POTENTIAL BENEFITS OF CONSUMING OMEGA-3 FATTY ACIDS FOR ARTISTIC GYMNASTS

For an efficient daily training of gymnasts and, at the end, for an efficient performance, it is important to have an energy- and nutrient-sufficient diet, which enables a proper balance between maintaining appropriate body composition, excellent physical preparation, and general health. The combin...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Boštjan Jakše, Barbara Jakše
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: University of Ljubljana Press (Založba Univerze v Ljubljani) 2017-06-01
Series:Science of Gymnastics Journal
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Online Access:https://journals.uni-lj.si/sgj/article/view/22170
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Summary:For an efficient daily training of gymnasts and, at the end, for an efficient performance, it is important to have an energy- and nutrient-sufficient diet, which enables a proper balance between maintaining appropriate body composition, excellent physical preparation, and general health. The combination of an intake of negative-calorie food and an increased amount of training, which enables the control of body weight, can have negative consequences when it comes to nutritional inadequacy, which can lead not only to a weakened immune system but also to an insufficient recovery after daily trainings. Today, athletes as well as gymnasts consume various dietary supplements to improve physical and cognitive abilities, for a more efficient recovery, a stronger immune system, and an easier control of appropriate body weight. A sufficient intake of omega-3 fatty acids – as is also true of vitamin B12 and D – is usually a part of a special assessment of dietary habits and needs of gymnasts, which they can fulfil with ordinary diet or dietary supplements. The purpose of this article is to relatively clearly evaluate the scientific evidence about the potential benefits of consuming omega-3 fatty acids (ALA, EPA, and DHA) for a variety of objectives for gymnasts and, at the end, to critically sum them up in a sensible recommendation, while being aware of limitations of the evidence. Furthermore, this article is intended to encourage researchers to study the direct influence of nutrition and potentially beneficial and permitted dietary supplements for a variety of objectives for gymnasts.
ISSN:1855-7171