Category Archives: Sports Nutrition Blog

With warmer weather finally here (if you live in Chicago like I do!) we should all be paying closer attention to our daily hydration, especially when leading up to exercise in the heat. You do want to arrive to your workouts well hydrated. One way to determine your personal fluid needs is divide your body  Continue Reading »

Your mouth is pretty smart! Researchers at the University of Aukland’s Centre for Brain Research used brain imaging, or a functional MRI to determine how the brain reacts to swishing a carbohydrate solution in your mouth before completing some simple exercise tasks. When the participants swished the solution, the brain regions associated with sensation and  Continue Reading »

It is a common belief that coffee causes dehydration and that consumption should be reduced, particularly in athletes, to maintain adequate daily hydration levels. A recent study compared coffee ingestion to water ingestion for a number of validated hydration techniques. Fifty male coffee drinkers (with a usual intake of 3 to 6 cups daily) were  Continue Reading »

Stay Lean and Keep Your Training Program on Track this Holiday Season If you have any regrets about how much you ate on Thanksgiving or the day after- put it behind you and develop an effective holiday action plan. The rest of the holiday season doesn’t have to be a total disaster. On average, weight  Continue Reading »

You might want to think twice about consuming that afternoon cup of coffee or another caffeine containing beverage. While it might alleviate a mid-afternoon brain drain slump, it could affect your sleep that night, resulting in lower energy the next day. It has long been suspected that caffeine can disrupt sleep long after it has  Continue Reading »

Better diet quality at mid-life was found to be strongly linked to greater health and well-being in persons living to older ages according to a recent study in the Annuls of Internal Medicine. Remember, a high quality diet does not just mean limiting saturated and trans fats and sugar, but also including nutrient rich foods  Continue Reading »

Recent article in Chicago Tribune highlights hydration- but not fueling- for the 26.2 mile race The marathon is a long race- one that is going to steadily deplete the carbohydrate stored in your muscles and your liver.  Your muscles burn this stored fuel during the race, while the liver sends glucose into your bloodstream- providing fuel  Continue Reading »

Fleet Feet Chicago Marathon Panel The 2103 Chicago Marathon is only 12days away. This past Sunday I was part of a Fleet Feet panel that included  Meb Keflezighi and Deena Kastor, as well as race director Carey Pinkowski. Over 400 attendees recieved tips for the last week of marathon preparation. Here are some of the higlights of the nutrition  Continue Reading »

Runner’s, both new and seasoned, preparing for the Chicago Marathon on October 13th (and other early Fall marathons) likely have a 20 mile training long run on the calendar in the next one to two weeks. This is an opportune time to test out your race nutrition plan in the days before the run, the morning of the run,  Continue Reading »

New FDA ruling for term “gluten-free” for voluntary food labeling to assist gluten free athletes. On August 2nd the FDA published a new regulation defining the term “gluten-free.” This provides a standard definition for the approximately 3 million Americans who have diagnosed celiac disease. For athletes who want to safely fuel with gluten free grains and starches  Continue Reading »