Intuned Eating
Hunger. Body Response. How and When
Intuned eating is bringing together the mindful practice we have and our awareness of physiological responses to our eating. This short video highlights how to consider being mindful with nutrition and what is at the base of becoming aware of what our body needs or wants.
INterviews on Intuitive Eating
Laurel Parsons and Kate Williams Stone are experts in intuitive eating. Tenille and Laurel further delve into what it means to take on awareness through eating and nourishment. Kate dives further into the psychology of intuitive eating and what it means and what it doesn't!
Energy Availability
Gut health
There is a strong link between gastrointestinal (GI) health, brain function, hormone health and overall well-being. Because of this, supporting healthy digestion, absorption and gut flora through everyday nutrition of whole foods is important.
Gut Health Explained
There are two videos:
1. Carolyn Ellis, Certified Chef and Holistic Nutritionist gives us an introduction to what is the gut, how do we know something may be wrong and how do we care for it. Watch the video here.
2. Expert Bonnie Wisener gets a whole lot deeper into ailments of the gut, how hormones are connected, why managing stress is important and finally top-10 tips to support good digestion (and they are likely not all what you think!) VIDEO CLICK HERE (Audio) (Transcript of Recording)
resources
Gut Health: Digestion and Absorption (PDF): This document gets into what influences gut health? It covers:
- Common Ailments
- Common Symptoms
- How to Improve our Gut Health
- Food Pairing
- GI issues during exercise
If you are need of specific probiotic strains to support your digestive health, look to the website below for excellent research based supplement brands: http://www.probioticchart.ca/
Additional Expert Interviews
Dr. Lisa Sulsenti - Gut Health or Perimenopause?
Bonnie Wisener - Healthy Gut Through Menopause: The Power of Food
Energy AVailability
Macronutrients
What we eat and how we experience food is linked to our familial, cultural and genetic history. We’re also influenced by the science of nutrition, developed under strong commercial and corporate ties. The combination of these factors creates the landscape in which we establish our nutrition beliefs, practices and unique nutritional-needs profile.
Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport (RED-S) impacts female and male athletes across the life span and at an alarming rate. Understanding what it is and the related symptoms is the first step to supporting your body in health and performance.
VIDEO TO UNDERSTAND THE ENERGY BALANCE EQUATION
This video shares the complexities of the energy balance equation and the levers that we have to support a body composition for health and performance.
RESOURCES
Research provided in this course is based on the best available sources at this time. As we know nutritional science is often difficult to navigate and understand, due to the marketing of research studies that “prove” the success of specialty diets and supplements. Unfortunately these studies are frequently biased; their significant limitations affect their applicability to other populations.
Sport nutrition is based on the irrefutable fact that the human body uses fat and carbohydrate as the primary fuel sources for activity, and protein for recovery. This means a varied and whole food diet is the optimal diet for athletes. The amounts of fat, carbohydrates and protein consumed can be individualized to account for unique body composition, sex, age, resting metabolic rate and training stress.
There are several linked documents provide high level and in-depth information of what you need to know in terms of how we nourish the body.
Documents : 1. Carbohydrates 2. Protein 3. Fat
Document: Finding your Sweet Spot: How to Avoid RED-S (Relative Energy Deficit in Sport) by Optimizing Your Energy Balance, Written by Rebecca McConville, MS RD LD CSSD CEDRD
Energy Availability
Liver health
The liver is the body’s largest gland whose main function is to filter everything that we ingest.
Your liver is like properly inflated tires. Can you ride your bike with a flat tire? Well you could. But it’s going to increase the wear and tear on your rims and ultimately your bike as a whole. Riding with properly inflated tires makes everything run much more smoothly.
Liver Health Explained
There are two videos:
Carolyn Ellis, Certified Chef and Holistic Nutritionist gives us an introduction to the liver, how do we know something may be wrong and how do we care for it. Watch the video here.
Ann Green provides us with an in-depth about Mobility with Thyroid + Liver in Mind. Watch the video here
resources
The linked document gets into what the liver is, it's roles, why it may struggle, signs that show up and finally, what we can do to support it!
Micronutrients
Vitamins, Minerals and Adaptogens
According to Grand View Research in 2020, the global dietary supplement market was valued at USD 140.3 billion. The top winners of supplements were:
> Vitamins
> Botanicals (vegetarian and vegan options)
> Protein and Amino Acids
> Energy and weight management
Introduction to Supplement Use
In the research it shows that the predominant use of supplements are to address nutritional deficiencies, support immune system, manage stress and get some sleep!
I have put together two presentations. The first video is an introduction on supplement use, what to be wary of and how to consider using supplements for better health.
This second video gets into specifics of several supplements. The second video is supported by a pdf document that has all the information included for reference. LINK TO VIDEO HERE, PDF
Fueling For Endurance and Intensity
Training & Recovery
The critical question that we want to solve is what do we need to do to maintain our energy and adapt to the physical stress that we impose through training/racing. This section explains three components to understanding how much to fuel & hydrate for performance.
- Metabolic Efficiency Training
- Environmental Conditions
- Hydration Needs
Metabolic Efficiency Training
What is your metabolic efficiency and cross-over point? When we are at rest we want to use fat as an energy source. When we exercise the amount of glucose (a carbohydrate) we burn depends largely on the intensity of the work we are doing. When we have lots of oxygen being released to our muscles (i.e., during aerobic exercise), if metabolically efficient we use fat as an energy source. When we start to increase intensity of our effort and demand for oxygen increases our body starts to use more and more glucose. The point of this switch from predominantly fat to glucose is called the cross over point.
This point is influenced by: 1) how you train and 2) how you nourish.
In Metabolic Efficiency Training we use nutrition practices to lower the stress to our body by managing our blood-sugar and/or insulin response. This does three things for us:
- Sustains our energy throughout the day;
- Conserves energy so we can use as needed when we need it (e.g., manage other stressors, fight infection etc)
- Enables our body to respond to stress using the most appropriate fuel source. This means that your body is able to use the fuel source of glucose or fat optimally for the intensity of the effort.
Completing the Nutrition Analysis will give you a great start to learning your MET point!
Environmental ConditionS
The conditions of training and racing strongly influence how much we need. On the extremes of hot and cold our body has to work hard to either cool us down or keep us warm. In both these instances we need to increase our fuel intake. If we are at altitude we have less oxygen and thus are, even at rest, working harder.
When we prepare for training or racing the key question we want to ask is: have we acclimated to the environment or will my body have to work harder to manage the stress?
Within MET philosophy and in general we encourage whole food eating for training and racing. This is because our body is able to support energy demands, digest and utilize with greater ease and less gastrointestinal distress to the combined macronutrient and nutritional density it provides. That said, quick fuel for long endurance or high intensity has a place. We need to trial various foods and understand how our unique body responds. It is part of the process.
HYdration
How much do we actually need? What should we take in? These questions are sometimes challenging to answer because it depends! There are sex differences in hydration needs. Environmental stressors will impact how much (e.g., heat, humidity) as will the way you eat. Do you add salt to your food? Your body is always fighting to maintain homeostasis - a balancing act of sodium, potassium and other electrolytes so the cells can function optimally.
Then there is the sensation of thirst. Can we trust it? Again it depends.
The hydration document summarizes the latest research on hydration based on research of Dr. Sims and many others. It provides details on:
- sex differences
- pre- , during, post hydration strategies
- How much to drink
- GI Issues
- Electrolytes
- Signs of dehydration
- Water retention
- Homemade sports drink recipe!
One thing is certain. You need to test your hydration strategy.
The sweat test does not give you an idea of how much. What it does give you is information about whether you are in the ball park of optimal. Did you lose more than 2% of body weight?
Sport Supplements
Sport Supplements - Fast Fuel
Sport supplements aim to enhance exercise and athletic performance. And it is a billion dollar industry.
In general eating a whole foods diet and in sufficient quantities can support most athletic pursuits. However there are times that athletes may need support. Athletes that are on a restricted diet (e.g., vegan, travelling), have significant sweat loss, or that have nutrient-poor diets, may require supplementation.
Supplement Use Resources
Document:
- Sport Supplement Guide: This document provides a brief overview of sport supplements that have been proven effective for athletes.
- Highlight on Creatine
There are a number of excellent resources to learn more about supplement use. Please be informed before consuming what may compromise both your health and performance (Read more about that here). Excellent online resources:
Supplement Guide: USADA TrueSport
Supplement 411 (USADA)
Canadian Anti-Doping Program
Examine.com
