Nutrition for Hoops

Over the course of the summer we've seen a few pictures of NBA stars and their excess weight loss and how they hope it lengthens their careers. Both LeBron (before and after) and Carmelo have made major transformations on their body by using the "Paleo" diet.  It's a diet that has become popular lately by taking out sugars and grain (there's more to it as well) of your diet.

It's not the first time that NBA stars have gone on a diet like this.  The Lakers completely revamped their whole team nutrition a few years ago.  Here is the article based off of what they were doing.  Interesting to read several of the quotes that the players have on their new "diet."

I have a good friend of mine that has gone on the diet and he lost 18 pounds in a month.  It was very effective in getting the results that he wanted.  The issue becomes, it's a diet, and it can become extremely difficult to have as strict of a diet like that when traveling constantly like many high school and college players do.  NBA player have a team nutritionist that allows them to stay sharp on the diet all the time.  It isn't as feasible at the non-professional levels.

The true question becomes, can these players sustain the diet throughout the 82 to 100 game season? I talked to a nutritionist for about two hours about the diet and she didn't think the diet was sustainable during the season.  The body needs to get energy from food and if the players' bodies don't have the extra resources to get that energy, they could wear down.

The diet also created an interesting twist for the Lakers.  Now, I'm not saying the diet contributed completely to the injuries that the Lakers had but isn't it weird that Dwight Howard, Steve Nash, and Kobe Bryant (could be old age too) all went down with serious injuries after they went on the diet? Again, I'm not an expert on it but I don't think it's coincidence.

It'll be very interesting to see if LeBron and Carmelo try to maintain this diet throughout the NBA season.  I would hope that the people they trust gets them to eat some carbohydrates to sustain levels of energy that they will need for the season.

I definitely wouldn't recommend someone in high school using the Paleo diet.  The athletes need carbs, especially if they want to gain weight.  A great post workout/practice/game snack would be anything with high amounts of protein and carbs within 30 minutes after the activity.  This helps with recovery and will give the athlete a chance to sustain the next day. After those 30 minutes, it would be a good idea to get a good meal that includes protein, carbs, and fat.