar after training, or at the end of a day in which you had to perform physical effort. Now compare the two jars with the chart colors. If your urine is light (1 to 3), then you are well hydrated and don't really need to worry about this issue for now. The darker your urine color gets, the more dehydrated you are and if you're in the 6-8 range, you should seriously think about a hydration plan.

Since you took a sample before and after physical effort, you can see the approximate amount of dehydration occurring during practice or a soccer match and you can work towards hydrating yourself back up accordingly.


Hydration Chart


Soccer Diet - Pre Game Meals

Although the general dietary rules above will work well around the week, you'll be much better off following specific diets prior and after playing a match.

 Eating a normal course just before a match will have several disadvantages. You don't want to feel "full" before a match or before practice, since it will hinder your ability to run, your agility, jumping and so forth. Not eating at all before a match or practice is not a good idea either. Going into a match without eating will have you playing in a weakened state and won't allow you to perform at your maximum potential.

 So what you need to do is find something to eat that is light but can still provide you with a good source of energy to cope with the upcoming effort. These pre-match snacks can contain fruits or vegetables or some light bread product. Not all fruits and vegetables are ideal though. You'll also want to pick up those that are rich in carbohydrates, in order to charge yourself up with energy before the match.

Some of the most carb-rich fruits out there include apples, peaches, oranges, and grapefruits. Breads are usually harder on the stomach, but they also offer you a rich carbohydrate base. So a slice of toast or some crackers could be beneficial.

You'll also want to pay attention in your soccer diet to the GI value of the food you eat in your pre game meal. The GI is short for Glycemic Index and it's a scale of how much a certain type of food raises the level of blood sugar in comparison to pure glucose. Before matches, it's recommended that the food you eat contains as low GI value as possible because low GI foods help conserve energy during effort. You'll find a list of foods with GI of 55 or less at the bottom of the this soccer diet article.


Soccer Diet - Post Game Meals

A good post game meal is equally important as the pre game one. Pre match, your food had to be light and full of carbs to give you the energy and mobility to put off the best performance, but after the match the purpose of the meal will be entirely different. Your post match diet will have to cover all the nutrients you lost in your recent effort and get your muscles in shape again.

Post match diets are usually fluid-heavy but a good stream of carbohydrates in the plate will also help you recover easier and high GI carbs work best in this situation. High GI food helps you replenish carbohydrate stores quicker after a match, since they get depleted after extensive effort. 

So basically, high GI food is the best for refueling yourself after the game, getting your energy levels back on track in the same day. High GI foods include rice, potatoes and bread, but you can find a more extensive list of low and high GI food below.

Soccer Diet - GI Foods List

Low GI Foods Medium GI Foods High GI Foods
Cabbage 10 White Rice 56 Golden Grahams 71
Mushrooms 10 Pita Bread 57 Bagel 72
Chillies 10 Wild Rice 57 Corn Chips 72
Onions 10 Banana 58 Watermelon 72
Artichoke 15 Blueberry Muffin 59 Honey 73
Asparagus 15 Cheese Pizza 60 Kaiser Roll 73
Avocado 15 Papaya 60 Mashed Potatoes 73
Broccoli 15 Baked Potatoes 61 Cheerios 74
Cauliflower 15 Couscous 61 Cream of Wheat, Instant 74
Celery 15 Hamburger Bun 61 Graham Crackers 74
Cucumber 15 Icecream 62 Doughnuts 75
Eggplant 15 Macaroni & Cheese 64 French Fries 76
Green Beans 15 Raisins 64 Frozen Waffles 76
Lettuce 15 Instant Oatmeal 66 Total Cereal 76
Low Fat Yogurt 15 Pineapple 66 Jelly Beans 80
Peanuts 15 Angel Food Cake 67 Pretzels 81
Spinach 15 American Rye Bread 68 Rice Cake 82
Zucchini 15 Taco Shells 68 Cornflakes 84
Tomatoes 15 Whole Wheat Bread 69 Baked Potatoes 85
Cherries 22 Melba Toast 70 French Baguette 95
Plum 24 White Bread 70 Dates 103
Grapefruit 25
Peach 28
Wheat Tortilla 30
Dried Apricots 31
Whole Milk 31
Fat Free Milk 32
Fettuccine 32
Spaghetti 32
Sweetened Yoghurt 33
Nutella 33
Apple 36
Butter Beans 36
Pear 36
Tomato Soup 38
Carrots, Cooked 39
Meat Ravioli 39
Natural Muesli 40
Canned Chickpeas 42
Custard 43
Grapes 43
Orange 43
Macaroni 45
Banana Bread 47
Instant Noodles 47
Long Grain Rice 47
Grean Peas 48
All Bran 50
Brown Rice 50
Cheese Tortellini 50
Rolled Oats 51
Kiwifruit 52
Special K 54
Canned Fruit Cocktail 55
Linguine 55
Oatmeal 55
Popcorn 55
Sweet Corn 55

StatCounter - Free Web Tracker and Counter

The information on this website is intended as an educational and informational source only. It doesn't replace the advice of a qualified nutritionist, so it's advisable that you visit a specialist before taking up any of the nutritional suggestions on the website. The author himself is not a dietician, so make sure you consult your family physician or dietician before starting any type of diet, lifestyle or nutritional change. Some diets may be harmful for persons suffering from certain medical conditions and the author of the website cannot be held responsible for any harm or injury that might occur by following the instructions and tips found here.


StatCounter - Free Web Tracker and Counter 




 


Free Team Pages, Free League Pages
Powered by BallCharts.com - free team & league websites