Athletes Don't Diet (098)

Seasoned Athlete

In this episode I highlight and discuss fad diets and the myths around nutrition for those seeking to live an active and athletic lifestyle, especially for women athletes and aging women athletes.

With so much information out there, it’s important to understand the research you’re retaining when exploring what nutritional lifestyle works best for you.

We discuss:

- How living an athletic lifestyle requires a mental shift when it comes to food.

- Understanding the relationship between food and our bodies as not only athletes but as aging women as well.

- How women athletes tend to focus on calorie intake which has statistically been known to lead to eating disorders among the athletic community.

- Fad diets and the male body vs the women's body.

- Low energy availability: what does it mean and how does it affect you in your day to day as an athlete?

- The Ketogenic Diet: does this fad diet really work for the woman athlete?

- Intermittent Fasting: where men see gains and results, women see the opposite.

… and more!

Here are some highlights.

Low Energy Availability and your cycle

“If you are menopausal, low energy availability can exacerbate some of the effects of aging, including increasing stored fat in the body. And that right there is something to make note of - because although younger populations might be keenly aware that they are in a low energy state on their periods, and can act quickly to do something about it, older populations may not realize it’s happening. Or worse, it may lead to a line of thinking that despite all the exercise you’re doing, you’re not losing weight - so you should eat less. When really, you may need to be eating more.”

The Ketogenic Diet and what the research is telling you

“For women, the ketogenic diet increases cortisol, which can then result in muscle breakdown. We lose muscle as we age, and as a result we need to emphasize resistance training and protein consumption to prevent muscle loss. Keto makes this even more difficult.

Intermittent Fasting can affect your body in many ways, not all beneficial

”Intermittent Fasting has become popular for weight loss because in general, if you’re fasting at least half of your day, if not more, you’re likely taking in fewer calories. And yeah, when calories out are greater than calories in, weight loss typically happens. So you can see why people - especially women - have been quick to adopt Intermittent Fasting. The problem is that there simply has not been significant research on it in athletic populations. But we can infer that severe time-based restriction like this can play a role in low energy availability, and all of the problems that come with it.”

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