Nutritional Advice Still Not Good Enough

It’s becoming quite apparent that regardless of whether it’s a seasoned professional footballer or a young up and coming scholar at a top Premier League club or otherwise, that these players still lack fundamental knowledge regarding nutrition. This despite clubs believing they offer some of the best advice in the world to their players.

There could be many reasons for this. It could be clubs simply offer bad advice or the advice may not be comprehensive enough. Or it could also be that some players simply do not want to listen or take in all the advice they can get. Whatever the reason, and I tend to believe it leans toward the advice given by clubs not being comprehensive enough, every week I hear new examples of a lack of nutritional knowledge from players because we explore this as part of our support plan to our clients.  

After club advice, many players seemingly can differentiate between what they think are ‘good’ foods/drinks and what are ‘bad’ foods/drinks. For example, some players may believe good foods for protein are many of the white meats such as chicken and turkey and the bad to be the red meats like lamb. Some players may also be told the good foods are fruit and vegetables. They won’t know why exactly these foods are considered good or bad, they are just told they are. The problem with differentiating and setting out nutritional advice like this simply is ineffective and at worst, wrong.

The problem with many clubs’ advice, but not all I must stress, is that the theory behind what constitutes good foods and bad foods (if they can be set out like this at all) and the timing of consuming such foods in relation to its positive or negative impact on the body is rarely explained. In-fact having a knowledge of what you believe is good foods/drinks or bad foods/drinks without knowing when is best to consume them with some foods can be as bad as not knowing.

I’d say 50% of players I’ve spoken to at least believe bananas are simply a ‘good’ food. If I asked them for when? They find it very hard to answer. Most wouldn’t even recognise the, in essence high sugar content of a banana, even if its sugar content is another one defined ‘good’ as compared to ‘bad’, means a large banana or two is not exactly efficient for your body whilst lazing around the house during the summer period, whilst however it may be good at some point nearer to a work out if you want to maximise your energy levels and to gain the bananas natural benefits then. However, the typical player may just think a ‘good’ food is a ‘good’ food and not consider what would makes it ‘good’ in relation to sports performance and body development relates also to when you eat it and for what bodily purpose.  

Whatever the age, whether 16 or 32 years, clubs who don’t already, who are the majority, need to start educating their players about the theory behind nutrition – so that they can start thinking independently about what drinks and foods are right for their body and when, even when it comes to exotic foods they haven’t encountered before so they can make logical decisions on their nutrition and needs to be beyond just pre and post game preparation and recovery drinks and foods. Additionally, players of all ages should make concerted efforts to learn about nutrition. It doesn’t matter how much time you’re putting in on the training pitch or in the gym, if you don’t know the difference, as one example,  between whey protein and creatine protein and when it’s best to consume, and as another example, know about protein quality and amino acids, different types of fats and more you'll find it difficult to achieve your targets. Simply you can’t achieve your targets as athletes without knowing how to fuel properly.

In conclusion, players and clubs need to think beyond the simplicity of what is ‘good’ and what is ‘bad’ when it comes to nutrition and more along the lines of ‘why’, 'what' and ‘when’, but until then in professional football we’ll remain years behind other countries and sports in the way this is delivered and understood by its participates at all playing levels.