Dietary recommendations for body mass and body composition change in athletes 📝
The best current guidelines for gaining muscle and losing body fat.
Dietary Recommendations for Body Mass and Composition Manipulation in Male and Female Athletes: a Scoping Review of Consensus Statements, Position Stands and Practice Guidelines from International Expert Groups
Study Details
This new review analysed reccomendations from…
🗣️ Consensus statements (n = 45)
📃 Position stands (n = 27)
📊 Practical guidelines (n = 1)
…from international expert groups to assess trends and blind spots 🔍
Here are the key findings ⬇️
Key Findings
🎯 Only 40 papers addressed specific targets, rates or timing of outcome changes
Positive recommendations included…
🫀 Individualised, realistic and health-focussed targets
⚽️ Alignment with the athlete's sport, position, sex, age and competition phase
🗓️ Gradual changes (e.g. 0.5-1.0 kg/week fat loss) to support performance
Common strategies for altering body mass and composition included…
📈 Weight gain = +500 to 1000 kcal/day surplus
📉 Weight loss = -250 to 1000 kcal/day deficit
🔥 Energy availability = 30 kcal/kg fat-free mass/day
🍞 Carbohydrate intake = 3 - 12 g/kg/day periodised in relation to training demands
🍖 Protein intake = 1.6 - 2.4 g/kg/day, 4 - 6 servings daily from high-quality sources
💊 Supplementation = creatine, whey and a multivitamin/mineral
Most recommendations focused minimal attention on nutrients such as…
🥑 Fats
🌾 Fibre
🥗 Micronutrients
…and language was often vague leaving significant room for interpretation 🤔
Conclusion
“Developing sport-specific, behaviourally anchored and regularly updated dietary recommendations, informed by athlete and multidisciplinary team input, is recommended”
“This approach would provide actionable, athlete-centred strategies that effectively support body composition goals whilst prioritising health, wellbeing and performance”
⬆️ couldn’t have said it better myself ⬆️
Reference
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40841871/
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