Episode 213: Fueling for the Female Athlete with Kyla Channell and Stevie Lyn Smith
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Kyla Channell (L) and Stevie Lyn Smith (R) Discuss Nutrition for Female Athletes
Matt welcomes two powerhouses of nutrition, Kyla Channell and Stevie Lyn Smith, for a deep-dive discussion around nutrition for female athletes and fitness enthusiasts.
Both Stevie and Kyla bring with them a wealth of expertise and passion in this particular area of fueling for the female.
Stevie Lyn Smith, MS, RDN, CSSD, CDN, is one of the lead dieticians with our partner, InsideTracker. She's an experienced Registered Dietitian, board-certified in Sports Nutrition, with a history of working with both individuals and groups in clinical settings. She is wonderfully skilled in sports nutrition and weight management, and, through her work at InsideTracker, brings a great backbone of understanding biomarkers as a tool to help people focus and hone in their nutrition needs.
Kyla Channell, MS Nutrition & Human Performance, is also the owner and founder of Nutritional Revolution, where she specializes in elite athlete fueling for each unique sport and sex differences between athletes. She is a longtime nutrition partner of Purple Patch and has worked with countless athletes of all levels from beginner to pro.
For decades, everything in female athletics has seemed to be a diluted version of approaches and research studies applied to men. Everything from equipment, gear, training, and nutrition has been conducted through the lens of male-dominated research - "Shrink it and pink it," as you might call it.
Fortunately, times are changing, and the gap in gendered research is narrowing. In today's discussion, we hope to shed light on the differences between male and female fueling needs, and provide actionable steps to improve performance across work, sport, and life as a female fitness enthusiast.
Episode Timestamps
0:00-010:50 Introduction and Matt's Personal Picks
Dig into Purple Patch Blog - Lessons from the Pros
Purple Patch Website and Newsletter
10:50- The Meat and Potatoes - Fueling for the Female Athlete and Fitness Enthusiast
Matt, Kyla, and Stevie provide guidance on:
A break of the three macronutrients (fat, protein, and carbohydrate) and their role in your health, sport, and life performance
Why protein is so important for female athletes
When it comes to protein, we do know that during that high hormone phase, the luteal phase between ovulation and the first day of bleeding, there is an increased protein oxidation, so more potentially muscle tissue broken down or utilized during sport.
Best sources for protein uptake
Great sources of Leucine do include dairy products so that could be your cottage cheese, it might be milk, orGreek yogurt. Whey protein based powders are also very rich in leucine. There are some plant based protein powders and things like that out there that will are doing a better job at getting some higher leucine content in them as well.
Consequences of poor protein intake
A lot of times athletes want to improve body composition, and they're not going to be able to do that very well if protein is really low. They might be in a caloric deficit at the end of the day, but they're not supporting their lean muscle tissue, which is obviously a big player in our resting metabolic rate.
Protein and other nutrient timing in relation to training
Why women should stop fearing carbohydrates
If you're doing high intensity training, your body really should have some carbs on board. If you're doing these long distance rides or races, if you want to prevent hitting the wall or that bonk, you need to make sure you have adequate glycogen stores or carbohydrates stored within your muscle and delaying that fatigue.
How women use carbs differently in perimenopause
Pitfalls of carb restriction via keto or paleo diets for female athletes
Why women (especially peri-and-post menopausal) require strength training
As we age, we do require a greater external stimuli to get muscle protein synthesis or muscle building because we don't have that anabolic estrogen as prominent as it was when we were younger.
Hydration needs
How you can measure and assess your habits and health habits - including avoiding the common pitfall of under-fueling relative to your training demands.
RED-S. The under-eating relative to training demands. Much of the time this is accidental but results in serious performance and health implications.
If we don't have enough energy coming in, the body is going to adapt one way or another and it could be menstrual cycle related. It could be bone density. I think, too, with under fueling, there can be some issues with lipid markers.
Purple Patch and Episode Resources
This episode is sponsored by our collaboration with INSIDE TRACKER. Inside Tracker and Purple Patch- Receive 20% off their services with code: PURPLEPATCHPRO20
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