PURPOSE: To analyze the association between the concentration of different blood markers and macronutrient intake by sex in university athletes.
METHODS: 242 (139 males, 103 females) athletes of different sports were evaluated on their food habits. We administered 24-hour dietary recalls of a training day by standardized staff. Then, we estimated the absolute (g/day) and relative (g/kg/day) macronutrient intake. Also, we obtained uric acid, urea, creatinine, cholesterol, triacylglycerides, glucose, hemoglobin, and hematocrit concentrations from blood analysis. We only analyzed the data of subjects who had their blood samples and dietary recall within a period of no more than 30 days apart. The analysis was divided by sex.
RESULTS: Subjects` age, body weight, and height were: 21.4 ±3.0 and 20.7 ±2.0 years, 73.6 ±14.1 and 61.7 ±11.6 kg; and 175.8 ±6.8 and 163.6 ±6.9 cm, for men and women respectively. For males, there were significant associations between relative (beta [95% CI], -0.328 [-0.037 to -0.619]; p = 0.027) and absolute (-0.005 [-0.001 to -0.009]; p = 0.027) protein intake and uric acid concentrations; similarly, absolute protein intake was significantly associated with lower creatinine concentrations (-0.014 [-0.001 to -0.027]; p = 0.031). For females, there was a significant association between relative carbohydrate intake and blood glucose (1.912 [0.259 to 3.566]; p = 0.024). No other significant association was found.
CONCLUSIONS: In this study, protein intake was associated with lower blood creatinine and uric acid concentrations in males, and carbohydrate intake with higher blood glucose concentrations in females.