Eating for Performance

Athletes tend to do a good job of training their muscles, heart and lungs. But some (particularly endurance athletes and those in running sports) commonly fail to train their gut to accommodate performance enhancing carbs and water. That way, they can train better - hence compete better - without stressing about undesired pit stops.

In this era of highly competitive sports, athletes are always looking for ways to fuel optimally. Performance nutrition is also of interest to military personnel. Our longtime sports nutrition expert reports from this year's annual meeting of the American College of Sports Medicine on recent nutrition research from both civilian and military exercise scientists.

Sports dietitian Nancy Clark relies on the research of exercise physiologists and sports scientists who study the best ways for competitive athletes to fuel their bodies to optimize their performance. Here are some of insights of one of the researchers she follows.

Do you ever get tired of reading yet-another headline about The 10 Best Super Sports Foods, only be instructed to buy exotic fruits, ancient grains, and other unusual items? Do we really need chia, spelt, and quinoa? Is anything wrong with old-fashioned peanut butter, broccoli and brown rice? A top sports nutritionist weighs in.

If what the media would have you believe were true, carbohydrates are bad for everyone, athlete and non-athlete alike. The truth, says a top sports nutritionist, is that all the hype about carbs doesn't apply to athletes.

The American College of Sports Medicine 2013 Annual Meeting was chock-full of useful nutrition information. In the second in a series of articles, sports nutritionist Nancy Clark discusses some additional research findings from the meeting.

Here are some "droplets" of information to enhance your water IQ, optimize water balance, and help your child feel and perform better in sports

The American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) is the world's largest organization of sports medicine and exercise science professionals. At ACSM's 2011 annual meeting in Denver, over 6,000 exercise scientists, sports dietitians, physicians and other health professionals gathered to share their research. Here are a few of the nutrition highlights.

Have you have ever wondered which is the best sports drink, energy bar, or gel? The answer is the best choice is the product that pleases your young athlete's taste buds and settles well in your stomach. Your child, tween or teen simply needs to experiment to determine which products (if any) work best for them.