Paris (AP) 鈥 Like many other athletes, Justin Phongsavanh has a take on the chocolate muffins at the Paralympic Village.
鈥淚t doesn鈥檛 get much better than that,鈥 said Phongsavanh, a U.S. Paralympian and bronze medalist in the seated javelin throw. However, Phongsavanh and other Paralympians can鈥檛 live on muffins alone. They and their dietary teams face complex challenges, but scientists and athletic personnel are workshopping their own solutions even as research lags behind.
The biggest challenge of para nutrition strategy is that athletes鈥 needs vary tremendously based not only on their sport, but on their disabilities and other underlying conditions, said applied sports nutrition scientist Jo毛lle Leonie Fl眉ck.
鈥淒isability types are so different in terms of needs and requirements from a nutritional perspective, but also from a medical perspective,鈥 said Fl眉ck, who also serves as president of the Swiss Sports Nutrition Society. 鈥淭here are a lot of things to consider, like energy expenditure, which can be totally different from individual to individual, or from disability to disability.鈥
For example, a wheelchair basketball player with full mobility of the arms, Fl眉ck said, might require vastly different fueling strategies than a quadriplegic wheelchair rugby player.
Specific needs
All athletes have specific nutritional needs, but para athletes鈥 disabilities and underlying conditions complicate strategy. Gastrointestinal issues are particularly common among para athletes because of fiber deficiencies, high sodium levels and even sensitivity to spices.
At the Team USA High Performance Center, in Eaubonne, just north of Paris, nutrition director Brian Knutson and dietitian Hilary Kave said many meals are taken 鈥渟traight from Colorado Springs,鈥 the location of the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee鈥檚 training center and home to many Paralympic athletes. Supplements and American snacks are shipped, while fresh ingredients are bought in-country.
鈥淲e know that there are certain athletes that like things done a certain way,鈥 said Knutson. 鈥淔or us, that gives us just a small edge. That piece of familiarity, home and comfort, it just makes their life easier.鈥
Para triathlete Allysa Seely said she and her teammates eat most of their meals at the HPC in Eaubonne, exactly for that reason.
鈥淲e know the chefs, we know the food, the recipes, the menu, we know all of that,鈥 said Seely, who earned a bronze medal in the women鈥檚 PTS2 classification, which is for athletes with coordination challenges. 鈥淚t鈥檚 something we鈥檙e comfortable and confident in.鈥
But gastrointestinal problems are only one dimension of para athletic nutrition strategy. Andrew Shepherd provides workshops, consultations and other services to athletes and para athletes at Loughborough University in the United Kingdom.
Shepherd said para athletes sometimes face particular problems staying hydrated. For example, those with spinal cord injuries may struggle to regulate body temperature. Shepherd said nutrition staff implement more cooling strategies for Paralympians than they do for Olympians, including an increase in 鈥渋ce vests, ice packs, cold slushies.鈥
Bringing accessibility to the dining hall
Accessibility is not just a conversation about elevators and ramps. Certain methods of food delivery can present problems for para athletes. Self-service buffets often put food out of reach for wheelchair users and people of short stature.
Shepherd said small changes, like providing boxes and bowls that are slanted forward, can make all the difference.
鈥淚t鈥檚 simple things, but it鈥檚 consistently spotting them and doing them, making sure that we鈥檙e making it equitable rather than having it be equal,鈥 Shepherd said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 really, really important for them to be able to be full users of that space.鈥
At the USOPC center, Kave said the nutrition team accommodates many different disabilities. Self-service food is placed at a lower height so everyone can reach it. Registered dietitians can make plates for athletes with visual impairment.
Delivery isn鈥檛 always a matter of physical space. Neurodivergent athletes can be sensitive to textures and food mixing, so Shepherd said the team at Loughborough accommodates those concerns as well.
Learning lacking
Kave, Shepherd and others say that their work helping Paralympians get the most out of their meals takes place in the context of a bigger social issue: Most people, with or without disabilities, don鈥檛 know enough about healthy diets.
That means the key challenge for dietitians working with para athletes is not only familiarizing themselves with each athlete and their individual needs, but also teaching athletes to approach nutrition as a life skill.
鈥淭he more you absorb, the better it will be for when you鈥檙e off and kind of on your own,鈥 said Kave. 鈥淎t that point when you stop becoming that athlete, maybe you鈥檙e not in the competitive field anymore, I want you to have that knowledge so that you can continue on.鈥
Para triathlete Seely said that her current dietary team is relatively new, but before this, she worked with the same nutritionist for seven years.
鈥淚 still go back to our notes, our references and I use all of that information pretty much every day to be able to advocate for myself with my newer team,鈥 Seely said. 鈥淲ithout that dietitian, everything I鈥檝e accomplished wouldn鈥檛 be possible and everything I know to this day.鈥
A Paralympic army marches on its stomach
The United States brought an army of dining staff and registered dietitians from their training center in Colorado Springs to the Paralympics. Some countries, like Japan, didn鈥檛 bring any. The difference in approaches reflects the fact that scientists do not know enough about the physiology and health needs of Paralympians to build best practices to serve all athletes and all classifications. Right now, most Paralympians鈥 nutritional challenges are addressed on a case-by-case basis.
鈥淲e have no clue about fueling strategies in relation to disability types; we just use the general guidelines from the able-bodied and try to adapt them a little bit,鈥 said Fl眉ck, the Swiss nutrition scientist. 鈥淭here鈥檚 really a lot of research needed.鈥
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Julianna Russ is a student in the undergraduate certificate program at the Carmical Sports Media Institute the University of Georgia.
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