Protein for Wrestlers and Kabaddi Players in India

Akhara and kabaddi training is high-volume, contact-heavy and often run on a traditional diet of milk, ghee, almonds and chana. That base is sound but usually short on total protein and badly distributed across the day. Weight-category athletes also need a cutting plan that does not strip muscle.

What the training actually demands

Wrestling and kabaddi are not endurance sports and not pure strength sports. They are repeated high-intensity efforts with heavy eccentric and contact loading, often twice a day, frequently six days a week. The demand that creates is high total energy, high protein for repair, and enough carbohydrate to refill glycogen between sessions.

Sports nutrition guidance for combat athletes converges on roughly 1.6–2.0 g of protein per kilogram of body weight per day, and the upper part of that range applies when energy intake is restricted for weight-making, because protein protects muscle when calories are short.

For a 70 kg wrestler that is about 112–140 g of protein a day. For an 85 kg player, roughly 136–170 g. Those are substantial numbers, and they are considerably more than the 0.83 g/kg population baseline that general advice quotes.

The traditional diet, assessed fairly

The classic akhara diet — litres of milk, ghee, soaked almonds, chana, roti, seasonal fruit — has endured because it works reasonably well. It is worth saying that plainly before criticising it.

Its strengths are real. Milk supplies high-quality protein with both casein and whey fractions, plus calcium. Ghee and almonds supply the dense energy that heavy training genuinely requires. Soaked chana is cheap, protein-bearing and well tolerated. The whole pattern is affordable and locally available, which matters more than optimality.

Its weaknesses are equally real. The protein total often falls short of what the training load warrants, particularly for heavier athletes. It tends to be concentrated into one or two large feeds rather than spread. It is high in saturated fat, which matters over a career rather than a season. And it frequently runs short of iron and vitamin D, both of which affect performance directly.

Build the day properly

The single most effective change in most cases is not adding a supplement. It is distributing protein across four or five points in the day, so repair is supported continuously rather than in one surge.

Note that this reaches the target on ordinary food. Supplements are a convenience for the points in the day where food is impractical — between two sessions, straight after training, travelling to a competition — not a replacement for the structure.

Carbohydrate deserves attention too, and is often the real limiter. Training twice a day on an inadequate carbohydrate intake produces fatigue that looks like insufficient protein but is not. Rice, roti, potato and fruit around sessions are doing necessary work.

Making weight without wrecking performance

This is where the most harm is done in Indian combat sport, and it is worth being direct about it.

Cutting by dehydration — sweat suits, sauna, water restriction, spitting — reduces the number on the scale fastest and reduces performance fastest too. Even modest dehydration impairs strength, power, reaction time and thermoregulation, and the risks at the extreme include heat illness, kidney injury and death. These are documented outcomes in combat sport, not theoretical ones.

• Plan the cut over weeks, not days: a slow deficit protects muscle.
• Raise protein towards 2.0 g/kg while energy is restricted — this is when it matters most.
• Keep resistance training in; it signals the body to retain muscle.
• Reduce the residual volume of food and fibre in the gut in the final days rather than reducing water.
• Rehydrate and refuel properly after the weigh-in, which requires knowing the gap you have.
• If the required cut is more than a few percent of body weight, the weight category is wrong, not the method.

A competitor who makes weight dehydrated and depleted has traded the contest for the weigh-in. Choosing a category that fits your walking-around weight is almost always the better long-term decision, and coaches who insist otherwise are optimising the wrong variable.

The gaps that actually limit Indian athletes

Three deficiencies turn up repeatedly and each has a direct performance cost.

Iron, especially on a vegetarian diet, where the plant iron is poorly absorbed and tea with meals makes it worse. Low iron presents as unexplained fatigue and poor recovery, and it is confirmed by a ferritin test rather than guessed at. Pair iron-bearing meals with a vitamin C source and move chai away from them.

Vitamin D, which is widely deficient in India despite the sunlight, because training is often early or indoors and skin exposure is limited. It affects muscle function and bone, and in a sport with heavy loading and injury risk that is not trivial.

Total energy, the least glamorous and most common. An athlete training twice daily who is not eating enough overall will lose muscle no matter how much protein is in the diet, because protein gets diverted to fuel. If weight is falling unintentionally and performance is declining, add food before adding supplements.

Get ferritin, haemoglobin and vitamin D measured once rather than supplementing blind. Iron in particular should not be taken without a test, since excess is its own problem.

The short version

Keep the traditional base, which is sound. Raise total protein towards 1.6–2.0 g/kg, spread it across four or five points in the day, and make sure total energy and carbohydrate match the training load. Cut weight slowly and never by dehydration. Test iron and vitamin D rather than assuming.

Where KABO fits in

The structure above is the point: 1.6–2.0 g per kg spread across four or five feeds, built on milk, dal, chana, curd and paneer. Supplements fill the gaps in that structure rather than replacing it.

The gaps for a wrestler are usually the same two — the window between two sessions, and the meal eaten while travelling to a competition. A serving gives 25 g of complete plant protein with 26 vitamins and minerals, which also covers the iron and vitamin D the article flags as common shortfalls in Indian vegetarian athletes. It is vegan, soy-free and gluten-free, and has no added sugar.

Frequently asked questions

How much protein does a wrestler need per day?

Roughly 1.6–2.0 g per kg of body weight, which is about 112–140 g for a 70 kg athlete. The upper end applies while cutting weight, because protein protects muscle when energy is restricted.

Is the traditional milk-ghee-almond diet good enough?

It is a sound base — good protein quality, calcium and the dense energy heavy training needs. It usually falls short on total protein for heavier athletes, is poorly distributed across the day, and often runs low on iron and vitamin D.

How should I cut weight for a category?

Slowly, over weeks, with protein raised and resistance training maintained. Reduce gut residue in the final days rather than restricting water. Dehydration cutting impairs strength and reaction time and carries serious health risk.

Do I need supplements for kabaddi?

Not necessarily. The targets are reachable on milk, dal, chana, curd, paneer and sattu. Supplements are useful for the points in the day when food is impractical, such as between two sessions or while travelling.

Sources

• ICMR-NIN, Dietary Guidelines for Indians (2024). nin.res.in
• World Health Organization, Healthy diet fact sheet. who.int
• National Institutes of Health, Office of Dietary Supplements fact sheets. ods.od.nih.gov