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NUTRITION KNOWLEDGE SURVEY SUMMARY
Nutrition Knowledge Survey Summary
Summary
My fellow classmates interviewed athletes from a wide variety of sports including
hockey, basketball, soccer, and volleyball. Each of these sports require different physical
demands, which also means that diets will vary among the athletes. Among the responses, there
were several similarities found. First, it appears that a majority of the athletes recognized the
importance of consuming enough carbohydrates. In addition, many athletes, depending on their
level of play, indicated that they do not follow strict diets. The reason for this could be the fact
that a designated sports nutritionist is not usually provided at levels below division I. Usually,
the budget will not allow for a nutritionist at those levels. For most DI athletes, it seemed that
they followed more strict programs and were therefore more knowledgeable. Overall, it appears
that athletes at all levels can recognize that eating more nutritious foods are better for and
improve an athlete’s performance. Furthermore, many athletes drank protein drinks or ate protein
bars, and some took vitamins but not the majority.
Interpretation
A common theme throughout the responses is that many athletes did not take specific
vitamins or supplements. After reading an article by Bonilla et al. (2023), it appears that more
research needs to be done on the specifics of supplementation for athletes. This article references
that supplements such as collagen, creatine monohydrate, fish oils, and vitamin D might have the
potential to aid athletes, but the authors highlight the importance of supplementing correctly and
following the suggested amount and not utilizing supplements that are not approved for use
(Bonilla et al., 2023). Another article provided research behind various other supplements such
as carnitine, phosphates, sodium citrate, sodium bicarbonate, beta-alanine, nitrate, creatine, and
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NUTRITION KNOWLEDGE SURVEY SUMMARY
caffeine (Bonilla et al., 2023). The article did not specifically spell out which supplements each
athlete should be taken, which can be explained by the fact that each person is different (Bonilla
et al., 2023). Supplements can be beneficially, but it can be challenging to figure out which ones
are the right ones to take, which might be the reason the athletes as a majority did not note
specific supplements. Most of the responses regarding supplementation would say multivitamins,
greens, protein, and a couple of responses included creatine. Overall, not many athletes provided
specific supplements. This would be a great topic for further research to determine what
supplements can benefit athletes in specific sports.
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NUTRITION KNOWLEDGE SURVEY SUMMARY
References
Bonilla, D. A., Boullosa, D., & Del Coso, J. (2023). Advances in Nutrition, Dietary Supplements
and Ergogenic Aids for Athletic Performance: Trends and Future
Prospects.BNutrients,B15(10), 2246. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu15102246
Peeling, P., Binnie, M. J., Goods, P. S., Sim, M., & Burke, L. M. (2018). Evidence-Based
Supplements for the Enhancement of Athletic Performance.BInternational Journal of
Sport Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism,B28(2), 178-187. Retrieved Feb 25, 2024,
fromBhttps://doi.org/10.1123/ijsnem.2017-0343
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