Sports
Nutrition
Sports nutrition is the science of optimizing what (and when) we eat to enhance both performance and overall health—for every athlete, from weekend warriors to world champions.
Exercise produces stress on the body by demanding more from all body systems, triggering a temporary disruption in homeostasis. During exercise, muscles sustain teeny tiny tears, energy stores are depleted, and metabolic ‘waste’ such as lactic acid accumulates. This stress, while initially taxing, can be helpful long-term, as the body repairs, strengthens, and becomes more efficient over time. However, if the stress is excessive, and/or and we aren’t properly fueled, exercise can hurt.
With proper fueling, an athlete may notice some of the tangible same-day wins, such as:
Having more stamina during exercise
Having fewer GI problems during exercise
Feeling less sore after exercise
Recovering more quickly between exercise bouts
Feeling less depleted at the end of the day
But the big-picture benefits are pretty great too:
Longevity in one’s sport
Decreased risk of injury and reinjury
Improvements in bone density
Better mood
Better sleep
Stronger immune system
Better metabolic health
Recent fitness trends are making it more important than ever for all athletes to understand the basics of sports nutrition. We’ll highlight a few here:
1. More people of all ages are engaging in sports.
In children, early sport specialization (training 8+ months in a single sport prior to age 12, is becoming more common. With this comes a higher risk of injury, burnout, and ultimately, higher risk of REDs and eating disorders, particularly in athletes who are not properly fueling. And estimates from research show that roughly half of youth athletes are falling short on energy intake.
More adults of all ages are engaging in athletic activities than ever before, from organized race events to soccer leagues to tennis to Masters swimming and beyond.
Participation in distance events (ultramarathons, triathlons) are on the rise, which require detailed and highly specialized fueling plans.
2. Misinformation on sports nutrition is impossible to avoid, even if you try.
Social media has made it easy for us to find misinformation (and hard for us to avoid it), requiring us to be even more discerning when we see nutrition and supplement-related content.
Many self-proclaimed nutrition “experts” lack proper training and certification.
Social media fads (ex: “what I eat in a day”) are not only often fabricated, but can also be dangerous. Nutritional needs are unique to an individual.
3. The sports supplement market is valued at around $50 billion/year - and yet, the large majority of athletes can (and should) thrive with a food-first approach.
Our ever increasing desire for convenience and efficiency has increased our reliance on dietary supplements, many of which are unreliable, unnecessary or downright dangerous.
Dietary supplement regulation is insufficient, and problems with safety, purity and potency of supplements abound. Because of this, thousands of athletes annually report adverse events warranting medical attention from supplement use.
4. There’s an emphasis on how an athlete’s body looks, rather than how they perform.
Athletes often face scrutiny over weight and shape from well-intentioned coaches, family members, and peers, which can be a catalyst for food and body image issues.
5. Diet Culture in sport is an epidemic, and is dangerous to health and performance.
Athletes are often prescribed special, restrictive diets unnecessarily that rarely help with health or performance (e.g. keto, vegan, gluten free).
While athletes need to consume a wide variety of foods from all food groups to meet their needs, often entire food groups (like carbs or fats) are demonized while others are revered (looking at you, protein).
Everyone wants to perform at their best and stay active for the long haul. Having an individually tailored fueling plan can be the key to unlocking both peak performance and long-term well-being.