Effects of Sports Nutrition Counseling on Rating of Perceived Fatigue and Diet Patterns

Introduction: Collegiate cross-country runners have poor dietary intakes and are at increased risk for injury. Fatigue is one outcome used to predict risk of injury, and improvement in dietary intakes such as increased carbohydrate consumption may result in reduced fatigue. Other factors such as academic stress, sleep, and muscle mass also contribute to fatigue in athletes.

Methods: Nutrient intake, perceived fatigue, sleep quality, and changes in body composition were assessed for nine cross-country athletes before and after receiving sports nutrition counseling. As this is a case series type design, these data, along with notes from nutrition counseling, were analyzed for trends with a focus on energy intake, carbohydrate intake, and factors that impact day-to-day fatigue.

Results: Participants (n=9) had minimal changes in perceived fatigue, sleep quality, and body composition during the study. Most participants met estimated requirements for energy (106%) and protein (150%) but only consumed 70% of estimated carbohydrate needs. Participants made an effort to increase carbohydrate intake and reported reduced fatigue on long runs after increasing carbohydrates.

Conclusions: Nutrition counseling from a registered dietitian can help to improve timing and quality of carbohydrates. Nutrition may improve peripheral fatigue experienced by athletes, but other factors impacting central fatigue should be assessed when reporting overall fatigue in athletes.