ABSTRACT
This chapter reviews the most important aspects of the athletic diet and the problems that occur in case of strenuous exertion. The muscle glycogen concentration is influenced by exercise, dietary carbohydrate intake, and training status. The principal role of the liver glycogen reserve is to maintain a constant glucose level between meals or during exercise, thereby ensuring adequate substrate supply for those organs that depend upon glucose for their energy needs, such as the brain. Ingestion of carbohydrate during exercise will increase the contribution of so-called exogenous carbohydrate to the muscle carbohydrate oxidation and the decrease of carbohydrate originated in the liver glycogen pool. Carbohydrate loading can easily be accomplished inexpensively with only food, providing that the athlete has some basic nutritional knowledge. Optimal carbohydrate sources for high-intensity endurance exercise are therefore processed carbohydrates low in dietary fiber, such as glucose, sucrose, maltose, maltodextrin, or soluble starch, such as corn starch.
