Every baseball player wants to be a hard hitter. The strength training programs definitely help to become a hard hitter. However, proper nutrition is as basic requirement as the training sessions are. Here is know- how about the basic nutrition which is required by every baseball player.

Nutrition is undoubtedly the key aspect of athletic performance. The basic requirements of Baseball are strength, power and explosiveness. Nutrition is the one-stop solution to build your muscles.

A sharp mind and a healthy physique are essential to develop high proficiency in the game. For this you need to feed your body with the nutrients necessary for many processes including biosynthesis of hormones, muscle building, bone formation and many other functions.  For this, you need to know about the intake of calories that is, the energy you receive from eating food.

The six basic classes of nutrients include Proteins, Carbohydrates, Fats, Vitamins, Minerals and Water.

Proteins:  Proteins are the building blocks of life. Protein makes up many structures within the body including your muscles, skin and organs. Enrich your diet with food containing sumptuous amounts of protein including milk, eggs and fish. The amount of protein varies in every food.

The nutritional value of proteins according to the doctors is 4 calories per 1 g of protein.

Carbohydrates: Many people have the misconception that carbohydrates are out enemies. But, the truth is- NO. They are rather our friends when it comes to efficient and powerful energy. They are the most important macro nutrients. The amount of carbohydrates fluctuates according to the needs of the athletic performance.

You can get good amount of carbohydrates from the sources of simple carbohydrates such as Monosaccharide (Glucose, Fructose and Galactose) and Disaccharides (Maltose, Sucrose and Lactose).

On the other hand, Complex carbohydrates are found in whole wheat bread, whole wheat pasta, yams and oats. Complex carbohydrates are basically large chains of Monosaccharide joined to form one huge molecule.

Fibers are a form of carbohydrate. Fibers help protect the body against bacterial infection, reduce the risk of colon cancer and coronary heart disease and helps stop hemorrhoids and constipation. Vegetables, whole wheat pasta, oats and whole wheat bread contain good amount of fiber.

Fats: We often consider fats as bad and chuck them out of our diets. But the truth is that we should rather eat a ton of fats! I am not joking anyway! Although there are fats which definitely harm the body, there are good fats that are essential foar our body. Good fats when digested are broken down into fatty acids which play many roles in our biology.

Good fats provide a lot of dense energy; make you feel fuller and are major components of cell membranes.

Good fats include Saturated fats (fats that contain saturated fatty acids). They are solid at room temperature and can be found in foods such as animal meat. Saturated Fats are important in the production of testosterone.
 
Essential Fatty Acids are fatty acids which we must get from our diet or cannot make in sufficient quantities (similar to essential amino acids). EFA help with the body’s immune system, help regulate blood pressure, reduce infection, manage blood lipids, and helps with the creation of blood clots. You can get sufficient amount of essential fatty acids in fish and fish oil.

The nutritional value of fat as per the doctors is 9 calories per 1 g of fat.

Water: Last but not the least; water is pro-athletic performance. Drink beer mugs of water and you will get to know that water clears out toxins, makes the water soluble vitamins function properly, causes cell volumization, helps regulate body temperature and the list goes on. The recommended intake of water is 4-8 L a day and 1-2 L during the game.

Make sure that your diet contains all the above essential nutrients to perform well in Baseball.

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, April 23rd, 2008 at 1:33 pm and is filed under Baseball. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.