A chronic fatigue case study – Ian Craig
What we believe and how we act profoundly affects our physiology. It’s no accident that many athletes are not reaching optimal health. Ian Craig views a complex chronic fatigue case of a long-distance triathlete. Chronic fatigue is not something you often hear athletes admitting to, but it is an increasingly common occurrence and not just […]
Two challenging cases from two contrasting clients – Ian Craig
Most published case studies detail clear intervention strategies and happy endings. Ian Craig shares two very contrasting clients with challenging cases whom he recently had the fortune to learn from. I might consider sharing with you a perfect case study in which I outline the case history and challenges of the individual, followed by a […]
Plant-based runner with digestive challenges – Simone do Carmo
Gastrointestinal distress is a common issue, especially among long-distance runners. Simone do Carmo shares an interesting case of a competitive plant-based runner, that shows how improving gut health can have a major impact on an athlete’s performance. John was a 19-year-old, competitive long-distance runner and a full-time student with a typical A-type personality: ambitious, determined […]
Stress and overtraining in a cyclist – Ian Craig
Lee was a 42-year-old competitive cyclist who, despite having a well-designed training programme (from his club coach) and being very dedicated to his sport, had experienced deterioration in performance over the past two seasons. He had been putting the same effort into his training but gaining less of a training effect than in previous years […]
The nature of our role in an athlete’s ecosystem – Paul Ehren
The ethos of CISN is to bring functional medicine and functional nutrition practices into the sporting arena. Paul Ehren expands this thinking further with his incredible theory of an athlete’s ecosystem. “Would you be the one to prescribe the ‘magic bullet’ in the knowledge that your athlete (and you) may be able to bask in the glory […]
Endurance exercise and cardiovascular health: a dose-dependent relationship – Ian Craig
Based on the widely accepted assumption that endurance training is good for cardiovascular health, Ian Craig actually sees the opposite scenario within his ‘serious recreational’ athletes. This article therefore attempts to present the other side of the story. In recent decades, it has been globally accepted that endurance exercise is good for us for multiple […]
Can athletes eat to podium and help save the planet? – Simone do Carmo
Today’s food production systems play a significant role in degrading the environment and biodiversity. Simone do Carmo explores this topic and explains how athletes can engage in sustainable dietary choices and practices that support their health-based performance and help save the planet. It goes without saying that the degradation of natural resources and climate change […]
Ergogenic aids in professional and recreational sports: a different perspective – Paul Ehren
Within the field of integrative sports nutrition, we like to think outside of the metaphorical box. Paul Ehren will stretch your imagination with his very fresh perspective on ergogenic aids. Let’s start with a definition of ergogenic aids. “In the context of sport, an ergogenic aid can be broadly defined as a technique or substance used for […]
Overtraining revisited from an integrative perspective – Ian Craig
Overtraining is a well-studied phenomenon in sports medicine, but it may also be viewed as adrenal fatigue in integrative health practices. Ian Craig pulls together a few physiological models and considerations to help us understand this term better. Overtraining interests me a lot, not just because during my own athletic career, I often pushed my […]
Exercise-induced gastrointestinal dysfunction in endurance athletes – Katherine Caris-Harris
Gastrointestinal health in athletes has become an important speciality subject for nutritional therapist Katherine Caris-Harris. In this article, she shares her mechanistic review of gastrointestinal dysfunction, incorporating the functional medicine model. If you take part in endurance sports, it is likely that you will have experienced gastrointestinal dysfunction at some point, either in a race […]