What is integrative sports nutrition?

In the context of health and human performance, the word ‘integrative’ takes on pivotal meanings. Rather than simply viewing food as ‘fuel’, we must honour the incredible sophistication of nature, and recognise that our day-to-day dietary choices have the power to nourish all of our mind-body systems. Gastrointestinal, immune, detoxification, musculoskeletal, neuroendocrine, bioenergetic, and mental-emotional health all integrate with one another to such a degree that their function is completely inter-dependant.

Another use of the word ‘integrative’ pertains to the interaction of ‘professional perspectives’, meaning that different practitioners can add value to an athletic client’s experience by supporting them in different ways. With this in mind, the Centre for Integrative Sports Nutrition (CISN) teachings draw from a diverse set of clinically experienced lecturers; this team approach is designed to help you to build your own clinical experience and unique perspectives.

Why is integrative health important for physical performance?

The main paradigm that has existed within the academic enquiry of sports nutrition for the past half century has centred around the conviction that macronutrients are required as ‘fuel’ for exercise endeavours. This notion provides an important basis of quantitative nutritional support, but what happens, for example, when your active client lacks adequate digestive health to assimilate these foods, and in the process creates an inflammatory tone in his or her body?

The central thesis of integrative sports nutrition (within all CISN courses and modules) is ‘health feeds performance’.

By consuming highly nourishing foods in a personalised way, your athletic client should experience increased health resilience. By also helping them to manage their life loads, reduce toxic exposure, balance training demands, and carefully choose bespoke supplementation, they can better tolerate demanding performance-focused strategies, and optimise training adaptations.

History of integrative sports nutrition

Integrative and functional thinking in health is not a new notion. It has been visibly incorporated in medicine since the 1980s, and long before this time within traditional practices. How this evolving discipline of integrative sports nutrition came about was that CISN founder, Ian Craig, was asked to deliver a postgraduate sports nutrition module by a nutritional therapy institute in 2007. At the time, he could not find a suitable textbook for the course, so he set about bridging the principles from integrative and functional medicine into conventional sports nutrition teachings. Since that time Ian has developed and delivered an array of integrative courses and conferences, edited the Functional Sports Nutrition magazine, and built up extensive clinical practice. These experiences eventually culminated in the launching of the CISN Certificate of Integrative Sports Nutrition course in 2018, which has since diversified towards our current portfolio of courses and modules.

Learn integrative sport and exercise nutrition

CISN is the first (and currently only) organisation to apply integrative thinking into the context of sport and exercise nutrition.

Our key objective is to train and mentor sport, exercise and nutrition professionals, plus students of these subjects, to embrace the complexity and individuality of an exercising person: to nourish an athlete’s health and performance through an expansive way of integrative thinking.

Within the context of heavy training loads, often alongside significant life stresses, practitioners trained in this way can support the robust health and performance of active individuals in a personalised way. Not only should this approach maximise an athletes’ potential sporting success, but it can extend the length of their athletic careers, plus provide them with tools to maintain active health throughout their lives.

Read more about integrative sport and exercise nutrition, read the article by Ian Craig