Before You Get on the Soccer Field, Team Up with Good Nutrition
Best selling nutrition author Nancy Clark discusses how and why nutrition is essential for soccer players.
FOOD IS A POWERFUL PERFORMANCE ENHANCER.
Fun Fact: Solo athletes (such as runners) are keenly aware of the personal benefits of fueling their bodies wisely. 
However, team athletes may feel less inspired to eat wisely, partly swayed by team meals that might focus less on nutrition and more on fun foods. Nachos and wings, anyone?
Hence, soccer coaches may find it hard to enroll all their athletes in responsible fueling. Yet the soccer team that fuels wisely will have an edge over the team that eats a sub-optimal sports diet, particularly when traveling to tournaments.
When all athletes pay attention to what, how much, and when they consume foods and fluids, their chances of enjoying a winning season increase.
Soccer Players: The Importance of Nutrition for Preparing for Game Day
The day before a soccer game or weekend tournament, the team should:
- Train only lightly; this allows muscles time to refuel.
- Hydrate well; the goal being copious light-colored urine.
- Choose carbohydrate-based meals and snacks.
For a 150-pound soccer player, the goal is about 1,800 to 2,100 calories daily from grains, fruits, veggies, sugars, and starchy foods to replenish the muscle and liver glycogen stored depleted during training sessions. That’s no Paleo or Keto diet!
This means about 450 to 525 grams of carbs the day before the game to fuel up. The target is 3 to 3.5 grams of carbohydrate per pound of body weight (6-8 g/kg). Hence, lighter players need fewer total carbs (and calories) than heavier players.
What should a soccer player eat? How do you break up the meals?
Divide the foods into three meals plus two snacks. We’re talking oatmeal and a bagel for breakfast, a sub sandwich and fruit for lunch, a pile of pasta with dinner, and some pretzels and dried fruit for snacks.
Every meal should be carb-based.
Soccer players who eat excessive protein at meals and choose protein bars and shakes for snacks commonly eat only half the recommended carb intake.
While protein helps build and repair muscles, it does not fuel muscles. Players who start a game with low muscle glycogen tend to run less distance and be slower than carb-loaded players. This is particularly noticeable in the second half of the game.
Soccer Players: The Importance of Nutrition for Game Day Fueling
A pre-game meal eaten 3 to 4 hours before start-time will optimize liver glycogen stores, which can drop by 50% overnight. Anxious players who sleep poorly could burn even more. A pre-game meal helps fuel high-intensity sprints and delays fatigue so that soccer players can perform better. An adequate pre-game meal is particularly important with a lunchtime kick-off.
For a 150-lb soccer player, an “adequate” pre-game meal means 300 to 450 calories from grains, fruit or other source of carb that settles well and digests quickly. This could be a bagel and a banana; oatmeal with raisins and maple syrup, or two packets of Nature Valley granola bars. Target ~0.5 to 1.5 g carb per pound of body weight (1-3 g/kg).
In the 2 to 4 hours before the game, players want to tank up with water, sports drink, coffee, or a familiar fluid. This allows time for them to void the excess fluid and then drink as tolerated soon before the game.
Soccer Players: The Importance of Nutrition During the Game
The overall nutrition goals during the soccer game are to:
- Drink ample fluid to prevent dehydration (but not over-hydrate), and
- Consume ample carbohydrate to prevent blood glucose from dropping. The brain uses carbs to think clearly and focus on the task.
After warm-up and again at half-time, teammates want to consume about 100-250 calories from carbohydrates (~30 to 60 g carb). Sport drinks and gels can be handy sources of carbohydrates at this time. Most gels offer 25 grams of carbs per packet. This has improved soccer players’ dribbling speed, passing, and shots on goal. Real food works just as well. Players who poorly tolerate gels can get the same benefit from natural foods (banana, raisins, honey).
Players who cannot tolerate any food or fluid in their anxious stomach, swishing and spitting a sport drink during breaks in play, can potentially enhance performance. You do not need to spit it out if you can tolerate it!
Sweat rates vary from 500 to 2,500 ml per hour. The goal is to prevent a drop of more than 2-3% in pre-match body weight (and avoid over-hydrating). That means a 150-lb player should lose less than 3 to 4.5 pounds per game. When training, weigh yourself (with minimal sweaty clothing) before and after the workout to see if you drank enough. This can help guide your intake during a game.
Soccer Players: The Importance of Nutrition for Post-Game Recovery
Soccer players need less time to fully recover if they fuel and hydrate well before and during the event. This is particularly important in tournament situations and back-to-back games.
Players want to consume 0.5g carb per pound of body weight (1 g/kg) per hour for the next four to six hours to replenish depleted glycogen stores rapidly. This equates to 300 calories for a 150-pound player and can be accomplished in the locker room with carb-based sport drinks and snacks (grapes, pretzels, banana), followed by a post-game meal at or near the game’s site, and snacks while traveling. Plan if you have night games; you might want to bring food.
Players with a poor post-game appetite may initially prefer commercial sports foods such as sports drinks, but natural foods such as chocolate milk offer more electrolytes, along with carbs, protein, and fluid. Tart cherry juice might help reduce muscle soreness.
The post-game goal is to maintain a carb-rich diet (3-3.5 g carb/lb.; 6-8 g/kg) for 24 hours after the game and again for the next 2-3 days. Remember, as an athlete, you are either fueling up or refueling! Every meal and snack has a purpose.
To repair muscles, players want to target 20 to 25 grams of protein at each meal and snack, ideally at 3 to 4 hour intervals. Greek yogurt, hard-boiled eggs, cheese sticks, and sandwiches are some portable suggestions. Cottage cheese before sleep might enhance overnight muscle repair.
When adult teams want to celebrate with alcohol after a match, take note: More than two drinks (2 beers, 10 oz. wine, 3 oz. alcohol) can impair glycogen replacement, muscle repair, and rehydration—to say nothing of hurt the next day’s performance.
When recovery is a priority, soccer players should avoid alcohol. It’s a good thing the thrill of victory comes with a natural high!
