Proper recovery and performance enhancement have always been top priorities for athletes. But what happens when new trends promise to deliver these benefits with the allure of convenience? Is it worth the investment, or even safe? Today, we delve into the growing trend that is IV hydration and explore whether it truly lives up to the hype.

What is IV Hydration?

In simple terms, IV hydration involves bags of hydration, vitamins, amino acids, or a mix thereof being administered directly into your bloodstream through a cannula. Originally, this practice was strictly for medical use in hospitals to treat severe dehydration and nutrient deficiencies or deliver medication when oral intake wasn’t possible.

Now, companies offering IV hydration have extended these services to healthy individuals for various perceived benefits, such as rapid rehydration, improved skin health, and curing hangovers. For athletes, especially triathletes, they’re even promising quick recovery and...

Ironman announced early this year that they're phasing out Gatorade Endurance and introducing Mortal Hydration for their North American races. This change is not global, so our friends in Australia and the UK can breathe a sigh of relief. But if you’re heading to a North American event, you need to be prepared.

What is Mortal Hydration?

Unlike Gatorade Endurance, which is a carbohydrate-rich sports drink, Mortal Hydration is more of a hydration formula with considerably less carbohydrate content. Available exclusively at The Feed, it is less readily available.

Wondering how mortal compares to Gatorade Endurance nutritionally? Here’s a quick comparison:

Table 1: Nutritional differences between Mortal Hydration and Gatorade Endurance

As you can see, mortal contains significantly less carbohydrate and nothing groundbreaking in terms of sodium content. It's carbohydrate source is also very different, using stevia as a non-nutritive sweetener for flavour.

How is Mortal...

So, what’s the deal?  What is sodium bicarbonate? How does it work? And is it something you should be looking at?

There’s a new supplement on the market from one of the big supplement companies that markets heavily to triathletes – bicarbonate aka bicarb of soda, baking soda or sodium bicarbonate.

Athletes within the Triathlon Nutrition Academy get to dive deep into this during the program, but I thought it was important to provide you with a quick summary – so you can make an informed decision on whether it’s worth the investment.

So, what’s the deal?  What is it? How does it work? And is it something you should be looking at?

Sodium Bicarbonate

Sodium bicarbonate is produced by the body and it's an integral component of our body's primary pH buffering system.

Also known as bicarb soda or baking soda – a white powder you buy from supermarkets, used in baking to help food rise.

Why would you use sodium bicarb to improve...

Vitamins play many important roles in the body.

There are 13 essential vitamins our body needs for normal, healthy functioning.

Our body cannot make these itself (or cannot make enough of them) so, for the most part, we need to get them through our diet.

When vitamins are missing from the diet, poor health and illness can occur.

Vitamin C deficiency = Scurvy

Vitamin D deficiency = rickets

Calcium deficiency = porous, weak bones & teeth

You may be surprised to know vitamins are usually only needed in small amounts. Too much of some can cause symptoms or toxicity.

The 13 vitamins are:                      

• A
• B1    
• B2    
• B3  
• B5
• B6
• B7
• B9
• B12
• C
• D
• E
• K.

Wondering what happened to the missing letters? They were named in order, but later discovered that some weren’t vitamins, others were related...

What's the best protein powder for triathletes?

A number of people have mentioned protein powders to me lately – as if it was the best thing in the world.   I’m going to dive a little deeper into protein powders (and try not to offend supplement companies in the process!!)

FIRSTLY – I have a food first philosophy. It is extremely easy to get enough protein from food without the need to supplement.

As a supplement, that’s exactly what they should be used as: an addition to a balanced diet when you can’t get enough protein through real food for whatever reason.

Reasons we might advise using a protein powder:

• For convenience – if you have a busy lifestyle and seem to be always on the run!
• To meet protein needs directly after a heavy strength-specific session – where we are trying to maximally stimulate muscle protein synthesis (building new muscle). 
• To make sure your recovery meals still...

What is a Hydrogel? Does it improve endurance performance?

Hydrogel technology is making a wave in the sports nutrition scene with products like Maurten hitting the market.

But what is a hydrogel? And is it beneficial to endurance performance?

I asked Andy King, exercise physiologist at the Australian Catholic University, to join me on a recent podcast episode. Andy co-authored the review paper on all of the research to date on hydrogels and their effect on endurance exercise performance. So there was no one better suited to answer these questions for us! 

What is a hydrogel?

• Basically an amped-up carbohydrate drink
  
  

How does a hydrogel work?

• Delivers sugar through the stomach and intestine into your bloodstream to your muscles
• In gel form, it moves the carbohydrate mixture through to your intestine quicker - approx. 40% faster
  
  

Are there any negative effects of using a hydrogel compared to regular sports drinks and gels?

• May negatively impact some athletes...

Do You Need Salt Tablets?

Many endurance athletes take salt tablets, but do we really need them? I spoke with the sodium and hydration master aka Alan McCubbin to break down everything you need to know about sodium, hydration and endurance exercise.

Here’s what we discussed:
 

Why is sodium is important for sports like triathlon?

• When we sweat during exercise, sodium is the main mineral we lose along with chloride
• The main electrolyte in our blood is also mainly sodium, and this plays a big role in moving water around the body

 Are there currently any guidelines around sodium replacement?

• The guidelines are currently very vague
• There aren’t really any specific guidelines around sodium replacement during exercise apart from a broad statement from the American College of Sports Medicine indicating that people should replace sodium when large losses occur, but they don't define what a large loss is

What research is currently underway to find some answers?...

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.

Where can you find caffeine? 

Find it in tea, coffee, cola, energy drinks, chocolate and supplemented sports foods like gels and bloks/chews.

Caffeine content varies widely

Here are some examples: 

What does the evidence say?

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

Caffeine's Effects

Major benefits achieved...

Today on Coffee & Questions    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. 

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 “food first”. 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. 

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...

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.

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 ‍

Today on Coffee & Questions I talked about a specific supplement that seems to be prolific in the endurance space at the moment. Modex.

I’ve had a number of people ask me about it recently so I thought it would be useful to share with you in case you’ve got a mate raving about the benefits or you already take it.

I’m 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. 

On the Modex website,...