Continuous Glucose Monitoring (CGM) is gaining attention as a tool for optimising dietary counselling in athletes. By providing real-time glucose data, CGMs offer the potential to enhance our understanding of how athletes’ bodies respond to training, recovery, and nutrition. In our study, published in the European Journal of Sport Science , we investigated the use of CGMs in Para athletes to explore their potential applications and limitations. New study on CGM in Para cyclis

When we recommend carbohydrate intake for the day, it is often expressed as grams per kg bodyweight. For example, for most sports this will be between 5 and 8 g/kg with values up to 12 g/kg on some days, in some sports. Protein intake is also expressed per kg body weight or per kg fat-free mass and this makes sense. However, when it comes to carbohydrate intake during exercise, recommendations are provided in grams per hour. A recent study challenged this view. Should we real

In a series of previous blogs on mysportscience, the role of blood glucose was discussed and we highlighted what insights Continuous Glucose Monitoring (CGM) can provide athletes now and possibly in the future. In this blog, Dr Nicola Guess highlights the multifactorial nature of glucose metabolism, challenging the notion of straightforward causal links between food intake and glycemic responses. In previous blogs Dr Mike Riddell and I discussed opportunities and also some l

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CGM is a tool that can give us insights into “blood glucose” in real time! Although we must understand the limitations and be wary of not over interpreting or wrongly interpreting any data that is obtained , the technology can also be really useful for athletes. In this blog we discuss how CGM can best be used! There are a number of very clear and straightforward applications for your CGM. Most of these are related to individual glucose responses to things like foods, meals

People often ask us: “Are continuous glucose monitors (CGMs) accurate?” Our simple answer will typically be "yes", particularly if we are short on time. But, if you want to understand a little more about what accuracy means, and how it is evaluated, in the context of CGMs, you should read the rest of this blog... Defining accuracy "Accuracy" is a term used to describe if a measurement tool, like the pulse rate monitor on your high-end expensive watch or your chest band heart

Wouldn’t it be great to have a tool that measures how much fuel is left in your tank, just like a car has a fuel gauge? This would allow you to make sure the tank is full at the start and you can top it up before it runs out. Maybe there even is an optimal fuel level for performance? In the previous blog , we discussed CGM (Continuous glucose monitoring) sensors that have now become available to many athletes. Could CGM be the fuel gauge athletes have been waiting for? What

Continuous glucose monitoring (or CGM) is a body-worn “wearable” device that measures and displays interstitial sugar (glucose) levels. This technology has been used as a glucose management tool by individuals living with diabetes for decades but is now becoming available for people without diabetes, including endurance athletes, to help fine tune their nutrition and training activities. In a series of blogs Dr Mike Riddell and I will explore what CGM exactly measures, how ac

We often see the recommendation that we should use brown sugar over white sugar. We also hear that sugar from fruit is ok, but sugar from...

Sugar is often labelled as being “bad” for health. Some headlines claim sugar causes obesity, as well as cancer, cardiovascular disease or premature death. In contrast, sugars are labelled as “good” for athletes during exercise. Various sports nutrition products are marketed based on their high sugar content to fuel performance. In the first blog in this series, we discussed what sugar is. In the second blog we discussed the importance of sugar in metabolism. Now we will tu

After the previous blog where we discussed what sugars are, in this blog we will look at the role of sugar for energy provision. We will...

In the next few blogs we will tackle the topic of “sugar”. There are some daunting headlines in the media: Sugar is a silent killer....

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