The Female Athlete Nutrition Industrial Complex

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This week on Your Diet Sucks, we’re digging into one of the most misunderstood—and over-marketed—topics in endurance sports: nutrition for female athletes.

You’ve probably heard the myths: women should eat for their body type, avoid carbs during their cycle, or that we're not just small men when it comes to fueling. But most of that advice isn’t based on solid science; it’s based on outdated research, rigid stereotypes, and a whole lot of pseudoscience.

In this episode, Kylee and Zoë unpack:

• ​Why most sports science has ignored female athletes for decades
• ​How hormonal fluctuations, birth control, and life stage transitions affect fueling
• ​What’s actually different about female endurance physiology
• ​The truth about somatotypes (ectomorph, mesomorph, endomorph) and why they’re BS
• ​Evidence-backed nutrition strategies for training, recovery, and long-term health
• ​Why research gaps are still being filled by grifters, and how to stay skeptical

Whether you're menstruating, on birth control, pregnant, postpartum, or in perimenopause—or you coach or care about someone who is—this episode is your myth-busting guide to what women really need to fuel their performance.

Thanks to Janji for supporting the podcast! Use code YDS for 10% off your purchase.

REFERENCES

Cowley, E. S., Olenick, A. A., McNulty, K. L., & Ross, E. Z. (2021).“Invisible sportswomen”: The sex data gap in sport and exercise science research. Women in Sport and Physical Activity Journal, 29(2), 146–151. https://doi.org/10.1123/wspaj.2020-0051

Elliott-Sale, K. J., Minahan, C. L., de Jonge, X. A. K. J., Ackerman, K. E., Sipilä, S., Constantini, N. W., Lebrun, C. M., Hackney, A. C., & Nindl, B. C. (2021).Methodological considerations for studies in sport and exercise science with women as participants: A working guide for standards of practice for research on women. Sports Medicine, 51(5), 843–861. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40279-021-01435-2

International Society of Sports Nutrition (Sims, S. T., Kerksick, C. M., Smith-Ryan, A. E., de Jonge, X. A. K. J., Hirsch, K. R., Arent, S. M., & 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), 15. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12970-023-00541-w

Mountjoy, M., Sundgot-Borgen, J., Burke, L., Ackerman, K. E., Blauwet, C., Constantini, N., Lebrun, C., Lundy, B., Melin, A., Meyer, N., Sherman, R., Tenforde, A., Torstveit, M. K., & Budgett, R. (2018).IOC consensus statement: Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport (RED-S). British Journal of Sports Medicine, 52(11), 687–697. https://doi.org/10.1136/bjsports-2018-099193

Sims, S. T. (2016).ROAR: How to match your food and fitness to your unique female physiology for optimum performance, great health, and a strong, lean body for life. Rodale Books.