Female athlete specific nutrition * Dr Jules Strauss

Over 7 years I have recoded many podcasts on the topic of nutrition (you can find links for these in the show notes if you want to take a deeper dive into the topic). One topic we have not covered in detail to this point is female athlete specific nutrition. For our male listeners, please don’t turn off now. The information you are about to hear will be relevant to any female who works out regularly, and that could be your partner, mother, sister, daughter, training partner or an athlete you coach. To help me understand this topic I have asked Dr Jules Strauss to help me. Jules is a reader in Exercise Metabolism and Nutrition at Liverpool John Moores University where she has published over 40 peer reviewed scientific papers. She is also a Registered Nutritionist and the co-founder of Total Endurance Nutrition which provides sports nutrition coaching and consultancy. In the conversation we talk about:

 

• Nutrition fundamentals for female endurance athletes and whether these differ for male endurance athletes?
• How do these needs change through stages of a female's life? 
• Are there any nutrition approaches that females should avoid (e.g. fasted training, low carb/high fat)
• How to best deal with topics like weight management, especially relevant if you are a coach
• What are some of the barriers that women can face to effective nutrition? 
• Should women tailor their nutrition to their menstrual cycle?

To find out more about Jules please visit the following places: A bit more about Jules - Bio Website - Total Endurance Nutrition Instagram - @jules_strauss_nutrition @total_endurance_nutrition (This is Jules’ nutrition coaching business) International society of sports nutrition position stand: nutritional concerns of the female athlete This is one of Jules' papers if you want a deeper dive into the molecular mechanisms underpinning differences in metabolism across the menstrual cycle Two books highly recommended by Jules: The Infinite Game by Simon Sinek. "I found this a fascinating read which explores long term thinking, growth mindset and resilience. Whilst not related to sports nutrition, I took some useful lessons from this book." Invisible Women by Caroline Criado Perez. "An interesting book exploring data bias. As someone who has conducted exercise physiology and metabolism research (for the last 20 years) in women as well as men, I understand some of the challenges that comes with this, but this book really highlights the scale of the data gap and the importance of bridging it." Here are the links to previous nutrition podcasts that I mentioned: Racing Performance:is being lighter truly an advantage? With Lexi Kelson How to successfully combine plant based nutrition with running - Claire Bartholic Fuel for the Finish Line - Vegan, Vegetarian & Gluten Free nutrition for athletes - Lexi Kelson Race day hydration and nutrition - lessons from 200 case studies