Consuming too many sugary foods with low nutritional quality can negatively impact an athlete's performance in several ways. It can decrease immune function by leaving less room for more nutritious foods. It can also lead to unwanted weight gain from excess calories being stored as fat. Additionally, high sugar foods provide only a short-term boost to mental focus as blood sugar levels spike and crash. The document provides alternatives to sugary snacks that are higher in nutrients as well as times when sugary foods may be acceptable to provide quick energy, such as before a workout or between competitions.

1. MANAGING YOUR SWEET TOOTH
For athletes, having a healthy diet can be the difference between being good and being great. As an
athlete, you have the luxury of consuming more calories than the average person, but high sugar
diets can lead to an initial energy rush followed by a large crash due to glucose and insulin levels
quickly rising and falling. It is impossible to maximize your performance when experiencing a sugar
crash.
How performance is influenced by over eating sugary foods
with low nutritional quality:
Failure to optimize your energy intake by over consuming low nutritional
sugary foods could result in the following:
 Decrease Immune function: By consuming a lot of foods with little
nutritional quality you leave less room for foods with higher
nutritional quality that allow you to better maintain your health and
performance. A lot of high sugar processed foods do not incorporate
vitamins and minerals essential for optimizing performance. Without
these nutrients your body is much more prone to sickness.
 Unwanted weight gain: High sugar, processed foods tend to be
high in calories and have little nutritional quality. These calorie dense foods are generally not
very filling which leads to overeating. The excess sugar is converted into fat tissue. This results
in weight gain. Unwanted weight gain has been shown to negatively affect an athlete’s speed
and endurance.
 Decreased mental focus: Your brain demands glucose, a simple carbohydrate from your diet.
By loading up on high sugar foods with low nutrient quality, you may experience an initial boost
of focus, but it will be short lived. If your brain does not get a sustained amount of energy than
it begins to slow down decreasing your ability to stay focused.
 All leading to overall decrease in performance
How much
sugar should
you have? :
Aim for 40-60
grams of sugar
a day

2. High sugar food:
1 cup of ice cream= 30g sugar, 267 calories
20 gummy bears= 26g sugar, 160 calories, 0g Fat
1 can Soda/Pop= 39 grams sugar, 140 calories
1 Candy Bar= 24g Sugar, 210 calories, 13g fat
1 cup Lucky Charms= 15g sugar, 142 calories, 1g
Fat
2 double stuffed Oreos= 13g sugar, 140 calories,
7g Fat
Better Alternatives
1 cup yogurt with 1/3 cup blueberries= 14 g
sugar, 200 calories, 0g fat
1 cup grapes= 15g sugar, 62 calories, 0g Fat
V8 Fusion= 22g sugar, 100 calories, 0g Fat
¼ Frozen Banana dipped in 2 squares melted
Dark Chocolate= 13.6g sugar, 100 calories, 4g fat
1 ¼ cups Kix= 3g sugar, 110 calories, 1g Fat
Kashi Oatmeal Dark chocolate cookie (generally
twice the size of an Oreo): 8g sugar, 130 calories,
5g Fat
Better food alternatives for enhanced performance:
Eating high sugar foods with low nutritional quality when you are not in need of immediate energy
could hurt your performance. When battling with a sweet tooth it should be your goal to consume
sugary foods that offer other healthier nutrients, like fiber for more sustainable energy, vitamins and
minerals. These can help you with everything from helping suppress inflammation to improved vision.
When eating high sugar foods of lower nutritional quality works:
Sugar does provide energy and sometimes as an athlete you need that quick boost of energy
whether it is before a workout or in the last quarter of the game. Below are the times when high sugar
low nutrient quality foods can be helpful and what your best options are for those times. It is best to
limit sugar intake to immediately before and after workouts.
 A Rice Krispy Treat, handful of Animal Crackers, or 8 Graham Crackers are all great options
when needing a quick boost of energy 10-20 minutes before practice
and between back-to-back games or matches.
 A Small handful of jelly beans/ gummy bears or a spoonful of honey
are great options you can easily eat during a long practice lasting over 1
hour, during a timeout or during an endurance run that is going to last
over 30 minutes.
 Know what a serving is of your favorite sweet and stick to only
eating it 2-3 times a week as an after dinner treat. This will help you to not
over indulge after not eating for extended period of time.
Completely cutting out
your favorite sweets or
denying yourself, could
lead to over indulging in
one seating. Eat your
favorite sweets in
moderation.

3. Resources:
Jeukendrup, A., & Gleeson, M. (2010). Sport nutrition: An introduction to energy production
and performance (2nd ed.). Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.
Laeng, B., Berridge, K. C., & Butter, C. M. (1993). Pleasantness of a Sweet Taste during
Hunger and Satiety: Effects of Gender and" Sweet Tooth".
Maughan, R. (2002). The athlete’s diet: nutritional goals and dietary strategies.
Proceedings of the Nutrition Society, 61(01), 87-96.
Prior, S., Young, L., & Anderson, J. (n.d.). Nutrition for the Athlete. Retrieved November 21,
2014, from http://www.ext.colostate.edu/pubs/foodnut/09362.html
Rodriguez, N. R., DiMarco, N. M., & Langley, S. (2009). Nutrition and athletic performance.
Medicine and science in sports and exercise, 41(3), 709-
731.http://www.ext.colostate.edu/pubs/foodnut/09362.html
The Truth About Sugar For Athletes. (n.d.). Retrieved November
21, 2014, from http://www.stack.com/2011/04/04/the-truth-about-sugar-for-athletes/
Objectives:
1) After reading about sugary foods and performance the athlete will be able to list 3 foods containing
superior nutritional value over other foods with inferior nutrition value to them. (Preferably ones
that they would actually eat as an alternative)
2) For the student athlete to be able to state three performance measurements that could be
influenced by foods containing inferior nutritional value. (i.e. weight gain, energy, mental focus)
3) For the student athlete to be able to list three situations when eating foods of inferior nutrition
quality due to a need for immediate energy is acceptable for them and their sport. (i.e. eating a rice
Krispy treat right before a workout or in between back to back volleyball games)