An athlete requires all the adequate nutrients to perform well in the related sports. To keep yourself healthy and fit your body requires all the nutrients in adequate amounts. A good diet provides you the adequate amount of protein, vitamins, minerals, carbohydrate, fats, dietary fiber and water.

Production of the required energy is the main aspect of eating a nutritional diet. This energy is required to perform any type of activities from running to jumping. A muscle requires fat and carbohydrate to function properly. Minerals and vitamins are required for all the metabolic activity of the body. A performance of an athlete gets affected if his body lacks the required amount of minerals and vitamins.

Why high-vitamin diet is required?

To maintain the energy balance in the body during the sports or training session it is important that minerals and vitamins are present in your body. A person usually requires 1,200-1,500 Kilo calories per day to perform the normal activities.

For the sport like cross country skiers and ice hockey a person needs at least 3,000 Kilo calories per day. This amount of mineral and vitamin can be achieved by the right type of foods. If you are eating mineral and vitamin enriched food then there is no need to take any supplements.

Fruits and vegetables are perfect for getting a higher level of vitamins. These vitamins also act as a good source of antioxidants. 5-9 fruits and vegetable servings are advisable for the athletes. Some grains are also the best source of minerals and vitamins.

Although, Recommended Dietary Allowances (RDSs) for minerals and vitamins can be achieved easily with the foods but some athletes take supplements to enhance their performance level. Some sport activities requires more energy that requires more vitamins for example B-vitamins releases more energy from nutrient so the athlete that requires more energy takes the excessive B-vitamins than the normal athletes.

Eating more vitamins enriched food can fulfill that requirement still some athlete prefer to take supplements.

The safe and required amount of vitamins can be achieved by multivitamin supplement if it has 100% of Daily Value. Moreover, these supplements should only be taken if your diet cannot fulfill the energy requirements. But also eating variety of vitamin enriched food is mandatory to achieve the goal. Food contains a multitude of phytochemicals and fiber that are good for health due to its benefits in metabolism activities of the body.

Minerals for the injury prevention

Calcium, zinc and iron are essential minerals that are required by the athletes. The required quantity of these minerals depends on the body of athletes, some sports require the higher strength of bones and it can be concluded by measuring the density of bone minerals. Less density of calcium or lack of adequate amount of calcium in body can cause bone loss and ultimately to a risk of fracture. Dairy products, broccoli, fish with bones, and fortified cereals and fruit or vegetable juices are rich source of calcium.

Similarly, Iron is the key substance of hemoglobin of blood and for proper oxygen transport and other metabolic activities it is required. Lean red meats, legumes, whole grains, and fortified cereals are rich sources of iron. Zinc is essential to the antioxidant enzymes, these enzymes help in energy metabolism of a body. Zinc plays an important role in protein synthesis and immune function. Zinc enriched foods are seafood, meat, poultry and whole grains.

Without all the essential minerals and vitamins an athlete cannot tune up and boost his performance. However, excess intake of these essential substances can cause severe damage to the health. So, it wise to keep a perfect ratio of every nutrients in the food.