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Factors Determining CHO Intake In Athletes And 'Normal' Populations
Athletes train and perform to run, bike, swim (or all three) for hours, or athletes train to compete and smash personal bests for themselves, or a team are asking their bodies to do extraordinary things. As such, their food choices and intake may also need to be extraordinary to meet the demands of their sport.
We all need…
Which diet for which Athlete?
I’ve been working as a Naturopath for over 25 years. In that time, I’ve seen in practice the following philosophies:
- No two bodies are the same.
- No two sports have the same demands on the body.
- No two bodies doing the same sport have the same exact needs and demands.
Essentially this can be summed up in what I often call the art and science of Sports Nutrition. Yes, we have evidence-based research about the physiology of the body and the impact of food and nutrition on performance, BUT…
What is a Naturopath as opposed to a Dietitian in Sports Nutrition?
If you have been receiving my emails or reading my blogs for a while, you will know that I am an Australian Naturopath and Sports Nutritionist. I have more than 25 years in clinical practice and have seen a vast array of clients over time. I love working with athletes! Not just pro or elite athletes, but athletes from all walks of life. Weekend Warriors, peeps working towards their first marathon or Ironman and even clients doing multi day challenges in far flung parts of the world. I am always …
Let's talk about sweat..
After my recent blog on hydration I got a lot of great feedback from individuals wanting to know how they can work out how much water they need to be drinking. I love that so many of you are taking the effort to really work on your food and training to optimise your results. This blog will be a little bit shorter than my usual blogs. Its primary goal is to help you work out how much water you should be drinking.
Knowing our water balance is just as important for training and events as knowing ou…
Food Sensitivity
Do you ever wonder how to tell if a food isn’t good for you?
In clinic I often talk about prescribing a ‘clean diet’. In the past I have written a blog about the role of a whole foods diet as one of natures seven healers; you can find that blog here. For me and my very active family, a clean diet is gluten free, mostly paleo, whole foods diet. We eat this way because our bodies feel good when we eat like this.
I see a lot of clients with underlying food sensitivities, intolerances, and allergi…
Real food vs Performance food for fuel..
I love working with athletes. Whilst I’ve worked with athletes at various stages of their amateur and professional careers, my favourite sports nutrition clients are those who would probably describe themselves more “weekend warrior” than “Olympic ready”. Regardless to their event or level, there’s one thing I need to remind them; “what you’re doing is something extra.”
What do I mean by extra?
Your body runs on what we call a Basal Metabolic Rate. Essentially this is the sum of all the energy i…
How much water is too much water ?...
We all know that water is good for us, it’s vital to our bodies and helps us to maintain optimum health. For those of you who are subscribers to my blog, you may be familiar with a previous post I wrote about water. That post was the first of seven that looked at nature’s seven healers, and it dives deep into why water is so important for our health.
In case you didn’t know, our adult bodies are up to 60% water. We need water to flush away toxins, hydrate our cells, and is used in many cellular …
What to eat before training..
Last month I went into detail about how important it is to eat after training. We looked at the types of foods to eat, how soon after training, and why I get all my clients to do this. We also looked a little bit into Intermittent Fasting and how important that even those of you who are IF, eat after training. If you’ve used this last month to assess your after-training fuel habits, and implement or level up new fueling strategies, Great!
Since that post I’ve had a lot of feedback and updates ab…
What to eat after training..
One of the most important things you can do for your body is to eat properly after a training session. When you exercise, no matter if it's aerobic training or strength you have used glycogen to fuel at least part of the session as well as body fat. Your body after training is primed and ready to make more stores of carbohydrates ( known as glycogen) form the foods you eat. Delaying eating after training will lead to less glycogen being made form the food you eat as well as a decrease in your en…
Let's be practical
Having survived into May with our crazy ISO life, I hope you are all well and healthy and finding fun and creative things to do with your extra time at home. For those still out working, on the front line of healthcare and other jobs, I give you a grand thank you and wish for you some downtime and peaceful rest when this all stops being so intense.
For many ISO has combines multiple tasks over and above the norm and the thing I have noticed is clients and friends all taking about how much they …