Fat, Vitamins and Minerals

 Introduction

    The athletic population that we are working with is male high school wrestlers. This post will address the fat, vitamin and mineral recommendations for this population. 

Fat

    Fat within a wrestlers diet is essential for sustaining energy. Out of all of the energy systems, fat metabolism offers the most available energy. The catch to this is that it must be metabolized in the presence of oxygen. High intensity exercise will reduce the oxygen availability and reduce the capability of fat oxidation to be utilized as a primary source of fuel. Aside from a long lasting fuel source, fat also aids in the absorption of vitamins, promotes neural transmission, helps protect vital organs, helps maintain healthy skin and hair, and helps synthesize hormones (Kreider, 2019). High school wrestlers should aim to ingest .5-1.5 g/kg/day of fats within their diet. Ultimately, these athletes should not fall below 20% of their total energy needs from fat (Kreider, 2019). 

    A popular topic right now when talking about fat and carbohydrate consumption with athletes is the ketogenic diet. There have been positive and negative claims to utilizing this diet (Kreider, 2019). The answer to if an athlete should use this diet or not comes down to the energy expenditure within the activity they are performing. A wrestler operates at a very high intensity for three two-minute periods. Within this time, they are utilized the ATP-PCr, anaerobic glycolysis and oxidative systems at the same time. Fat oxidation can be utilized within a match when they go out of bounds and must reset or if they are slowing down the pace of the match physically. For a majority of the match the anaerobic system is being taxed the most. If wrestlers carbohydrate restricted as much as the keto diet suggests (10-40 g/day), these athletes would run out of gas in their matches. Their bodies would not be able to keep up with the physical demand and the lack of available oxygen due to the high intensity. A clear negatively impacted performance would occur. 

    The keto diet has been utilized in another way. Carbohydrate restrictions are utilized to train the body to optimized fat oxidation as the primary source of energy throughout the week. 3-5 days before competition, carbohydrates are added back into the diet and carbohydrate loading occurs the 2 days before competition as well as fat loading (Kreider, 2019). The results of this are inconclusive and have not shown a clear increase in performance outcomes (Kreider, 2019). additionally, wrestlers training throughout the week on low carbohydrates will continue to have a lack of fuel during practices. This does not allow them to sharpen their skills and prepare properly for a competition. 

Vitamins

    Vitamins and minerals are essential to an athletes diet and each play important roles in metabolic and physiological function. Vitamins are essential organic compounds that cannot be synthesized by the body. Vitamins are necessary in small doses and help maintain metabolic functions (Kreider, 2019). Minerals are essential inorganic chemical elements used to maintain proper physiological processes within the body (Kreider, 2019). Vitamins that would be helpful for wrestlers are listed below: 

1. Vitamin A - helps maintain healthy vision and reduces muscle damage received from exercise (Kreider, 2019). It has antioxidant properties and the RDA is 700-900 micrograms. Can be supplemented or achieved through the diet by ingesting eggs or fortified foods such as cereal. 

2. Vitamin D - Helps maintain healthy bones and enhances calcium absorption (Kreider, 2019). This can help reduce the risk of injury. The RDA is 5-15 micrograms. Can be found in fatty fish, fortified foods and egg yolks. 

3. Thiamin B1 - Helps in the removal of CO2 and a potential increase to anaerobic threshold (Kreider, 2019). RDA is 1.1-1.2 mg/day. Can be supplemented or acquired through the diet in beef, nuts, pork, eggs and fortified foods such as rice. 

Minerals

    Minerals help in the physiological processes of the body. These processes help build body structures like muscles, teeth, bone and regulate electrically charges ions (Kreider, 2019). Some minerals that would be helpful for wrestlers are listed below:

1. Calcium - Helps bone and tooth formation. This can help reduce the risk of injury by maintaining healthy bones (Kreider, 2019). Paired with vitamin D is essential for absorption. RDA is 1,000 - 2,000 mg/day. Can be supplemented or found in milk, cheese and other dairy sources. 

2. Potassium - Helps regulate fluid balance. Has effects on nerve transmission in the body. Primarily looked at in reducing the potential of cramping (Kreider, 2019). RDA is 4.7 g/day or 2000 mg/day. Can be supplemented or acquired through ingestion of bananas and baked potatoes.

3. Sodium - Helps regulate fluid balance. Has effects on nerve transmission. Like potassium, it is used in reducing cramping and hyponatremia (Kreider, 2019). RDA is 1.5 g/day. Can be supplemented or acquired in the diet through salted meat, fish, poultry and nuts. 

Wrap-up

    Fats, vitamins and minerals are all essential to a high school wrestlers diet. Making sure that proper amounts are consumed will ensure optimal performance. Excess ingestion of fats, vitamins and minerals can have adverse health effects. It is important to know the RDA values for each of these substances and ensure that these athletes are within the healthy ranges. Too little or too much will not aid in optimal performance outcomes. 

Cited Sources

 Kreider, R. B. (2019). Essentials of exercise and sport nutrition: Science to practice. Raleigh, NC: Lulu.