Do athletes need to eat more protein-rich foods?
Even if an athlete has a higher requirement for protein than a sedentary individual, does this mean that they need to change their eating practices to increase their protein serves? In particular, do they need to focus only on very high protein foods, or take protein supplements? Typically, the Australian diet provides about 12-15% of energy intake in the form of protein, and the average Australian easily consumes more than 150% of the recommended dietary intake of protein from such a dietary mix. Generally, athletes enjoy the advantage of increased energy requirements that make it possible to consume even larger amounts of protein and other nutrients than the sedentary person. Numerous dietary surveys show that the dietary patterns reported by various groups of athletes provide protein intakes that are well in excess of 1.2-2.0 g/kg body mass per day – especially in the case of strength-training athletes. Therefore, there is no justification for special high protein eating strategies
