Vedashree Bhat is pursuing her master's degree in sports nutrition. As a part of her master's degree, she is also interning with Sports Authority of India (SAI) and is based out of Bengaluru.
Ranjit Subramaniyam is a former badminton player. At his peak, Subramaniyam attained a career high national rank of 16 and was one of the top 10 players from Tamil Nadu. After his playing days, he became a professional badminton coach and is now the head coach at Bengluru's White Peacock Badminton Academy.
In Subramaniyam's experience, his young pupils are not up to their full training schedules. He feels that the kids are tiring out fast and suffering from cramps. He also faces a lot of nutrition-related questions from the parents of the kids. But Subramaniyam believes that his is not the right person to answer those queries. A sports nutritionist is the right person for that, he rightly says.
Here's where people like Vedashree Bhat come in. Bhat believes that it could be that these kids are not consuming enough carbohydrates, which is leading to exhaustion so fast. Or maybe, they have a calcium deficiency or are dehydrated. Whether a kid goes on to become a professional athlete or not, managing nutrient intake is a must.
Bhat and Subramaniyam have joined forces as they look to spread awareness among young kids about the importance of nutrition. To let the young kids and their parents know about the value of nutrition, the two held a session in Bengaluru. The session aimed at introducing the concept of nutrition and pointed to a few dos and don'ts for the training sessions.
CNBCTV18.com caught up with both of them to know the importance of nutrition in an athlete's career. The two spoke at length about why sports nutritionists are important, how good nutrition helps in maintaining good mental health and a lot more.
I see people using the terms ‘dietician’ and ‘nutritionist’ interchangeably. Is it correct or are there differences in the meaning of the two words?
Bhat: There is a key difference. A nutritionist is someone who has finished their bachelors and masters in nutrition and then they practice as a nutritionist.
To be called a ‘dietician’ in India, you will have to go through an exam called RD (Registered Dietician, conducted by the Indian Dietetic Association. It is mostly clinical-based right now.
If you look at other countries, there is something called a sports dietician as well. They go through a certification programme and have to get registered as a sports dietician. A nutritionist is someone who has had the same rigorous background but they don't undergo any specific exam.
In India's current scenario, dieticians are mostly working purely in clinical backgrounds. But as a nutritionist, you are working with wellness, fitness, lifestyle, sports, so it is a wide area. So the key difference is the clinical aspect.
What is the role of a sports nutritionist and how important is it for an athlete to be in regular touch with a sports nutritionist?
Bhat: We look at the way an athlete trains. An athlete has a macrocycle (a macrocycle refers to an athlete's season as a whole), where they have multiple big competitions in it, they will also have some rest in it, and some per-training and conditioning. If you look at an athlete's macrocycle, you can break it down into mesocycles (a mesocycle refers to an athlete's particular training block within that season). In these mesocycles, the need of an athlete is very different. Again we can break it down to microcycles. So just like an athlete's training is periodised, it is also important to periodise nutrition.
If we have to look at nutrition specifically, probably hydration and carbohydrates come into the picture when an athlete is on the field. But when they are off the field so much keeps happening within an athlete's body. After each session they have to recover. That recovery happens because of the rest and the food. So athletes need a change from week to week. It can change drastically. Even in a particular week, there will be sessions on endurance training, strength and conditioning, techniques and skills. So there are multiple aspects to it. The energy an athlete expends varies. So the nutrients that are required to recover post these sessions also vary. This is why an athlete needs to sit with a sports nutritionist.
Also, at times there are practical challenges too. An athlete might need proteins but you will find that someone is allergic to milk or does not like meat or is a vegetarian. So the work of a sports nutritionist is to ensure that an athlete's health is preserved.
As a former player and now a coach, what values do you think a former player can add to the field of sports nutrition?
Subramaniyam: When I was playing and practising badminton, I was living with my family in Chennai. So proper home cooked meals helped me a lot. But when I got sponsors and I shifted to Bangalore, I was living alone. Unfortunately I don't know how to cook.
Practising and coaching for more than eight hours every day affected me a lot. So I understood that especially when an athlete lives alone, the role of nutrition comes to the forefront.
At what stage of your career did you realise the importance of nutrition?
Subramaniyam: Mostly, I had to play my matches in different states. In that case I had to travel and move. Everything will be different in different states. In that case we really need to work on nutrition. So traveling for my competitions made me realise the importance of nutrition.
Did you have any sports nutritionist to consult or talk to during your playing days?
Subramaniyam: When I played the Nationals in 2014, we did not have this exposure. It was our coach who would be recommending — do this and eat this food. He used to recommend what to eat before going to a match. We did not have a separate nutrition expert.
These days it is evolving. A lot of athletes get to know about nutrition and the players at the top level have these chances to explore.
Bhat: I would like to pitch in here. This is my general observation that athletes have the best relationship with their coaches. So even athletes consulting sports nutritionist are sent by their coaches… which makes a huge difference.
At what stage of their career should an athlete start taking advice from a sports nutritionist?
Bhat: I would say that children should try out different sports and then decide which one suits them the most. Then comes the time when the child realises that they are going to take up the sport professionally. Probably till that stage, the budding athlete can have balanced meals. But when they turn professional, a sports nutritionist comes into the picture.
Subramaniyam: I train kids in a lot of apartments in Bangalore. So parents make their kids try out different sports. Since completion is tough we have events from under-8, under-10 age categories. But I have noticed that it is after the age of 10 that the kid decides on which sport they will focus on. So I personally feel that, this is the stage when they should have a sports nutritionist.
A lot of nutrition information is already available to young athletes these days via the internet. How do both of you see this trend?
Subramaniyam: When it comes to Instagram, a lot of people keep suggesting a lot of things but it doesn't suit everyone. Each has different calibre and the information does not apply to everyone uniformly.
Bhat: It is a bigger problem. Instagram is unregulated. There everyone can call themselves a nutrition advisor. So when a problem crops up you cannot do anything about it. But social media does help in making young athletes aware about nutrition. As far as specifics are concerned they should consult to sports nutritionist.
How does proper nutrition help athletes to maintain good mental health as that is also a crucial part of an athlete's career?
Bhat: If you look from a technical aspect, there is something called a gut microbiome. It helps to keep our gut healthy. The gut also has a role in our mental health. We can call it the second brain in our body. So how you feed your gut microbiome is important. And that has a role in regulating our moods. This is one aspect.
The second aspect is that the food is not just a fuel. It has a social aspect to it. We advise to eat with your family. You have different foods for different festivals because food is a key social element. If athletes go into a lot of restrictive diets they get very stressed. It is seen that if a body lacks B vitamins and certain minerals, then it affects the mental health.
Subramaniyam: Rest is also important. I noticed that if I didn't sleep well for at least eight hours the next day I used to get a lot of cramps. Maintaining proper mental health is very important and sleep comes into it for sure.
Finally, how do both of you see this trend of youngsters copying the diets of a Neeraj Chopra or a Virat Kohli? They want to copy these top athletes in everything they do.
Subramaniyam: It is hard to convince the youngsters what is good for them and what is not. The youngsters who are serious about having a career in sports do not do this.
Bhat: Body dysmorphia is the issue. There is so much societal pressure. It is important for us as a society to realise that peak performance is something that not everyone can achieve. But fitness and health is something that everyone should pursue. Everyone should see realistically what works for them. To accept this it will take time. A lot of people will have to talk about it.
