Diet for Teen Athletes

One of the most important aspects of being a healthy young athlete is maintaining a proper diet. The food you eat is the energy source that keeps you playing at a high level. In addition, a diet can provide vitamins, minerals and antioxidants that help a teen athlete recover from a hard workout. Maintaining a high metabolism and providing your body with the right types of nutrients is the best way for a teen athlete to diet.

Maintaining a High Metabolism

• The key aspect to any diet is increasing your metabolism. Because teen athletes generally have a fast metabolism already, the key is to keep that metabolism high in order for the body to take in all the nutrients their diets provide. A fast metabolism helps break down the foods you consume rather than store the extra calories as fat. In order to keep a healthy metabolic rate, eat smaller portions more often. Eat three normal meals supplemented with three to five smaller meals a day. A good example of a small meal is a cup of low-fat yogurt and a banana. Therefore, you should be eating every two hours. This will keep your metabolism working constantly and prevent you from going hungry. On top of that, you will be providing your body with an extensive amount of healthy calories throughout the day, which your body can burn off while playing your sport.

Foods for an Athletic Diet

• Along with eating smaller meals more often, it is important to give your body the types of food that will assist your fitness program rather than work against it.
  Some examples of healthy foods that will provide teen athletes with proper nutrition are fruits, vegetables, fish, low-fat dairy products, unsalted nuts, egg whites, brown rice and oatmeal. Foods that should be eliminated from your diet include candy, high-fat desserts, processed junk food such as potato chips and white bread.

  One of the most important aspects of a teen diet is drinking enough fluids. A teen athlete should drink 8-10 cups of water a day. Replace all the soda with water and occasionally supplement a Gatorade on training days.

  Also, do not fall for all the supplement fads. Many are untested, overpriced and provide no benefit. You can get the same and even better nutrition through healthy dieting. Drinking a little bit of whey protein after a muscle building workout is acceptable, but other than that, stay away from workout supplements.

  Moreover, avoid any food with saturated fat, trans fat and simple carbohydrates. Instead, look for healthy food that is high in complex carbohydrates such as multigrain bread or wheat pasta, lean protein and muscular minerals such as calcium and iron.

Caloric Intake

• A normal diet consists of about 2,000 calories a day. Because of your participation in athletic training, you should consume close to 3,000 per day.