Contributed by Lara Gray, MS, RD, CSSD,
Director of Education at Drug Free Sport, Inc.
Full disclosure: I am a sports dietitian (RD). But that is not the only reason I feel compelled to write a brief post on this topic. Through our work and educational outreach at Drug Free Sport, I have observed that the role of sports RDs on the sports medicine team is still largely misunderstood, under-budgeted, missing—or all of these at once. So, let me make a few points to elaborate on why you need a sports RD in your athletic program. If you are a sports RD reading this, use this information to strengthen your case on why you are essential to any athletic programs’ success, and the health and safety of the athletes they serve.
Most
athletes have little to no nutrition knowledge.
o Even
a basic understanding of which foods provide carbs, proteins, or fats is
primarily absent. A lack of basic nutrition principles immediately limits an
athlete’s potential to make adequate fueling decisions for performance. This, in
conjunction with issues pertaining to budget, often predisposes athletes to
selecting high fat, high sugar options from cheap, grab’n’go conveniences (e.g.,
fast food, fried foods).
Lack of awareness
of food-based solutions leads to increased reliance and trust in potentially harmful
dietary supplements.
o This
generation of athletes will not shy away from using technology to source ways
to “treat” sports performance issues (read: Google, Facebook, Twitter searches
and online influence are at an all-time high). Enter dietary supplements. An athlete's
lack of awareness pertaining to nutrition solutions for performance and
recovery, and the results of their web search, often leads to dietary supplement
products with questionable contents. They are often unregulated, contaminated with prohibited substances, contain
heavy metals or toxic pesticides, or fall short of all of these and merely
contain almond or soy flour—yet charge $30-$100 per bottle.
To deter
supplement use in sport, athletes must receive practical and effective food solutions.
o Current
research estimates the prevalence of dietary supplement use in sport to be
within a wide range of 40-75%; higher among those at more elite levels. The
expertise of the sport RD can not only provide sound guidance on supplement
safety and efficacy, but most importantly, also offer food-first solutions that
provide safe, sustainable, and highly effective alternatives.
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Sports RDs make nutrition decisions highly approachable, visible, and easy for athletes.
o Sports
RDs are educated and trained in food service operations. This makes them a primary
asset when negotiating and determining pre-/post-game meals, stocking and
maintaining refueling stations, navigating food options while teams are
traveling, and working with catering and food service managers to create/enrich
training table meals.
The sports RD can save both time and money.
o Food costs money. Consider the time saved in human resources if you have
someone working with teams, caterers, operations staff, and food service staff
who can confidently set menus while competition is both home and away. Recognize cost savings from a professional experienced in ordering and stocking only the
appropriate amounts and types of nutrition resources.
Sports RDs
effectively support the collective success of any multidisciplinary sports
medicine team.
o The
team physician’s efforts in athlete post-surgical care;
The athletic trainer’s
efforts to support recovery, injury prevention, and immunity;
The sport psychologist’s
efforts addressing athletes with disordered eating;
The coach’s efforts in
achieving optimal body composition for performance;
—are all elevated
and improved by the work of a sports RD.
Make sure to set their place at the table!
For
additional guidance on adding a sports dietitian to your team, or to find a
certified specialist in sports dietetics (CSSD) in your area, please email me
at lgray@drugfreesport.com. Drug
Free Sport advocates for all professional disciplines that support athlete
health, performance, and safety. To learn more about the impact of sports
dietitians on high performance teams, and experience a new sports industry
conference that focuses on maximizing collaborative success of “the team behind
the team”, visit www.sportexchangesummit.com.
What impact has
a sport dietitian had on your team or athletic program? PLEASE USE THE COMMENTS TO SHARE!
