Potenciais efeitos deletérios de dietas restritivas nas respostas endócrino-metabólicas, composição corporal e desempenho físico de atletas com lesão medular espinhal

Abstract

The insufficient number of studies available in the literature regarding the effects of these diets in the afore mentioned population justifies the development of this narrative review, whose goal was to analyze the metabolic effects and the impacts on body composition and physical performance of restrictive diets on paralympic athletes living with Spinal Cord Injury. In the interest of this research, data ranging from 1992 to 2021 were collected from electronic databases and books. This survey shows that Spinal Cord Injury causes Endocrine-Metabolic alterations, such as insulin resistance and glucose intolerance; changes in the digestive tract functions, namely impaired nutrient absorption; and causing an imbalance to body composition, which is characterized by the reduction of fat-free mass throughout the body, but particularly in the affected limbs. Although low carb diets and intermittent fasting are able to reduce body mass, this type of diet may be unfeasible in athletes during high-intensity training because they could cause nutritional deficiency, depletion of glycogen stores and stimulate muscle proteolysis, thus compromising sports performance and increasing the risk of Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport (RED-S). As the focus of much of the data relating restrictive diets to sport is on athletes without disabilities, the development of more studies in the field of paralympic sports becomes essential and relevant, justifying the continued research in this area.