ABSTRACT
All athletes benefit from nutrient-rich diets with adequate calories to support the increased energy and nutrient demands of athletic training. However, for Paralympic athletes, optimizing impairment-specific health maintenance, sports performance and recovery may require unique nutritional approaches. Though various classes of Paralympic athletes may benefit from the same nutritional strategies, for simplicity, this chapter is primarily organised by impairment type: spinal cord injury and cerebral palsy, visual and auditory impairment, amputation and traumatic brain injury. While nutrition has an impact on many domains of health, this chapter focuses on the musculoskeletal, integumentary, central nervous, gastrointestinal and genitourinary systems. Finally, a number of drug-nutrient interactions are reviewed, as nutritional supplements and diet can affect the action of certain drugs athletes may take to manage health conditions. Taking a holistic approach to athlete health, preventive and therapeutic nutrition should be fully integrated into the medical management of Paralympic athletes’ wellness, illnesses and injuries.
