Sports Nutrition

Good nutrition, adequate hydration, and proper timing of meals, snacks, and fluids relative to athletic events can boost athletes' endurance and help them turn in winning performances. Dietitians can help athletes in weight-conscious sports like ballet, gymnastics, and wrestling find safe ways to keep their weight down without sacrificing their nutritional status or resorting to dangerous dehydration techniques to "make weight." Endurance athletes, such as long distance runners and cyclists, often have the opposite problem. They tend to burn so many calories that they risk losing valuable muscle tissue; many try to compensate by eating a lot of junk food. An RD can help endurance athletes find healthful ways to meet their calorie needs.

In addition to sports nutrition counseling, the IMC Center for Nutrition & Weight Management offers state-of-the-art body composition analyses and bone scans. Combining the data provided by these analysis and knowledge of the demands of an athlete's sport can help the RD advise an athlete on how to fine-tune his/her diet and training sessions for maximum performance.

Our knowledgeable dietitians can also help athletes sort out truth from fiction when it comes to evaluating sports supplements.