Pre- and post-exercise nutritional practices of amateur runners in the UK: are they meeting the guidelines for optimal carbohydrate and protein intakes?

Abstract

PurposeThe aim of this study was to investigate amateur runners’ knowledge and practices of the current sports nutrition guidelines for pre and post-event carbohydrate (CHO) and protein (PRO) intakes.MethodsData was collected from 100 amateur runners using an online survey. Participants provided demographic information, a dietary recall of their intake 24 (n = 49) and 1–4 h before and immediately after a long-distance run (≥ 60–90 min in duration) for analysis of CHO and PRO contents (n = 82). They also answered questions about their knowledge of the current CHO and PRO recommendations and their primary sources of nutrition information.ResultsCHO intake 24-h pre-exercise (3.3 ± 1.7 g kg day−1) was lower than the currently recommended intakes of 10–12 g kg−1 for effective CHO loading (P = 0.001). Average CHO intake 1–4 h pre-exercise (1.2 ± 0.6 g kg−1) were within the recommended amounts > 1.0 g kg-1 (P > 0.05); however, only 60% of participants consumed ≥ 1.0 g kg−1. Post-exercise CHO intakes (1.1 ± 0.8 g kg−1) were not different from the recommended guidelines ≥ 1.0 g kg−1 (P = 0.190) but only ~ 48% of participants achieved this target. Average PRO intake post-exercise exceeded the minimum recommended guidelines (≥ 0.25 g kg−1) by ~ 0.15 g kg−1 (P = 0.001); however, only ~ 75% of participants consumed ≥ 0.25 g kg−1. Overall, knowledge of the current CHO and PRO intakes pre and post-exercise were poor, with < 5% of participants selecting the correct answers.ConclusionsThis study suggests that amateur runners are largely unaware of the current sport nutrition guidelines and pre-exercise intake of CHO (24 h pre) is sub-optimal.