Today on coffee & questions I answered Shane & Bec's questions on alcohol and its place in the week when it comes to exercise and performance.
Can I have a drink after my race? đť
Is there a way to be sensible with alcohol intake? đ¸
What effects does alcohol have on exercise performance? đ´đť
Â
I'm not here to say don't ever drink but from the perspective of a dietitian... Alcohol is a toxin.Â
We don't store it anywhere - it gets processed in the liver and burnt off in preference to anything else as we try and get rid of it out of the body
It's used as a social lubricant and is a socially acceptable toxin
My advice will differ depending on who you are and what your overall goals are. Find a balance between drinking and exercise performance depending on who you are and what your goals are
Â
Alcohol equals energy - calories or kilojoules
Alcohol = 29kJ/gram
It also depends on what calories you're drinking it with - e.g. soda water or full-fat coke
And what food choices you make...
Today on Coffee & Questions I answered a great question - How do you Carbohydrate Load?
Watch the replay for all of the gold nuggets, or read the quick summary below.
I've been up to my eyeballs in Carb Loading plans recently with everyone doing Cairns 70.3 or Ironman this weekend. A common theme is that nobody has known how to do it properly
Â
Where you load or store more carbohydrate in our muscles - muscle glycogen
Just like you fill up your car with petrol, you can fill up your fuel tank (glycogen)
This process takes time - 24-48hours
So eating a pasta meal the night before is not going to be particularly useful. 1. it's not enough carbohydrate and 2. the timing is a little late if you haven't been ...
Today on Coffee & Questions I answered your question - Is caffeine good for endurance performance?
Where can you find it?
Is there evidence for the use of caffeine?
What are the effects of caffeine?
How much do you need to take? More is not better
Below is a brief summary but please watch the replay to get all of the gold nuggets on caffeine use!
Caffeine is a widely used, socially acceptable stimulant.
Find it in tea, coffee, cola, energy drinks, chocolate and supplemented sports foods like gels and bloks/chews.
Here are some examples:Â
There is a solid body of evidence that supports caffeine use to enhance endurance exercise performance, with studies dating back to the 1970s.
It was removed from the WADA doping list back in 2004
In the AIS supplement framework, it is a group A supplement with evidence-based protocols
Major benefits achieved t...
With Cairns Ironman just around the corner, Iâm deep into writing race nutrition plans for our athletes. This morning on Coffee & Questions I wanted to share with you some strategies to assist with training and racing in the heat.
One of the biggest impacts of heat exposure when exercising is its effects on the gut. This is exacerbated when our core temperature gets >39°C
Â
Â
All of this happens with exercise â the longer and more intense â the worse it is. And it is exacerbated by heat exposure
Today on Coffee & Questions I explain what the heck a sports dietitian actually is?
And why I get offended and will always correct you when you call me a nutritionist đ.
There is so much confusion around the titles so I want to explain what the difference is between a Nutritionist, Dietitian and Sports Dietitian and show you some quick and easy ways to check you're getting your nutrition advice from someone that's qualified to be providing it.
Because you don't go to an Optometrist for a sore foot or your cardiac surgeon for a runny nose...
So it makes sense to get your nutrition advice from a qualified Dietitian right?
The problem
Australia currently does not regulate the professional titles ânutritionistâ or âdietitianâ, leaving a wide market for misinformation if you don't do your own research.
The media also tends to use the two terms interchangeably, making distinctions between qualifications increasingly difficult. And only causing more confusion
So let's break each title...
Today on Coffee & Questions âď¸ I answered Maggie's question on RED-S
"I Currently have RED-S for the second time while marathon training - is this something I'm prone to?"
The syndrome refers to impaired physiological function including, but not limited to:
caused by relative energy deficiency - either by inadequate energy intake and/or increased energy expenditure
We need energy to support:
Daily function, growth and exercise. The body fuels exercise first - so if you're not eating enough to support training, you don't have enough energy to support daily function and this can have long term impact on our health.
RED-S is a continuous spectrum ranging from the healthy athlete with optimal energy availability, regular menses and healthy bones to the opposite end of the spectrum characterised by amenorrhoea, low EA a...
Today on Coffee & Questions âď¸Â  I gave a brief overview of the...
It is an EPIC, evidence-based resource from the great minds of Sports Nutrition. As a globally recognised framework, I think it's important to showcase.Â
You can check it out HERE
Before you reach for your supplements though, I want to share with you my philosophy.
My philosophy
As a Dietitian, my philosophy is always âfood firstâ. Focus on eating unprocessed, real foods as the foundation of a good evidence-based sports nutrition plan. It's not until you've nailed the foundations that you would consider adding supplements. They should be used as a supplement to a great diet. Not the first point of call.Â
Remember to build your nutrition cake or pyramid in the right direction. I talked about this in more detail last week. If you missed it, check it out HERE
HOWEVER, some supplements and sports foods can play a small (sprinkles) but valuable role in your plan ONCE THE FOUNDATIONS ARE LAID
The AIS Supplement F...
Every week I have clients ask me if they should take a particular supplement. It's a new, sparkly product with unmatched results, "clinically proven" and taken by all the pro's.â â â
But often they're looking for the 1% performance gains without the solid foundations first. They take an expensive supplement, yet don't fuel training properly or under recover or eat crap on the weekends â đĽđ¤ˇđťââď¸â
Â
Today on Coffee & Questions I talked about a specific supplement that seems to be prolific in the endurance space at the moment. Modex.
Iâve had a number of people ask me about it recently so I thought it would be useful to share with you in case youâve got a mate raving about the benefits or you already take it.
Iâm going to explain what it is, and walk you through the process I go through when looking into a new supplement/product with the critical eye of an Advanced Sports Dietitian. I don't simply google it, read it's website or a blog.Â
On the Modex website, this is what they say it ...
Today on Coffee & Questions I talked about race nutrition during the back end of an Ironman, in particular the run.
With Cairns IM only 8 weeks away, now is the perfect time to be perfecting your Ironman race nutrition plan.Â
Here are the key points I talked about today:
Success in an IM comes from minimal fatigue from the swim and bike
The types of foods suitable for running - eating on your feet
The importance of practising with on-course nutrition
Train your gut! This includes both nutrition AND hydration
Do Sweat Testing to understand your individual hydration needs
Explore any cramping issues
What Caffeine options are there on the run?
Don't try anything new on race day!
If you're interested in Sweat Testing (and are located in Brisbane), register your details HERE to get notified about our upcoming sessions.
Should you eat before exercise? And if you do what should you eat?
Coffee & Questions is back!!
One of the biggest issues faced by the Dietitian Approved crew is fuelling for their training. Today I give you a few key pointers for fuelling before training. When it's a good idea to do training fasted versus when to fuel before training.
Sorry about the poor image quality - on the to-do list this weekend is to buy a new webcam!
If you need help with meeting your fuelling needs, invest in a Sports Dietitian to develop a customised plan for you!
www.dietitianapproved.com.au/services
If you're looking for a more cost-effective option, check out one of our Online Courses for a great place to start.
See you next week! âď¸
Taryn
50% Complete
Register here to get delicious recipes and expert nutrition advice delivered straight to your inbox.
You'll get special discounts and offers only available to our Crew!