Four nutrition myths that cost young athletes performance — and the supplement risk nobody explains: anti-doping works on strict liability, so a contaminated label is not a defence.
Walk into any locker room and you will overhear confident nutrition advice, most of it wrong. Young athletes are bombarded with conflicting claims from social media, supplement advertising and well-meaning relatives, and confusion is the enemy of performance.
What follows is general information for athletes, parents and coaches — not individual dietary advice. Requirements vary with age, sport, training load, growth stage and medical history, and an athlete with a specific question should be speaking to a qualified sports dietitian or nutritionist, not to an article.
Myth 1: More protein always means more muscle
Protein is essential for repair and growth, but the body can only use so much at a time. Drowning meals in shakes does not accelerate muscle gain — it produces expensive waste, and crowds out the carbohydrates and micronutrients a growing athlete needs.
For most adolescents eating a varied diet with adequate total energy, protein intake is already sufficient without anything added.
Myth 2: Carbohydrates are the enemy
Adult diet trends have made many young athletes afraid of carbohydrates. This is a mistake. Carbohydrates are the body’s primary fuel for high-intensity sport, and cutting them leaves athletes flat, fatigued and unable to train — which is precisely the opposite of the goal.
The skill is choosing quality sources and timing them sensibly, not eliminating them.
- Hydrate consistently through the day, not only during exercise
- Eat a balanced meal a few hours before competition rather than immediately before
- Refuel with carbohydrates and protein after hard sessions
- Prioritise whole foods over supplements and miracle products
Myth 3: Supplements are necessary for success
The supplement industry sells shortcuts. For the great majority of young athletes, supplements are unnecessary — and they carry a risk that is rarely explained to the people taking them.
Supplements are far less tightly regulated than medicines. Products have been found to contain substances not listed on the label, including ones prohibited in sport, whether through contamination in manufacturing or deliberate adulteration.
The part about supplements that actually matters
Anti-doping operates on strict liability. An athlete is responsible for whatever is found in their body, regardless of how it got there and regardless of intent. "It was in my protein powder and the label did not say so" is not a defence that returns a career.
For a young athlete in a testing pathway, that turns a supplement into a risk decision rather than a nutrition one. If a supplement is genuinely needed for a clinical reason, that is a conversation with a doctor and a qualified sports nutritionist who understands the anti-doping rules — not a purchase made on a coach’s recommendation or an advertisement.
For a growing athlete, the best supplement on the market is a well-planned plate of real food.
Myth 4: Skipping meals helps control weight
In sports where weight matters the temptation is real, and it is dangerous. For an athlete still growing, persistent under-fuelling impairs performance, weakens bones, disrupts recovery and hormonal function, and can cause lasting harm — often while the athlete appears to be training hard and coping.
This is one of the clearest cases for professional involvement rather than improvisation. A coach who suspects an athlete is restricting food should treat it the way they would treat a suspected injury: stop guessing, and involve a qualified professional and the family.
What good practice actually looks like
- Enough total energy for training load AND growth — the second half is what adult advice omits
- Regular meals rather than a large evening meal compensating for a skipped day
- Fluids through the day, with more around training, adjusted for Indian heat and humidity
- Food first, and a documented reason before anything else is considered
- Questions about a specific athlete taken to a qualified professional who can see the whole picture
Why this is a profession, not common sense
Sound nutrition is among the most accessible performance advantages available and among the least well understood, which is exactly why qualified people are needed. As Indian sport professionalises, demand for sports nutritionists and performance specialists is growing.
One boundary worth stating: performance nutrition as a profession requires nutrition or dietetics qualification. A sports science or physical education degree gives a coach the literacy to feed athletes sensibly and to know when to refer — it does not make anyone a dietitian, and our B.P.E.S. is no exception. Sportal also runs a free Sports Nutrition course for coaches who want that literacy. Explore the programmes, or register your interest.