What you eat before a soccer game has a huge impact on your performance. You should eat the right foods not only on game day, but for three to four days prior to the event in order for your body to be in optimal condition and for your muscles to have an optimal store of glycogen, a key energy source used by the muscles for most sporting activities. Soccer is a sport that includes spells of sprinting, running and jogging over a continued period of time, placing your body's energy store at even more of a premium.
Carbohydrates
Carbohydrate-rich foods are the best way to ensure an adequate energy supply. Pasta, rice, mashed potato, chicken, white fish, whole meal bread, things like that. Other good sources include rice pudding or any low fat dessert with high carbohydrates.
Hydration
Hydration is just as crucial an element to what you eat before a soccer game; dehydration is a leading cause of fatigue, and in order for your body to be using it's energy supply efficiently proper hydration is crucial. The sweating that will occur during a soccer game will lead to the body losing not only fluid, but also a high amount of electrolytes and minerals, such as sodium, potassium and chloride. For this reason, it is crucial to hydrate not only before, but also during and after a soccer game. For optimal hydration, you should drink water or a sports drink. The American College of Sports Medicine recommends that you drink about 17 ounces of fluid about two hours before exercise. An added benefit of sports drinks are that they can also be a source of carbohydrate as well as fluid, providing energy to ward off the onset of fatigue. Well known sports drink Gatorade conducted sports nutrition research and found that 6 percent carbohydrate (14 grams of carbohydrate per 8 ounces of water) was the best concentration level to aid sport performance.
Timing
The timing of when you eat before a game is important. You do not want to have used your stores by game time, but it is also important to give your body enough time to convert food into energy before your soccer game. While no exact timing is scientifically recognized in sports nutrition research, you should eat between two and three and a half-hours before your soccer game.
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