Advanced Sports Nutrition-2nd Edition

Book Preface

Elite athletes all over the world know Dr. Dan Benardot. They seek his guidance because they know his sage advice may be the difference between a gold medal and the rest of the field. Institutions of higher learning from just about every continent invite him to visit their classrooms and laboratories. They want their students to learn from the best. At Georgia State University, we simply know him as Dan—a remarkable friend, a superb colleague, a devoted husband, and dad to the greatest kids on the planet.

The first edition of Advanced Sports Nutrition was wildly successful. It was used in countless classrooms as well as by athletes of all sizes, shapes, and skill. It was used by elite athletes and not-so-elite athletes. It became required reading of sport nutritionists and exercise science students as they learned about appropriate nutrition for human performance. And it became the source of choice for coaches who would then counsel athletes on how to get the edge on their competition. But like every book that is successful, it needed some revision and updating. That is precisely why Advanced Sports Nutrition, Second Edition is so vital.

This second edition includes a new chapter on GI distress in physical activity and a new chapter on reducing exercise-induced inflammation. There have been major reference updates throughout the book, and more sport-specific examples have been added in parts IV and V. Dr. Benardot’s own work in the Georgia State University Laboratory for Elite Athlete Performance (LEAP) emphasizes not only energy delivery and use but also the timing of nutrient ingestion, which then optimizes energy utilization. Because of the importance of within-day energy balance, Dr. Benardot has added many more diet examples to keep athletes in energy balance. Within-day energy balance was something Dan was working on nearly two decades ago; today everyone is talking about it. The procedure of tracking energy consumption and energy expenditure throughout the day (and not at the end of a period of time such as 24 hours) has now become commonplace for not only improved athletic performance but for structured weight loss programs as well. For athletes, the timing of energy intake before, during, and after training or competition is more important than ever. Within-day energy balance is not limited to elite athletes, whether able bodied (Olympic Games) or physically impaired (Paralympic Games). Athletes of all ages, both genders, and all skill levels should pay more attention to their energy intake. Advanced Sports Nutrition, Second Edition addresses these (and many more) issues and how they relate to sport performance.

Socrates once said, “Worthless people live only to eat and drink; people of worth eat and drink only to live.” That was quite the observation he made way back around 450 BC. But it was also proverbial in the sense that this same observation can be made of athletes today. Thanks to Dr. Benardot, the mystery of how to fuel athletes for exercise has now become manifest in this second edition.