When a study reports that athletes oxidised 60 g of an ingested carbohydrate per hour, it sounds as simple as measuring heart rate. It is not. Measuring exogenous carbohydrate oxidation, a method sometimes referred to as 13C carbohydrate oxidation or carbon-13 breath tests, requires a deeper understanding of biochemistry, physiology, and stable isotope tracer methodology. Carbon-13 testing services are now also offered commercially, but they all use shortcuts to make them eas

Most athletes believe they're food sensitive, but only 1 in 100 reacts in allergy testing. Learn why IgG tests don't work and what you should be doing if you experience symptoms.

Home tests for food sensitivities, intolerances and allergies are often promoted but do they give the right answer?

The optimal glucose to fructose ratio changes with the amount of carbohydrate ingested. This blog explains why 2:1 suits 90 g/h and why 1:1 may suit 120 g/h.

We are learning more and more about the importance of the microbiome and the links with various diseases. However, the consumer is...

Sodium bicarbonate is a household product commonly known as baking soda that many may be familiar with. What some may not know is that...

In this series of blog posts, we’ve discussed what is meant by the ‘electrolytes’, that are promoted in sports nutrition products. We’ve looked at how much you actually lose during exercise, and what role they play in athlete health and performance during exercise. So far we’ve seen that: Electrolytes are minerals that dissolve in water into their individual, positively or negatively charged ions: Sodium: Na+ and Potassium: K+ Chloride: Cl- Magnesium: Mg2+ and Calcium: Ca2+ a

Athletes that follow an exercise and dietary regimen usually expect to see a performance benefit for their efforts. Also impacted by these f

Marathon runners are starting to pay more and more attention to their nutrition. No one ever questions the importance of training, yet the importance of nutrition has often been underappreciated. Or perhaps the topic of nutrition seems to pop up on the radar only close to the marathon.. and this is when many questions suddenly arise. In this nutrition guide we will explain how to best fuel for your marathon. What should you eat the day before, or the morning of the marathon,

What if we could modify the chemical structure of nutrients to alter their digestion, absorption, and metabolic effects during exercise? Could this enhance performance? These are the questions posed by a recently developed sport supplement containing hydrothermally modified starch. What is hydrothermally modified starch? Starches are the primary storage form of carbohydrate in plants. They can be found in potatoes, legumes, fruit, wheat, corn, etc. Interestingly, food scienti

In a previous blog-post we defined what energy availability is and what typically is considered to be ‘low energy availability’ (LEA)....

Milk and other dairy products are polarising. Some claim it is the best option for recovery, others claim there are detrimental health...

An interesting review (1) was published recently re-igniting the discussion whether women will ever outperform men in ultra-endurance events. Males tend to outperform females in a number of sports. For example in the marathon the difference is around 10%. However, this difference is much smaller in ultra-endurance sports, such as in ultra-marathon (with a difference of 4%), or in extreme ultra endurance events where the difference is negligible. It appears that the longer the

It is now well accepted that gut complaints during and after exercise are a common issues amongst athletes (Read more here). The primary...

Many competitions take place in hot and challenging conditions. The Tokyo Olympic Games are only an example. The expected hot conditions...

Lactose is a sugar found in milk. Is this type of carbohydrate a good source ion energy during exercise? This blog looks at the results...

In a previous blog we discussed what it takes to run a sub 2h marathon. Nutrition is an important factor, and in particular race...

Slow carbs are in fashion. There are slow carb diets, slow carb sports nutrition products, and just slow carbs. But do they live up to...

Breakfast or the last meal before competition is important and can have a significant impact on performance.

A new paper was published that suggests intakes of 120 g/h in mountain marathon runners.