Carbohydrate, fluid and electrolyte supplementation in endurance and ultra- endurance athletes: comparison of key guidelines

Introduction: The word endurance has an English origin and means the ability to withstand suffering for a long period of time without giving up. In sports, the term endurance refers to low and medium intensity modalities that lasts from 1 to 2.5 hours, and ultra-endurance when it lasts above 2.5 hours, for instance sports like running, swimming, cycling, triathlon, climbing, among others. Objective: this study aims to review the main guidelines of official bodies on the subject, in order to verify whether the recommendations are convergent. Materials and methods: a review of specialized literature was carried out, using the Pubmed and Lilacs databases. Results: eight guidelines were selected. Conclusion: Therefore, we conclude that the recommendations for carbohydrate intake and supplementation are convergent among the official bodies. For water intake, it was unanimous the orientation to individualize according to the losses of each athlete. On the other hand, the guidelines on sodium replacement have many divergences and, therefore, the ideal is to assess the sodium concentrations in the sweat of each athlete so that it is possible to plan a safer and more assertive supplementation. The guidelines are great for dietary prescription, as long as the individualities of each sport and athlete are considered, respecting the periodization and level of training, food preferences, gastrointestinal tolerance, acclimatization status, among other factors.