Sports Nutrition in Sharjah

What is sports nutrition?

Sports nutrition is the part of dietetics that looks at food as fuel for physical work. It covers how much energy and protein your training needs, when to eat around a session, how to replace fluid and salt lost through sweat, and how to recover between sessions so the next one goes well.

The core idea surprises many people: timing and total intake usually matter more than any single food or product. A well-planned plate of rice, chicken, vegetables and laban after training does the same recovery work as many expensive shakes, and it fits a normal family table.

At Dar Al Kamal Hospital, Sharjah, the dietitian builds the plan around your sport, your training week and the food you already enjoy, and adjusts it through the season.

Who needs it

Sports nutrition helps anyone whose training load is high enough that eating well starts to affect how they perform or recover. People who often come to the dietitian include:

• Footballers, runners, cyclists, swimmers and gym users training several times a week
• Teenagers in school or club sport, whose growth adds to their energy needs
• People in weight-category sports such as martial arts or wrestling, who want to make weight safely
• Endurance athletes preparing for a long event, where fuelling during the event needs practice
• People returning to sport after an injury, alongside sports injury treatment and physiotherapy
• Anyone who feels unusually tired, heavy-legged or slow to recover despite steady training
• Vegetarian and vegan athletes planning protein and iron from plant foods

What happens

The first appointment starts with your sport and your week. The dietitian asks about the type, length and intensity of each session, the time of day you train, your work or school hours, and your goals for the season. You then go through what you eat and drink on a training day and a rest day, including snacks, sports drinks and any supplements.

Where it helps, your weight and a body composition assessment give a starting picture of muscle and fat, used to track change over the season rather than to chase a single figure.

From this, the dietitian sets out a practical plan in three parts:

| Part of the plan | What it covers |
|---|---|
| Before training | A meal or snack chosen for easy digestion, timed to leave your stomach comfortable |
| During training | Fluids, and for long sessions a carbohydrate source you have tested in practice |
| After training | Protein and carbohydrate together to repair muscle and refill energy stores |

The plan also covers hydration across the whole day, iron and calcium for bone and blood health, and a review of any supplement you use, so you understand what each one does and whether your sport's anti-doping rules apply to it.

Preparing for it

A little preparation makes the first visit far more useful:

• Keep a record of everything you eat and drink over three days, including one training day, one rest day and a weekend day
• Write down your usual training timetable and any competition dates
• Bring the packaging or photos of any supplements, powders or sports drinks you use
• Bring recent blood results if you have them, especially iron or vitamin D
• Weigh yourself before and after one training session, noting what you drank, so sweat loss can be estimated

Parents of younger athletes are welcome to attend, since they usually plan the family meals.

Afterwards

You leave with a written plan for training days and rest days, simple ideas for pre-training snacks, and a hydration routine suited to the Sharjah heat. Outdoor sessions in summer raise sweat losses sharply, so the plan often moves hard sessions to early morning or evening and adds salt replacement on the longest days.

Try the plan in training first and keep new foods and drinks for competition day only once they have worked in practice. Follow-up visits adjust the plan as your training changes, through pre-season, competition and rest periods. During Ramadan, the dietitian can help you move sessions close to Iftar or after it, and plan Suhoor to support morning energy.

Contact the hospital if you feel dizzy or faint during training, have muscle cramps with very dark urine, or notice your periods stopping while training hard. Go to the emergency department straight away if someone collapses, becomes confused or stops sweating while exercising in the heat.

Cost and insurance

Many UAE insurance plans treat sports nutrition as a wellness service and cover it only when it is linked to a medical condition, such as an injury under treatment, diabetes or iron deficiency. Body composition assessment and supplements are commonly paid for separately. Dar Al Kamal Hospital, Sharjah can help you check your cover on 06 599 7777 before your appointment.