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Lead Stories: Sunday, October 12, 2008

Do not limit calories before competition

Posted June 14th, 2007 at 9:03 AM by Jamal Walker

Section: Nutrition, Race Prep & Recov

empty_plate Most athletes know that lack of fluids weakens and tires them, so they take adequate amount of fluids, before, during and after competitions.

However, many do not know how much they need extra calories. They often are told incorrectly that the human body has so much fat on board that lack of calories is not a significant problem.

Researchers at the University of Wales in the United Kingdom found that moderate calorie restriction two days prior to competition slows down endurance far more than reduced fluid intake over that same period (Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, February 2007). Moderate dehydration does not harm performance until a person becomes severely dehydrated. On the other hand, lack of calories stops you cold in your tracks.

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Calorie restriction without exercise may lead to bone loss

Posted December 25th, 2006 at 7:00 AM by Jennifer Lipman

Section: Health & Fitness, Injury & Rehab, Exercise, Weight Loss

Cut the calories, check the scale, and a couple of weeks later you weigh less. However, a new study suggests that this decrease in weight is due to bone loss caused by lack of exercise when you just cut calories for a diet.

Dennis T. Villareal, MD, and his research team at Washington University in St. Louis, conducted an experiment featuring 30 women and 18 men over the age of 57. Nineteen of the adults were put on a calorie-restricted diet, lowering the intake of energy by 16 percent for the first three months. For the following 9 months, it was upped to 20 percent.
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