Nutrition for soccer – 12 Great Tips

Here is a nutrition for soccer list that you may print out and put on your refrigerator.

1. Try to eat a well balanced soccer diet every day.

2. Never miss a breakfast, lunch or dinner. These three are vital for your soccer performance and will be key to how well you will perform on the field.

3. Try to participate in a physical activity every day and not just at you regular soccer practice or game.

4. Sleep well because your body needs to break down the food and convert it to energy. You should try to sleep at least 7,5 hours per night and not more than 8,5. The ultimate is to sleep for 8 hours but you should not panic if you don’t manage to fulfill that.

5. Fast food would not give you quality energy (protein, carbohydrates and fat). Eating too much fast food will make you gain too much weight and you will become slower. However, if you really like fast food try to eat it max once per week.

6. Healthy snacks are best (fruit and nuts with quality fat).

7. Calcium is important to get strong bones. Good calcium sources are low fat products (less than 3 % fat) like milk, yogurt and cheese.

8. Iron is also important as it carry oxygen through your body. Low oxygen means that you will get tired fast. You can find Iron in red meat, chicken (without skin) and pork.

9. When playing soccer you will also need zinc because it helps building the blocks of your body and helps repairing and grow tissues. Zinc is important especially if you are injured often. You can find zinc in meat and fish.

10. Try to have water as your drink of choice. There is no better drink than water and the best thing is that you don’t have to pay for it :-)

11. Try to choose snacks with low fat and sugar. However, snacks like peanuts or cashew nuts contain good fat and you should eat these often

12. Eat a lot of fruits because they are the best and healthiest snacks you can find. I try to eat at least 2 apples per day. The funny thing is that I never get tired of eating my apples :-)