Performance Tips

We know optimal nutrition is critical to an athlete’s preparation to achieve both ideal overall health and athletic performance. Do training and recovery have different nutritional requirements in women? The jury is still out! What we do know is that women have not traditionally been studied in sports science at the same rate as their male counterparts. A study by the British Journal of Sports Medicine, Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, and American Journal of Sports Medicine from 2011-2013 found that women represented 39% of study participants and only 4% of these were women-exclusive studies (Costello et al., 2014).

What we do know is that women differ from men in many ways. Besides a difference in size, women also have less lean and bone mass, and lower blood volume (hemoglobin mass) while having a wide variation in hormonal fluctuations throughout the month (Sims et al., 2023). Women even differ from each other when it comes to some of these areas! Some of the biggest changes women experience is a rise in estrogen during the first 14-day follicular phase and then progesterone taking center stage in the second 14 days, also known as the luteal phase. How does all of this impact substrate utilization, again, more research is needed, but studies may point to a keen focus on carbohydrates to support high-quality workouts while hormones are relatively low and female athletes may feel their best (Sims et al., 2023). As resting energy expenditure increases through the second 14 days, athletes are encouraged to “honor their hunger” and consume lean protein (approximately 25 grams) within the post-workout period as soon as possible to initiate the muscle repair process while minimizing amino acid oxidative losses (Holtzman & Ackerman, 2021; Jagim et al., 2019; Sims et al., 2023).

While meeting energy and macronutrient needs reign supreme, a very close second for females is to take into consideration the importance of micronutrient requirements, especially key vitamins and minerals such as iron, calcium, vitamin D and folate. A critical determinant of iron status in active women is menstrual blood loss. The average female loses 14mg of iron per menstrual cycle (Petkus et al., 2019).

Considering this loss, women must focus on consuming foods with adequate iron while minimizing foods that inhibit its absorption within a 1-2 hour window. Higher sources of heme iron, namely animal sources, have more bioavailability (25-35%) than non-heme iron, which comes primarily from plant sources and is absorbed at approximately 1-10% (Skolmowska & Glabska, 2019).

In addition, maintaining adequate levels of calcium and vitamin D within the diet is essential to providing the components needed for bone mineral density, especially considering that 90% of peak bone mass is achieved by age 18 in females (Benjamin, 2010). Finally, as women enter child-bearing age, folate becomes a nutrient of importance to inhibiting neural tube defects should a female become pregnant while also preventing pernicious anemia which impacts the body’s ability to make viable red blood cells to transport oxygen.

Lean beef can assist athletes in helping females meet their energy and protein requirements while supplying 2.5mg of iron within a 4oz. serving. A wonderful well-rounded plate for an athlete would include a 1/3 of the plate as lean protein, 1/3 of the plate as color (vegetables and fruit) and 1/3 of the plate as high-quality carbohydrates. Female athletes don’t have to suffer the consequences of being under-fueled and nutrient-deficient. Calling attention to the nutritional needs of female athletes can help them confirm they exist and know how to monitor their diet and nutrition individually and with the help of a qualified sports dietitian to prevent these issues long before they become problematic.

References:

Benjamin R. M. (2010). Bone health: preventing osteoporosis. Public health reports (Washington, D.C.: 1974), 125(3), 368–370. https://doi.org/10.1177/003335...

Costello, J. T., Bieuzen, F., & Bleakley, C. M. (2014). Where are all the female participants in Sports and Exercise Medicine research? European journal of sport science, 14(8), 847–851. https://doi.org/10.1080/17461391.2014.911354

Holtzman, B., & Ackerman, K. E. (2021). Recommendations and nutritional considerations for female athletes: Health and Performance. Sports Medicine, 51(S1), 43–57. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40279-021-01508-8

Jagim, A. R., Camic, C. L., Askow, A., Luedke, J., Erickson, J., Kerksick, C. M., Jones, M. T., & Oliver, J. M. (2019). Sex Differences in Resting Metabolic Rate Among Athletes. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 33(11), 3008–3014. https://doi.org/10.1519/jsc.0000000000002813

Petkus, D. L., Murray-Kolb, L. E., Scott, S. P., Southmayd, E. A., & De Souza, M. J. (2019). Iron status at opposite ends of the menstrual function spectrum. Journal of trace elements in medicine and biology:: organ of the Society for Minerals and Trace Elements (GMS), 51, 169–175. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jtemb.2018.10.016

Sims, S. T., Kerksick, C. M., Smith-Ryan, A. E., Janse de Jonge, X. A. K., Hirsch, K. R., Arent, S. M., Hewlings, S. J., Kleiner, S. M., Bustillo, E., Tartar, J. L., Starratt, V. G., Kreider, R. B., Greenwalt, C., Rentería, L. I., Ormsbee, M. J., VanDusseldorp, T. A., Campbell, B. I., Kalman, D. S., & Antonio, J. (2023). International Society of Sports Nutrition Position Stand: Nutritional Concerns of the female athlete. Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition, 20(1). https://doi.org/10.1080/15502783.2023.2204066

Skolmowska, D., & Głąbska, D. (2019). Analysis of Heme and Non-Heme Iron Intake and Iron Dietary Sources in Adolescent Menstruating Females in a National Polish Sample. Nutrients, 11(5), 1049. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu1105...