Nutritional Knowledge and Dietary Practice in Elite 24-Hour Ultramarathon Runners: A Brief Report Several factors contribute to sporting performance, and the diet is a key component.A higher level of nutritional knowledge seems to correlate with a higher nutritional quality.However, this is still little explored and the results are still not conclusive. The aim of this study was the evaluation of nutritional knowledge and the adequacy of diet in order to recognize potential potential relationships between these two factors in 24-hour elite ultramarathon runners, a sport that seems to win popularity in the last decade. Nutrition and adequacy of the Mediterranean diet were rated on the basis of validated questionnaires to 10 elite ultramarathon runners (six male and four female) of the Italian Ultramarathon and Trail Association (IUUTA). The general nutritional knowledge throughout the sample of the athletes seemed to be good, especially with regard to “nutritional recommendations” and “nutrient sources”.However, women had higher total materials for food knowledge compared to men.Finally, a linear regression analysis showed that better nutrition knowledge was positively accompanied by an increase in adequacy degrees of the Mediterranean diet, with the level of education being adapted.
The results show that a higher nutritional knowledge with a better nutrition practice is related to 24-hour elite ultramarathon runners. Future studies are required to assess the benefits of educational programs as a strategy to improve the adequacy of food intake in this specific population. The whole work can be found https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4663/7/2/44