Misunderstanding nutrition can hold back athletes

ABC NEWS (Australia)

Boxing champion Tiana Echegaray has enjoyed a rapid rise since starting her sporting journey in 2019. Echegaray and other athletes, share their experiences on discovering proper nutrition.

Transcript

00:00 Tiana Ichagirre is now one of Australia's fiercest fighters.

00:08 But when the 30-year-old started, something was holding her back from reaching her full

00:13 potential.

00:14 Before I had a nutritionist, I was definitely under-fuelling and I think it was mainly just

00:18 because I was trying to keep an eye on my weight.

00:21 I was just training very dehydrated, fatigued, lacked a lot of energy in my sessions.

00:29 I was just focused on the work and just trying to work hard in the sessions as best as I

00:32 could and thought, you know what, if I'm feeling so terrible it's because I'm just not working

00:36 hard enough.

00:37 It's common for athletes to not eat enough to match their output, which can lead to energy

00:41 deficiency.

00:42 It has a whole host of health and performance detriments that can come with it.

00:47 So things like menstrual cycle, bone health, stress fractures, gastrointestinal symptoms

00:53 like bloating, constipation and immune down regulation.

00:57 So athletes can be more at risk of getting sick.

01:00 Then on the performance side of things, you can also see a reduction in endurance, strength,

01:05 training response as well.

01:06 Athletes also need to understand what nutrients to eat and to ignore stigmas.

01:12 Around when I was about 16 to say 21, I was really strict with what carbs I was putting

01:18 into my body, which I actually look at now and it actually really didn't work for me.

01:22 You know, there's so many negative connotations on carbohydrates, they're going to make you

01:25 fat, they're going to make you swollen, they're going to make you bloated, where in fact it

01:29 actually really helps with recovery.

01:30 I think in terms of talking about food, we want to try and avoid black and white thinking.

01:34 So foods being labelled as good or foods being labelled as bad.

01:37 The amount of food and timing of meals is key too.

01:41 But while elite athletes may have access to that information, it doesn't always filter

01:46 down to younger competitors.

01:48 I know that some of these younger girls, they probably have no idea what to eat on a game

01:52 day or what to eat for breakfast, but when they do get educated on it, their performance

01:57 is going to be a lot better.

01:58 Iron deficiency affects many sportswomen, including Ichigire, and there are added challenges

02:04 for athletes in weight-based sports, like boxing.

02:08 I think you really have to start early when it comes to making weight.

02:11 You don't want the fight to be about making weight and against the scales, you want the

02:15 fight to be about the fight itself and what you're going to do in the ring.

02:20 My biggest recommendation here is to seek advice from a sports nutrition credentials

02:25 professional.

02:26 I can see how people can develop a really unhealthy relationship with food because if

02:30 we're consistently counting calories and having that at the forefront of our mind, we become

02:37 so obsessive about everything that we're eating.

02:40 I think I've managed it pretty well.

02:42 I think the biggest thing is just really communicating how you're feeling about these things because

02:46 you'll find that a lot of people in the sport have experienced the same thing.

02:50 Ichigire will make her Olympic debut in Paris, knowing she's done everything she can to perform

02:57 at her peak.

02:58 [BLANK_AUDIO]

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