Diet & Nutrition findings being applied in elite sport

A three-year PhD study looking into the effects of diet and nutrition on bone metabolism is being practically applied with elite sports to reduce injury rates.

The PhD, which was jointly funded by the EIS and Nottingham Trent University, was the work of EIS Performance Nutritionist Becky Townsend, who graduated during the summer of 2017.

‘The effects of diet and nutrition on bone metabolism in endurance athletes’ is now available in the Nottingham Trent University Irep, and to date, two of the four studies which made up the PhD, have been published in industry journals (see here and here).

Becky takes up the story with how the PhD benefited her own work with the EIS and elite sport.

“The PhD had a nutritional aspect so it tied in with my work,” she explained.

“Part of the research investigated dietary habits of elite triathletes, that was interesting – not only was that part of my PhD but I then did some applied work with Triathlon England and British Triathlon.”

A major benefit of Becky’s study was how the results have been taken and applied across sports to try and reduce injury rates in some groups of athletes.

“After I completed my PhD I carried on with Triathlon England and did more applied work with the Development Squad,” she recalled. “Some of the research and findings from the PhD around preventing bone injuries, improving bone health, preventing stress fractures and bone stress responses, are being applied in real life settings.”

Becky’s research found that immediate consumption of a protein and carbohydrate drink can have a positive impact on bone health and could help reduce injury amongst athletes.

As part of the study, male endurance runners ran on a treadmill and had their blood collected before and after exercise to measure bone metabolism. Post-exercise, runners drank either a placebo or a protein and carbohydrate solution.

The research found that those who had the solution had a beneficial impact on bone metabolism and helped to reduce bone breakdown.

As part of her EIS role, Becky works with England and GB Hockey, The Royal Ballet School and Triathlon England – providing performance nutrition support.

Becky’s study came about due to the large number of stress fractures in elite triathletes in the UK.

“Due to the demands of triathlon training, a number of triathletes have suffered stress fractures and that generally means weeks or months out of training. We wanted to help prevent these types of injury, essentially allowing athletes more time to train,” she highlighted.

Becky’s academic journey saw her study Sports Science at university before progressing to physiology. She then specialised in nutrition and her PhD allowed her the opportunity to combine research with practical experience through the EIS and applied work with athletes.

“My supervisors at Nottingham Trent University were Professor Craig Sale and Dr Kirsty Elliott-Sale, and they provided the scientific advice, while Kevin Currell at the EIS (Director of Science & Technical Development) provided a practitioner perspective to the research and ensured that the PhD had an applied nature.

“It was good to merge those opinions and advice together, making the findings easy to apply and understand by other practitioners.”

Becky’s PhD can be viewed here.