You are what you eat. If that's true, Mumbai's hockey squad, hoping to don the mantle of champions at the forthcoming Nationals would do well to gobble down loads of bananas, cereal, bread, rice, pasta and potatoes.

Sports nutrition expert Ms Shamim Siddique, currently advising the squad, says carbohydrates do much to make champions especially in a sport like hockey which calls for sustained energy over a period of over an hour.Sachin Tendulkar, for one, might agree. The Indian cricket skipper cited improper diet as one of the factors of his squad's disappointing show in the Caribbean recently.

Ms Siddique is a qualified dietician from University of Bombay, foraying into sports nutrition. She advised the Indian hockey squad during training for the 1994 Hiroshima Asian Games and believes diet to be a vital factor as any in the quest for sporting excellence.

Her advice places emphasis on a carbohydrate-rich diet for the Mumbai squad preparing to better its runners-up spot at the last Nationals. The call for carbohydrates is accompanied by a shunning of meats like beef and pork that may augur well for a marathon runner but is detrimental to success on the hockey field.

Equally important is the intake of fluids necessary to cool down during exercise. This is a much neglected area in Indian sports training and Ms Siddique's advice warrants 100-200 ml water for every 15 minutes of intensive exercise.

Sports nutrition, she explains, seeks to provide optimum energy before the event, during training and crucially for recovery. She subscribes to the theory that consuming adequate carbohydrates immediately after training results in rapid muscle recovery, prevents fatigue and enhances strength.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.