The excesive intake of macronutrients: does it influence the sports performances of young cyclists?

UNLABELLED: The purpose was to determine whether 34 young Spanish males belonging to a cyclist team, follows the optimal macronutrients intake based on the recommended dietary guidelines. The deficits in nutrition jeopardise the sportive performances, but what about the diets with excessive intake of macronutrients? Furthermore, is there an association between their sports achievements and the psychological profile? Surely, but the problem is to determine which psychological variables are involved.

METHOD: Nutritional evaluation based on Nutrients intake questionnaire of 7 consecutive days.

RESULTS: Cyclists consume an excessive quantity of proteins and lipids in their diets. The average consumption of proteins is 16,36% of their caloric intake (the recommended quantity is less than 10%). The average consumption of fats is 38,71% (the recommended is less than 30%). The same tendency is found in the homologous Spanish young people of the enKID study, where the percentage of energy from fat and saturated fat is much higher than the recommended one. The cyclists consume insufficient quantities of carbohydrates (average is 44, 94% of their caloric intake, the recommended is more than 60%), therefore the reload of their glycogen stores may not be complete on each competition stage. No association has been found between the excessive intake of referred macronutrients and the achieved sports performances.

CONCLUSION: This work contributes to the knowledge of the diets of very active young cyclists. Excessive intake of proteins and fats do not jeopardise their sportive performances. The commonly studied psychological variables in sport, are not determinant of sports achievements of young cyclists; additional work is needed to determine the psychological profile playing a determinant role in success of young cyclists.