The aim of the present study was to analyse dietary habits and fluid intake of professional basketball players with consideration of dietary guidelines and sport nutrition recommendations. A dietary habit questionnaire including a 24 h recall was recorded by 55 elite basketball players of the first Spanish Basketball League. Energy consumption among these athletes was high 17.7 ±0.9 MJ · day--;1and 882 ±486 ml of liquids during training and competition session, respectively. Furthermore, 44 % of the participants recorded not to drink before getting thirsty and 3 athletes stated never to drink during training and 2 did so during competition. Results of the present study underline the need for professional advice from sport nutritionists for elite basketball players.
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