Since the passing of the Title IX act in 1972, there has been a significant increase in involvement and engagement surrounding women's athletics. However, with all this development, there has been a consequential lack of research into female-specific areas of athletics, such as nutrition and exercise physiology. As we see in most areas of medicine, this lack of research is mostly due to the assumption that the female body is much more complicated to study due to hormonal implications. A female menstrual cycle can significantly impact what is going on physiologically in the rest of the body, and hormone cycles (specifically luteinizing hormone and follicle-stimulating hormone) can require longer periods of observation, to ensure all data is being collected. Due to all of these “complications” with research into the female body, there is little to no research into what a balanced nutrition looks like for a woman as well as how women should plan out and execute their exercise methods. However, there is some hope, as a 2021 review article from Holtzman and Ackerman investigated these exact issues and aimed to provide insight for female athletes. They looked heavily into how nutrition plays a significant role into the success of female athletes, and what their diet should look like based around their hormonal cycle. From this research, they suggested a few key things for women to consider when making a dietary plan. First, they state that women should pay close attention too their menstrual cycle in order to monitor for any deficiencies that may occur, then they suggested eating a wide range of foods in order to get the micronutrients that are necessary for the body to function, and the last main point they made in regards to diet was that women, and specifically female athletes, should be taking supplemental vitamins like iron and calcium in order to replenish what can be lost during menstruation. Overall, while this paper is beneficial in providing some insight into how the female body is different regarding athletics, nutrition, and exercise physiology, there is still a lot of research that needs to be done to help aid female athletes and the growth of the women’s game, as well as just the female population.
Holtzman, B., Ackerman, K.E. Recommendations and Nutritional Considerations for Female Athletes: Health and Performance. Sports Med 51 (Suppl 1), 43–57 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40279-021-01508-8
This topic interested me as I have never even thought about women having different nutritional requirements, especially female athletes. My question is do these studies or will these studies (as it is in progress) take into account differing socioeconomic statuses, stress levels, sleep duration, etc. that also go into physiological needs? Menstruation of course is a big factor but a female athlete of a lower socioeconomic status and higher stress levels might require a little more nutrition than a woman of higher socioeconomic status. I know these are several factors to take into account I was just curious.
ReplyDeleteIt really is interesting how a female be be effected just by her hormones alone. I found In this article, that the differences in men and women sex hormone is greatly influenced by lipid and carbohydrate metabolism. It is recommended that this intake is greater during the effect of taking oral contacepives and during luteal phase of ones menstrual cycle.
ReplyDeleteThis was a great blog!
Sims ST, Kerksick CM, Smith-Ryan AE, Janse de Jonge XAK, Hirsch KR, Arent SM, Hewlings SJ, Kleiner SM, Bustillo E, Tartar JL, Starratt VG, Kreider RB, Greenwalt C, Rentería LI, Ormsbee MJ, VanDusseldorp TA, Campbell BI, Kalman DS, Antonio J. International society of sports nutrition position stand: nutritional concerns of the female athlete. J Int Soc Sports Nutr. 2023 Dec;20(1):2204066. doi: 10.1080/15502783.2023.2204066.
I found your posting on this topic very interesting, often we see a "one size fits all" approach to training and nutrition. The consideration of a female cycle is something that I hadn't seen before in a research setting. Considering the article as you summarized seemed focused on the nutritional side of things, I was wondering what type of training (power, endurance, strength) is recommended to practice in different stages of the menstrual cycle if any?
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