Gastrointestinal issues are commonly reported during exercise training or competition, with varying degrees of frequency and severity. Not only can this disrupt training adaptations, but can impact on in-event completion. Unfortunately, habitual dietary strategies, and/or targeted interventions to support GI function are an often-overlooked area of an athlete’s preparation.
Disruption to epithelial integrity and GI microbiome diversity may be central in the aetiology of GI distress associated with exercise and sport. Various nutritional strategies, including a whole-food plant-based diversity approach, and use of pre-/probiotics may offer adjunct nutritional strategies to support GI function during training or events.
In this unique and contrasting webinar, Ian and Justin will address the underlying research exploring GI function and sport, with applications to endurance activities and a view to exploring emerging nutritional approaches. This will be cross-examined through functional nutritional insights into ‘gut-axis’ research and clinical strategies (including case study examples) which may improve digestive capacity and microbial balance, ultimately with a health-feeds-performance philosophy.
About Justin
Dr Justin Roberts Ph.D C.Sci. SFHEA is an Associate Professor in Health and Exercise Nutrition at the Cambridge Centre for Sport and Exercise Sciences, Anglia Ruskin University. His research focuses on nutritional strategies to enhance metabolic flexibility and adaptive recovery from exercise, including polyphenol and protein-targeted approaches; along with interests in pre-probiotic and food-based strategies to support gastrointestinal function. Justin is a Registered Nutritional Therapy Practitioner and long-standing member of the British Association for Nutrition and Lifestyle Medicine (BANT), an accredited Sport and Exercise Physiologist (with the British Association for Sport and Exercise Sciences, BASES) and Chartered Scientist. He is also the Editor-in-Chief for the Nutrition Evidence Database, the only scientific database which specialises in nutrition and lifestyle medicine to support an evidence-based approach to practitioner clinical-decision making. Justin has taken part in numerous endurance events, including Ironman triathlons and the infamous Marathon-Des-Sables, in which he has personally explored some of the applied strategies discussed in this webinar. https://aru.ac.uk/people/justin-roberts
