The anomalies of poor nutrition are highly complex in nature. All originate from the simple fact that most of the sportspersons do not get enough nutrition from their major meals. Whenever you experience a nutritional deficiency, your body attempts to give you a signal in the form of inflammation, poor recovery, muscle soreness, poor concentration, low energy levels, fatigue, and depression. If you get these kinds of signals, rather than ignoring, you should get in touch with your physician or a certified sports nutritionist to identify the root cause so that preventive action can be taken immediately.

For a better understanding of a balanced diet and various nutrients, it is important to know the food pyramid of different food groups. Food Pyramid comprises of various food groups and demonstrates the servings per day. Food Pyramid is designed to ensure healthy eating. When you eat a serving from each shelf in the pyramid in the right amounts, it gives you a balanced diet. To understand a balanced diet and varied nutrients better, it is important to know the food pyramid of different food groups. If you see the shape of the pyramid, it gives a clear picture that the food towards the bottom of the pyramid is “good”, therefore, extremely healthy to eat and the most important part of the diet. Food at the tip of the pyramid is “bad” and should be consumed in limited amounts. Below illustration gives a fair idea about the basic food pyramid (for the average person) and additional servings (if required) for sportsperson:


Incase you don’t like something, you can exchange that food item with the one belonging to the same food group (e.g. cereals with cereals), though it may not be a good idea to interchange it with other food groups. It means, it is vital to include foods from each food group in your daily diet because each food group plays a crucial role in sportsperson’s health.

Note: For each sportsperson, intensity and duration of training vary in the off-season, during competition and after the season. Fueling your workout is vital to give you 100% output of your training. Consult with your sports nutritionist to put your food pyramid into practice.