Why we Founded AthleatMD
My interest in sports nutrition dates back over 20 years to when I was an NCAA Division 1 swimmer.
At that time, some of the “advice” that was given to our team included statements such as:
“It’s a good sign if you don’t get your period. It just means you’re working hard”
You probably shouldn’t eat more than 1800 calories a day” (as elite athletes training 3-5 hours a day)
“Eating a banana is like lighting your system with a stick of dynamite”
Even at that time, as a pre-med student with zero clinical training, I realized that there was a disconnect. Wasn’t it abnormal for a 20 year old woman to not get regular periods? How were we, as top athletes, supposed to perform at our peak if we weren’t properly fueling our bodies? And were bananas really that harmful? Why do our coaches seem to care more about what our bodies look like than how well we are performing? It just didn’t make sense.
The weight and body pressures we faced as elite swimmers compelled me to start doing research on disordered eating in athletes, which is how I first got passionate about this field.
Fast forward 20 years. The medical field is beginning to catch up and recognize how prevalent and potentially dangerous underfueling is in athletes. As of 2013, we now have a more inclusive framework, an underrecognized condition called RED-S, that describes the phenomenon. We are also beginning to understand the negative impacts that inadequate or improper fueling can have on performance and overall health. Some of these impacts, such as the negative impact on bone health, can impact an athlete for life if not corrected promptly.
As a physician who has focused my clinical career on caring for young people, particularly athletes, with nutritional concerns, a few key truths have emerged in my clinical practice and review of the literature:
All athletes across all sports can be at risk of underfueling, REDs, and eating disorders (yes, even football players). I have cared for athletes with these concerns in virtually every sport
You cannot tell by looking at someone if they are in an energy deficit. It is a misconception that energy deficits only occur in thin people
Underfueling increases risk of injury, poor performance, as well as health complications that can affect all organs in the body. All too often, too much emphasis is placed on the way an athlete’s body looks rather than the way an athlete’s body functions (often to the detriment of both health and performance)
So why start a virtual practice exclusively for athletes who need help with fueling?
Athletes often have a desire for individualized nutrition support & education, yet lack access to quality, evidence-based care
Often only athletes in the best funded sports at the NCAA D1 or professional level have access to sports dieticians
While plenty of people call themselves “sports nutrition experts”, there are only around 1000 licensed sports dieticians in the US (vs over 200 million people in the US who have competed in a sport in the last year)
REDs in an underrecognized yet extremely common concern in athletes
Many athletes, coaches, and even medical professionals have never heard of REDs
Even though REDs does not always present with an eating disorder, in order to properly treat the complications of REDs, it is essential that the clinicians have strong eating disorder backgrounds
AthleatMD is unique…virtually no existing medical & nutrition practices were created to specifically treat REDs and its complications with both disciplines in house
Athletes are a special population with special clinical needs
Most eating disorder treatment programs offer a more of a one size fits all approach. An athlete with an eating disorder may be told in a traditional treatment setting that the only option is to cease all physical activity indefinitely. While stopping activity is occasionally needed in severe cases, many athletes with eating disorders can continue at least some of their sports training while recovering from an eating disorder.
Virtual care allows for needed flexibility and convenience for busy athletes and families
Research shows that telemedicine can be just as effective as in person care
Virtual care minimizes disruption to one’s life, with less missed work, school, and training time
Our clinicians are licensed in multiple states, and can often “travel with you” across state lines
In reflecting back to the “advice” that was given to me as an athlete, I know now how absurd and potentially harmful that was. Unfortunately, bad nutritional advice still is being given to athletes that is negatively impacting their performance (even though it is usually well-intentioned). For instance, I often hear of athletes going on restrictive diets, or engaging in dangerous practices to achieve a certain look, or relying on unregulated supplements with untested ingredients.
As for the “eating a banana is like lighting your system with a stick of dynamite” comment, I can confidently say that it’s OK to go ahead and eat that banana. I’ve eaten many lately and not once did I explode.
About AthleatMD P.C.:
Founded in 2025 by Megan Hellner, DrPH, MPH, RD and Katherine Hill, MD, AthleatMD is a fully virtual, multi-state medical and nutrition practice designed for athletes across all sports and skill levels who need additional support with sports nutrition, disordered eating, and/or relative energy deficiency in sport (REDs).
Want to submit a request for a particular topic of interest? Click Here
