Why Undereating is Dangerous for Triathletes

The potential costs of eating less and doing more

Overeating is a common problem in society; It’s also easier than ever to be sedentary while intaking a concentrated number of calories quickly. This has contributed to the US having an obesity prevalence of 42.4% from 2017 to 2018¹. With cheap and great-tasting foods at our fingertips and the ease of transportation to get around, it can be difficult to maintain a healthy weight. Many of us know that we should “eat less and move more” to lose weight, but athletes have much higher physical demands that could complicate this simple expression.

Every human body, regardless of activity level, needs calories and carbohydrates to function optimally. But with athletes, this becomes even more important, as average daily energy expenditure is high, and carbohydrates have consistently been shown to be an indispensable energy source for those that participate in high intensity training². 

Endurance athletes often find themselves in an especially difficult situation. Training for endurance sports expends a large amount of energy and requires an intense amount of training; combining these two things and you have a recipe for undereating.

It is known that extreme long-distance endurance training and events like Ironman triathlons, marathons, and long-distance cycling races can result in a significant negative energy balance³. Meaning: more calories are being exerted than being taken in. Over time, this can affect athletes' health and performance detrimentally. This results in a loss of fat mass⁴, as well as muscle mass if protein requirements are not met. Losing muscle mass is the last thing you would want to do, as it decreases our metabolism and is a sign we are not eating enough. 

Performance, recovery, and improving race times are all goals that athletes strive to accomplish. Working towards these goals, your energy intake matches your energy output for best results⁵. Failure to bridge the gap between energy output and energy intake can delay recovery and can be detrimental to performance⁵.    

The reasons for low energy intake can vary and sometimes are not even noticeable; however, low energy intake can seriously harm health and performance. Low caloric intake can result in a negative impact on muscle protein synthesis, decreased performance, and can lead to serious health issues that may affect the ability to practice and compete⁶Low energy intake can also cause hormonal disruptions as well as thyroid suppression⁶. Undereating is a great concern in female endurance athletes as this can lead to the female athlete triad. This is the combination of menstrual dysfunction, low-calorie intake, and decreased bone health⁷. 

Despite the attention and research on relative energy deficiency in sports (RED-S), coaches are not aware of this problem and can push performance over the long-term health of the athlete⁶. Some coaches do not acknowledge the importance of nutrition for the athlete. However, the evidence and research show that RED-S and the female athlete triad not only exist but also cause great harm to the athlete. The lack of knowledge and incorrect nutrition beliefs directly affects an athlete’s health. Bridging this gap could not only reinforce a healthy atmosphere for female athletes to compete, but also lead to long-term health benefits. 

Finding the Right Balance

You can achieve the goal of energy balance when your energy intake matches your energy expenditure⁶. But how exactly do you do that? 

To hit the sweet spot of energy balance, an endurance athlete should have a proper fueling plan to ingest enough calories. Athletes and elite athletes generally do not consume enough calories to meet the demands of their sport⁸. However, as studies have shown, when energy intake and micronutrient intake were adjusted to the athletes’ training schedules, performance and race times improve⁸. 

Carbohydrate Timing 

Eating an adequate amount can improve performance but getting the timing right can also influence how well an athlete performs. 

Ingesting carbohydrates before and during activity has been proven to improve performance⁹. For example, one study showed that carb intake before a race as well as consuming 5 grams of carbs at 5-minute intervals were shown to extend endurance times in athletes¹⁰.  

Methods of Carbohydrate Intake 

Carbohydrate intake during endurance events is known to enhance performance in endurance athletes, but which method is ideal for a triathlete? There are certainly better ways of consuming carbohydrates than others. 

Solid food like cliff bars or flapjacks take chemical and mechanical energy to digest, so a liquid diet is preferable in ultra-endurance triathlon since liquid nutrition does not require as much energy to absorb as solid food⁹. 

Liquid nutrition also settles more comfortably, empties more quickly, and is more convenient than solid foods. It also supplies carbohydrates, water, protein, vitamins, and minerals with less bulk⁹. 

Products for Fueling  

This is why INFINIT’s :GO FAR Endurance Fuel formula and Custom isotonic products are ideal for a triathlete. These liquid nutrition drink mixes follow all of the research and science-backed principles to deliver carbohydrates, electrolytes, and protein in an effective way to avoid GI distress. Taking care of your body’s needs during an extreme event such as a triathlon will help with performance and give you the health benefits to keep performing at your peak in the future. 

Training and competing in an endurance event can feel impossible, but your nutrition plan shouldn’t be. Don’t let the nuisance of nutrition during training stop you from hitting your peak performance. Relying on scienced-based companies for nutrition blends for your race day is a great way to feel at ease. At INFINIT, all the hard work of calculating the number of carbohydrates and electrolytes is done for you, so you can hit training with all you got while properly fueling your body. 

References

1. Hales CM, Carroll MD, Fryar CD, Ogden CL. Prevalence of obesity and severe obesity among adults: United States, 2017–2018. NCHS Data Brief, no 360. Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health Statistics. 2020
2. Kanter, Mitch. “High-Quality Carbohydrates and Physical Performance: Expert Panel Report.” Nutrition today 53,1 (2018): 35-39. doi:10.1097/NT.0000000000000238
3. Paulin, Scott et al. “A case study evaluation of competitors undertaking an antarctic ultra-endurance event: nutrition, hydration and body composition variables.” Extreme physiology & medicine 4 3. 12 Mar. 2015, doi:10.1186/s13728-015-0022-0
4. Strasser, B et al. “Fat loss depends on energy deficit only, independently of the method for weight loss.” Annals of nutrition & metabolism 51,5 (2007): 428-32. doi:10.1159/000111162
5. Williamson, Eric. “Nutritional implications for ultra-endurance walking and running events.” Extreme physiology & medicine 5 13. 21 Nov. 2016, doi:10.1186/s13728-016-0054-0
6. Wasserfurth, Paulina et al. “Reasons for and Consequences of Low Energy Availability in Female and Male Athletes: Social Environment, Adaptations, and Prevention.” Sports medicine - open 6,1 44. 10 Sep. 2020, doi:10.1186/s40798-020-00275-6
7. Mountjoy M., Thomas A., Levesque J. (2020) The Female Triathlete. In: Migliorini S. (eds) Triathlon Medicine. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-22357-1_15
8. Rosenbloom, Christine PhD, RD, CSSD Fueling Triathletes, Nutrition Today: September/October 2013 - Volume 48 - Issue 5 - p 205-209 doi: 10.1097/NT.0b013e3182a6c539
9. Laursen, P.B., Rhodes, E.C. Factors Affecting Performance in an Ultraendurance Triathlon. Sports Med 31, 195–209 (2001). https://doi.org/10.2165/00007256-200131030-00004
10. Hamilton, Andrew. “Race Fueling: Start Early, Fuel Little, Fuel Often.” Sports Performance Bulletin, 1 May 2020, https://www.sportsperformancebulletin.com/nutrition-for-endurance-athletes/fuelling-and-hydration-for-exercise/race-fueling-start-early-fuel-little-fuel-often/.