When it comes to meeting nutritional needs for athletes, there’s a lot of information, trends, and products out there (which makes it extremely confusing).
If you’ve scrolled through social media recently, you’ve probably seen headlines like:
- “Greens powder will cure your bloat”
- “You’re not ugly, you just have cortisol face”
- “Eat your food in X order to avoid a glucose spike”
- “Here’s a list of foods you’re consuming every day that are actually toxic”
- “Guilt-free desserts with clean ingredients for the holidays”
And SO many more.
These kinds of claims are everywhere, but they often misrepresent the science or oversimplify complex nutrition topics. This study even found that nearly half of nutrition-related Instagram posts contain inaccurate information.
This misinformation doesn’t just create confusion, it can be incredibly harmful and make fueling adequately seem really complicated, contributing to under-fueling, poor performance, and even RED-S (Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport).
While meeting nutritional needs for athletes is nuanced and should be individualized, there are ways that nutrition can be quite simple, as long as you learn to quiet the noise.
When I meet with athletes who are prone to overanalyzing or perfectionism, I help them zoom out and see the big picture of fueling and instead, focus on the 4 pillars of sports nutrition basics.
- Enough
- Enjoyment
- Variety
- Nutrients
In this blog post, we’ll dive into these pillars and touch on 4 simple strategies and science-backed sports nutrition tips to meet nutritional needs for athletes and avoid common RED-S nutrition mistakes.
4 Simple Ways to Meet Nutritional Needs for Athletes
1. Enough: Fuel First, Always
The first and most important pillar is to eat enough. If we’re not consuming enough calories at baseline, nothing else matters. No supplement, greens powder, or protein shake can fix chronic under-fueling. You can’t “hack” or “out-supplement” your way out of an energy deficit. When athletes don’t meet their baseline needs, they’re at risk of RED-S, a condition that affects hormone balance, bone health, performance, and recovery.
Eating “enough” becomes our fueling foundation and is the key to athletic performance and recovery. If you’re not sure what “enough” is, I strongly recommend working with a Registered Dietitian who specializes in sports and RED-S nutrition to help calculate your unique energy requirements.
2. Enjoyment: Eat Food You Actually Like
Food is fuel, yes, but it’s also meant to be enjoyed!
Athletes often fall into the trap of rigid meal plans or “clean eating” that removes all pleasure from food. But enjoyment is key to consistent, adequate fueling.
In order to do be able to enjoy food, we must be able to:
- Take the time to eat (stopping what we’re doing, sitting down)
- Choose foods we prefer (at least most of the time when available)
- Surround ourselves with others who do the above (and they avoid negative discussions about food and bodies)
Enjoying your food can help you stay consistent with your eating, which supports both performance and long-term wellbeing.
3. Variety: Don’t Get Stuck in a Rut
While our baseline goals are to be eating enough and eating foods we enjoy, if we’ve gotten to this point and are eating the same foods every day, we are likely limiting the variety of nutrients we consume.
Additionally, when eating the same foods every day, we may hit “flavor fatigue,” where after a while, our brain becomes bored, we lose interest in the food/meal, and our drive to eat decreases. This is a common RED-S nutrition red flag!
Intentionally eating a variety of foods can help us meet our micronutrient needs (as long as we are also eating enough) and avoid becoming sick of our favorite foods.
So mix things up! Rotate your protein sources, try new grains or veggies, and explore different snack combos. This not only supports nutrient adequacy, but it keeps meals fun.
4. Nutrients: Add With Intention
Once the first three pillars are established, we can focus on adding in what we need from a specific nutrient standpoint. Trying to do this first (which I see many athletes attempt) without addressing the underlying under-fueling will never yield the results we are looking for and only send us deeper into the RED.
Once you’re fueling adequately and consistently, then it’s time to consider specific nutrient strategies, like:
- Iron-rich foods for endurance athletes
- Calcium and vitamin D for bone health
- Protein timing for muscle recovery
But don’t make the mistake of skipping straight to “fine-tuning” without mastering the sports nutrition basics.
Let’s Get Back to Sports Nutrition Basics Together
If you’re an athlete and want to fuel smarter, without falling victim to RED-S nutrition mistakes or getting lost in nutrition misinformation, I’m here to help.
Join the waitlist for my upcoming Athlete Nutrition Challenge to get practical tools to fuel with confidence, meet your nutritional needs, and train at your best.
If you’re an athlete provider looking for more information and training on RED-S nutrition best practices, check out my RED-S Informed Provider Masterclass!