Introduction
Question: What nutrients does a collegiate swimmer need to look out for?
Mainly calories would be absolute number one. Number two would be carbohydrate. So I do think that people can fuel athletic capabilities on low-carb diets, but you might want to look at stress hormones and sex hormones, because sometimes fueling athletic performance on a low-carb diet comes at the expense of elevated stress hormones, which could mess with thyroid hormones and sex hormones. I think those two things, the calories and carbs would be the top risk for potential hypothalamic amenorrhea. That would trump everything else, completely. Higher energy demands are going to demand more B vitamins. And that's generally going to be probably most B-vitamins besides B12 and folate. Although B-12 and folate are peripherally involved in energy metabolism, the other B vitamins are more directly involved.
This Q&A can also be found as part of a much longer episode, here:
081: Ask Me Anything About Nutrition, December 9, 2020
DISCLAIMER: I have a PhD in Nutritional Sciences and my expertise is in performing and evaluating nutritional research. I am not a medical doctor and nothing herein is medical advice.
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