Essentials of Nutrition for Sports

Many athletes whose performance

depends on low body weight

are subject to decreased performan

ce or illness because they are too

thin. This is discussed further in

Too Thin?

in the free supplement to

this book available at: http://roadbikerider.com/nutritionforsportssupplement.htm

.

Daily Caloric Needs

You need energy for basal meta

bolism, the basics of running

your body. Basal metabolism includes pumping your heart, circulating blood through your kidneys, liver, and other organs, supplying your brain with energy, fueling the rods and cones of your eyes to see, manufacturing salivary

and gastrointestinal juices for

digestion, and moving food through your bowels.

Beyond basal metabolism, you need energy to fuel your daily

activities, including exercise.

Basal Metabolism

Many well-known formulae exist for estimating basal

metabolism energy needs.

Methods that are more accurate are used in laboratories or

intensive care units.

Many free calculators are also available on the internet. Use a

search engine with the keywords: basal, metabolism, calculator.

Following are three of the most well-known formulae. If you

check your own figures, you may find that figures vary, sometimes significantly: Simplest

Estimate based on weight:

30 calories per kilogram or 13.5 calories per pound. Harris-Benedict Equations

Estimate based on gender, height, age, and weight:

Male:

66+ (13.7 x wt in kg) + (5 x ht in cm) – (6.8 x age in years)

Female: 665 + (9.6 x wt in kg) + (1.85 x ht in cm) – (4.7 x age in years)

Nutrition for Sports, Essentials of 35