Ch 5Sports and Nutrition — Class 12 Physical Education, concept-first.

What we eat shapes how we grow, how well we stay, and how far we can push our bodies in play and sport.

No single food supplies everything the body needs, so a healthy diet has to be built by combining foods that complement one another.

Food is essential for survival. Food refers to any substance that nourishes the body — in other words, anything we can digest, absorb and utilise for the body's various physiological functions, includ…

Nutrients can be broadly classified as macronutrients and micronutrients, depending on the amounts the body needs each day.

Carbohydrates are organic compounds made up of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen. They are a major source of energy, providing 4 kcal per gram, and are found in abundance in plant foods.

Proteins are organic compounds that contain nitrogen, besides carbon, oxygen and hydrogen. They have a complex structure and are built from nitrogen-containing amino acids, which link together in chai…

Lipids, or dietary fats, is a broad term covering both oils and fats. Oils are liquid at room temperature and fats are solid, and it is the type of fatty acids present that makes a lipid liquid or sol…

Water is essential for life. It is an inorganic compound made up of hydrogen and oxygen, and it is a major component of the body, making up as much as 60% of an individual's total weight.

Vitamins are chemicals the body needs in small amounts to work properly. They act in many ways, mostly as 'helpers' — for example, many of the B-vitamins help the body use protein, fats and carbohydra…

Minerals are inorganic elements the body needs for a variety of physiological functions. Those required in larger amounts are called macro-minerals, and those required in smaller amounts are the micro…

Food is a basic requirement of every individual: it helps develop the body, supplies energy for physical work, and supports growth and development.

The foods we eat contain a wide range of organic chemical compounds. Some of these have nutritive value, as discussed above, while others have no nutritional value.

Non-nutritive factors, or anti-nutritional factors (ANFs), are biological compounds present in human or animal foods that reduce nutrient utilisation or food intake, and so contribute to impaired gast…

Not every non-nutritive component is harmful — several are actively good for health, and a few are simply added to foods for taste, colour or shelf life. The main beneficial non-nutritive factors are:

A healthy body weight is one of the simplest and most powerful predictors of long-term health. There are numerous advantages to maintaining a healthy weight, and the good news is that a person who is…

Eating right is essential to staying at a healthy weight. Maintaining body weight is really a balancing act: the amount of energy we take in should match the amount we spend.

Maintaining a calorie deficit always leads to weight loss. Without exercise, that deficit has to be created by lowering calorie intake alone - and this is where "dieting alone" runs into trouble.

Food intolerance is a non-IgE-mediated (non-allergic) food hypersensitivity, characterised by difficulty in digesting certain foods.

A great deal of everyday nutrition "wisdom" is simply wrong. Food myths spread because they sound plausible and are repeated often, but many collapse the moment they are checked against the science.

Nutrition is a crucial aspect of both training and performance. Athletes should make appropriate dietary adjustments to perform better and to protect their long-term health, choosing the right foods a…

Diet matters to a sportsperson for several distinct reasons. The CBSE syllabus sets these out as seven key points:

Carbohydrates are the major source of energy for any activity, which is why they dominate a sportsperson's fuel needs. How much is needed depends on the type of sport:

During exercise and training, muscle bulk increases but muscle tissue is also broken down, and in prolonged exercise protein is oxidised to provide energy.

Fat has a genuine role in an athlete's diet - it contributes energy density and offers other protective functions - but taking more than recommended can create health problems.

Vitamins and minerals perform their functions for athletes and non-athletes alike, but sport raises the stakes.

The primary goals of a pre-exercise or pre-event meal are to fuel up glycogen stores for energy and to ensure proper hydration.

Meeting nutritional needs during training and competition is crucial for optimal performance. The main aims while exercising are to maintain water balance, control body temperature, sustain normal blo…

After training or a competition, the body must recover so the athlete can train or play again the next day at full potential and with a lower risk of injury.

- A healthy weight brings large health benefits, and even a small loss helps. Losing just the first 5-10% of excess weight lowers the risk of Type 2 diabetes, heart disease, stroke and obesity-related…