How Olympians eat: India’s first ever chief nutritionist at Olympics throws light on nuances of the job and science of sports nutrition
A great mix of diverse cultures from around the world in one place. That’s one of the selling points of the Games Village at every Olympics as ‘THE place to be’ for those two summer weeks every four years. That mix of so many different cultures brings a wide range of cuisines to serve the cultural habits and needs of more than 12,000 athletes from over 200 territories and nations. While it is undoubtedly tempting to have the opportunity to indulge in such diversity in foods, for many athletes it can create a lot of confusion and uncertainty, particularly with a measured diet plan to adhere to in the quest for peak fitness.
That has certainly been the case for a lot of Indian athletes.
“Athletes and their support staff reported instances from the Asian Games or other global events wherein the athletes come across new dishes and are not familiar with those, so they just don’t know what is in the food they end up eating or then they pick up a lot of desserts,” says Aradhana Sharma, the chief nutritionist of the Indian contingent at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Sharma’s appointment is India’s first ever in that capacity at an Olympic Games. For long, sports nutritionists have been a key part of the contingents of bigger and more successful Olympic nations, with India now showing signs of catching up and filling the missing pieces of the puzzle in the backroom staff.
During our chat, Sharma, the leader of a two-member team of nutritionists for India in Paris, was quick to clarify that her job as the chief nutritionist was not to dictate what the athletes could or could not eat at the Village. That is the prerogative of athletes’ personal nutritionists, ranging from those appointed by the national federation of their particular sport, by sponsors supporting certain athletes, or simply a nutritionist working full-time with an athlete on their payroll. Sharma’s team was the binding force tasked with ensuring that food was the least of the athletes’ worries.
“We were there to mainly oversee whether they were following the plans laid out by their nutritionists and to also help them with new problems or confusions about food that would arise in Paris,” Sharma said. “If athletes were not sure about anything or they simply wanted to try something new but were hesitant, we would advise them on the best time to eat that particular food item, be it before or after training.”
Minute details such as the correct time to consume certain foods and the quantities of consumption as well as the nutritional make-up of meals depending on training and competition schedules can be easily ignored. But these factors can lead to major consequences, particularly at this level where such fine margins are involved. That makes the presence of a specialist or a guide all the more important.
Aradhana Sharma, the chief nutritionist of the Indian contingent at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
To make life easier for Indian athletes and to raise more awareness among the group on the science of sports nutrition, the IOA further set up a mobile application. Among guidelines such as anti-doping regulations and medical support, and all other necessary details the contingent would need while in Paris, the app included nutrition details as well as the food menu for the entire duration of the games, which included a lot of vegetarian and vegan options – an important requirement for many Indian athletes that ensured they did not have to rely on Indian restaurants outside the Village. In charge of the diet and nutrition section on the app, Sharma and her team ensured that the nutritional content of food items available at the Village was well listed, such as the presence of proteins, carbohydrates, fats, etc. This informed athletes on what foods to consume in more or less quantities, foods to avoid altogether, and foods that could be ideal or detrimental given the time of the day, all by keeping in mind their regular diet plans and food intolerances.
“The advantage of having an app with all this detailed information is that athletes know well in advance what they can expect to eat and should or shouldn’t eat on a particular day rather than just walking in and trying to figure something out. It’s just a lot more efficient for them,” Sharma explained.
Even then, nutritionists clearly advise athletes not to experiment with food at all very close to their respective events. “It’s sort of a rule of sports nutrition – stick to your regular food before your competition,” Sharma informed.
It isn’t that simple though. Closer to events, many athletes rely on ‘comfort food’, which often consists of foods not part of nutrition plans. The challenge for Sharma and fellow sports nutritionists is helping athletes get the comfort they are looking for while also ensuring that nothing consumed by athletes eventually negatively impacts performance.
“We also have to take it case by case,” Sharma said. “Sometimes, if we know that an athlete’s comfort food will not help them a lot in terms of performance, it still wouldn’t hurt to allow them to consume it in small or well-measured quantities.”
Comfort food is an even bigger factor for female athletes, especially those who are in the midst of a menstrual cycle during the games. Sharma sheds light on how menstrual cycles impact not only the wants but also the needs, in terms of food and nutrition, for women.
“For female athletes, plans can change depending on the phase of the (menstrual) cycle they are in,” Sharma explained. “And accordingly, their requirement for energy, protein, and micronutrients may change. But they are well versed with this because they have been working in a high-performance setting for a long time now.”
India’s Manu Bhaker (2nd left), who won two medals in Paris, in action during one of her shooting events.
On the other end of the spectrum is anxiety in the build-up to competition, which hinders proper food intake. Many athletes are often unable to eat at all, let alone comfort food, on the day of their event. That’s when the presence of someone like Sharma can be a big help.
“In such cases, we ensure that the food they consume the night before their event can give them enough energy during the competition…So if they are unable to have a good breakfast in the morning, we can still manage well.”
There are, of course, other variables involved, such as extra care especially where food intake is involved for boxers, weightlifters, and wrestlers, among others competing in sports that follow strict weight requirements on each day of competition. Indian wrestler Vinesh Phogat’s disqualification on the morning of her final at the Paris Olympics due to being 100 grams overweight was one of the biggest talking points of the Games. While it isn’t yet clear whether a miscalculation in food intake was the reason behind her putting on more weight than she could lose in one night, it shows just how challenging and intricate the nutritionist’s job is.
“We are what we eat” goes the old adage. While awareness about the science of sports nutrition and its benefits has drastically increased at the elite level of sport in India in the past decade, Sharma keenly highlights the importance of spreading the message at the grassroots level and ‘teaching them young.’
“The younger you teach a kid, the more likely you are to be able to change or improve their (eating) habits…I always pay a lot of attention when I get to work with kids because that’s a time when we as nutritionists can easily form good habits,” Sharma stated.
