Nutrition and the Female Athlete: From Research to Practice
Language: English
Pages: 271
ISBN: 1439849382
Format: PDF / Kindle (mobi) / ePub
Designed to address the nutritional needs of women over the age of 18 who partake in sports on a regular basis, Nutrition and the Female Athlete: From Research to Practice highlights nutritional concerns specific to active women. It discusses the link between nutrition and athletic performance and translates research into practical applications for health, fitness, and nutrition professionals.
The book addresses gender differences in substrate utilization and the implications for how these differences might translate into different macronutrient requirements for female athletes. It covers vitamins and minerals that are often lacking in the diets of female athletes and presents special considerations for individuals with disordered eating, menstrual dysfunction, and low bone-mineral density.
blanket. Still other physiological and metabolic processes are not crucial for individual survival (e.g., reproduction) and may even be considered counterproductive when dietary energy is scarce or insufficient. Consequently, these processes would likely be the first to be compromised during times of low energy availability (Wade and Jones 2004). ENERGY AVAILABILITY CATEGORIES The hypothesis proposed by Wade and Jones (2004) not only helps to explain some of the most notable consequences of low
with carbohydrate or protein-carbohydrate ingestion. Med Sci Sports Exerc 41(12): 2158–2164. Protein Requirements for the Female Athlete 71 Du, J., and W. E. Mitch. 2005. Identification of pathways controlling muscle protein metabolism in uremia and other catabolic conditions. Curr Opin Nephrol Hypertens 14(4): 378–382. Du, J., X. Wang, et al. 2004. Activation of caspase-3 is an initial step triggering accelerated muscle proteolysis in catabolic conditions. J Clin Invest 113(1): 115–123.
sodium and water losses, or when the hyponatremia is extreme (120 to 125 mmol/L) or prolonged, the consequences can be severe (cerebral edema and metabolic encephalopathy, permanent brain damage, death). Thus, although exerciseassociated hyponatremia (EAH) is a much more rare occurrence than dehydration during endurance exercise, its consequences can be far more severe. It appears as though women are at a greater risk for EAH compared to their male counterparts. The increased risk among women has
58(5): 1477–1480. Pitsis, G. C., Fallon, K. E., Fallon, S. K., and Fazakerley, R. 2004. Response of soluble transferrin receptor and iron-related parameters to iron supplementation in elite, iron-depleted, nonanemic female athletes. Clin J Sport Med. 14(5): 300–304. Punnonen, K., Irjala, K., and Rajamaki, A. 1997. Serum transferrin receptor and its ratio to serum ferritin in the diagnosis of iron deficiency. Blood 89(3): 1052–1057. Recommended Dietary Allowances. 1989. Subcommittee on the 10th
performance is altered by vitamin D status, attention to adequate vitamin D during sun-starved winter months, especially at northern latitudes, may be warranted, and due to the limited amount of vitamin D in foods, this may require supplementation. Furthermore, for those athletes competing Nutrients Needed for Optimal Bone Health in the Female Athlete 127 and training primarily indoors, their opportunity for sun exposure and therefore vitamin D synthesis may be limited. Couple this seasonal