2 September 2008
Lagos — GSK has offered some strategies to the soccer community in Nigeria, on the power of nutrition in sports. Nigeria's chances of gaining a competitive advantage in football and sports has received a massive boost with the pledge by GSK to partner with Nigerian football.
GSK, a world leading pharmaceutical company, through its renowned Lucozade Sports Science Academy, is supporting the development of soccer in Nigeria. It has also has offered to educate the entire football community on sports nutrition and the application of science in sports.
The Marketing Director of GSK, Mrs Hannah Oyebanjo, charged the Nigerian sports community to pay special attention to the nutrition of our home-based footballers and sports people, as science has revealed obvious correlation between nutrition and athletic performance.
"GSK has committed enormous resources into research in this area and we are willing to deploy this experience and knowledge to Nigeria, starting with football.
"It is for this reason, we invited Dr Stephen McGregor, a sports scientist to Nigeria to kick off the process and also address soccer trainers and the core football community in the country on the nutrition aspect of sports. We are also introducing into the Nigerian market, a specialised sports drink product that is already being used satisfactorily by players in the English Premier League. We want Nigeria to be one of the first nations in Africa to inculcate science into sports in a very organised and consistent manner," she said.
Speaking on sports nutrition, Dr. Stephen McGregor, an English Premier League nutrition adviser and sports science consultant to Lucozade Sports Science Academy Europe, said: "After natural talent and right training, an adequate and appropriate diet is known to be the next most important element for enhancing the training and performance of sports people. Science therefore has a strategic role to play in sports, as science can be used to delay the onset of fatigue through nutrition."
"The high intensity of the soccer game puts a lot of pressure on players. Players cover 10-14 kilometres per game and almost 18% of that is at maximum speed. The players expend an estimated 1360 k calories and lose 1-5kg of body mass in a 90 minute game. The greatest distance is also covered in the first half of the game
"The right nutrition in both food and drinks are therefore key success factors in sports. Soccer players' intake should contain 47% carbohydrates, 39% fat and 14% protein.
A sports drink such as Lucozade sports, which contains an energy source in the form of carbohydrate, together with electrolytes, particularly sodium are effective in improving performance and delaying fatigue. This provides energy, maintains hydration and replaces body salts lost in sweating. The public needs to be aware of the difference between energy drinks and sports drinks.
"Sports drinks are more appropriate for sports people as they deliver the required energy intakes in the right quantity to guarantee optimal performance in soccer and other rigorous physical activities."
The Chairman of Nigeria Football League, Chief Oyuki Jackson Obaseki, commended GlaxoSmithKline for its laudable plans to help Nigeria football from a scientific angle and give the country a major strategic advantage.
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2008 This Day. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
