Nutrition has become important for performance now that athletes have reached limits in training volume and intensity. The research though extensive is not conclusive and there are still gaps concerning the daily requirements of athletes namely as to whether they differ from other individuals with high intensity energy expenditure. According to results from an increasing number of scientific studies, dietary manipulation can lead to an improvement of physical performance with the key principle being that an athlete consumes enough food to provide sufficient energy.

Therefore, in the past decade, the area of sport foods and, in particular, the carbohydrate electrolyte solutions have developed rapidly. At the same time an increasing interest in functional food ingredients, which may affect body functions in a positive way, has been observed.

There is also an ever growing market in the number of ‘exotic’ sports drinks and supplements, which claim to improve performance with no reasonable scientific justification at all and this is growing ever faster.