Lipidemic Profile of Soccer Players and Nonathletes in Relation to Nutrition, Physical Activity and Body Mass Index

Nikos Amanatidis, Anatoli Petridou and Vassilis Mougios

Laboratory of Sport Hygiene and Nutrition

Department of Physical Education and Sports Sciences, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Hellas

Abstract

It is generally accepted that athletes have a more favorable blood lipid profile than nonathletes. However, there is no consensus as to which lipids have significantly different concentrations, and the etiology of these differences is not clear. The purpose of the present study was to compare the serum lipid concentrations of soccer players and nonathletes with the same body mass index, in order to exclude the known effect of this parameter on the lipidemic profile. Twelve adult soccer players and twelve nonathletes recorded their food intake and physical activity in detail for seven days. Blood samples were taken at the beginning and at the end of the recording, for the determination of triglycerides (TG), total cholesterol (TC) and HDL-cholesterol (HDLC) in serum. Also, LDL-cholesterol (LDLC) and the atherogenic index TC/HDLC were calculated. The soccer players had significantly higher HDLC (by 18 %) and significantly lower TC/HDLC ratio (by 15 %) than the nonathletes (p<.05). There were no significant differences between groups in TG, TC and LDLC. The soccer players had significantly higher energy and fat intake, as well as significantly higher energy expenditure than the nonathletes. These results show that the only difference between soccer players and nonathletes with similar anthropometric characteristics is the higher HDLC and, as a consequence, the lower TC/HDLC of soccer players. This difference is probably not due to nutrition, since the soccer players had similar percentage fat intake, but can be accounted for by their high levels of physical activity.

Key words: triglycerides, cholesterol, HDL, LDL, fats