Dr. Mikki Williden, PhD, RD

Magnesium and creatine are good supplements to take for endurance athletes. Magnesium helps with recovery, and creatine helps with bones and muscles. It also has benefits for brain health.
 
Transcript: "There are loads that I could actually suggest. Magnesium is a super obvious one. But I think you know that. So I'll just leave that. Creatine is not so obvious, but that would be one that immediately springs to mind, because it helps with recovery, helps your bones and muscles. And it's not often one associated with endurance. And in fact, because of the potential for fluid gain, a lot of people avoid it. But three grams a day will saturate the cells, allow for a bit of recovery of the bone and muscle. And it's super good for your brain, too."

Eat three to four meals per day with 30-40g of protein. Base your diet on lower carb vegetables and be mindful of stress, work load, alcohol, and sleep.
 
Transcript: "Great question. You focus on protein. You eat-- in my mind, if you're active, you eat three to four times a day. You have 30 to 40 grams of protein in a meal. You base your diet on an abundance of vegetables of the lower carbohydrate sort of variety. So you don't have potato-- Or you minimize, I'm sorry, potatoes, sweet potato, peas, and corn, and parsnip, and things like that. And you really look at your stress load, because so many people, sort of, go on fight or flight with their sympathetic nervous system. And actually, they don't get a chance to, sort of, allow their parasympathetic nervous system to kick in. And when your body is highly stressed, it's much more likely to hold onto, rather than get rid of, excess body fat. So, being mindful of that. Protein, vegetables, appropriate carbohydrate load, because we do become more insulin resistant as we age. When, particularly, women lose the insulin sensitizing impact of estrogen, look at your work, and look at your stress load. That's actually a massive one that I see with clients. And think about alcohol as well. And sleep, massive one."

You should look at portion sizes and track your food to make sure you're getting the right amount of calories. Pay attention to foods like peanut butter, mayonnaise, cheese, nuts, and seeds that can be easily overeaten despite being healthy.
 
Transcript: "Hey, Eva. Normally when that's the case, you need to look at portion sizes and also think about tracking your food. Because we make 200 food decisions in a day, and only about 10 to 15 were actually conscious of. So often what I find with clients who struggle to lose weight are following the, quote unquote, sort of "rules for weight loss" that's where they're leading themselves down. So track your food and do make an effort to sort of weigh your food where possible, so you know that you're able to hit your numbers and you know what you're having. Because there are loads of foods, like peanut butter, mayonnaise, cheese, nuts and seeds, which are in cooking oils which can be actually quite easily overeaten with regards to calories without us really realizing it. Despite the fact they're healthy, we could be having them in amounts that aren't so good for us. So I hope that helps."

Protein is important for athletes, especially animal protein because it is more bioavailable. The amount of protein per meal depends on age, but generally should be between 15-40 grams. Good sources of animal protein include eggs, poultry, fish, lean red meat, tofu, and protein powder.
 
Transcript: "So if leitz endurance athletes or any athlete, really needs, at least 1.6 grams of protein per kilogram body weight per day often, do they fear better on a bit more than that? Because of all of the activity that they are doing, if improved body, composition as a goal, a whole host of reasons. And the best type of protein is actually animal protein because it's more bioavailable, the amino It's and protein, which is why you're eating, it are much easier for the body to assimilate and use and that is actually just what we need. And in terms of amounts, if you're younger, you can get away with smaller amounts. So you can maximize muscle protein synthesis at about 15 to 20 grams if you like college-aged. But if you are sort of 40 and above 30 grams to 40 grams of protein in a meal, which is From 40 grams of meat is really what you're aiming for. So the more the better because that's what maximizes muscle protein synthesis which is, you know, one of the most important aspects we look at with protein but that's not the only thing as well. Because protein is so important for, you know, hormone regulation, for appetite regulation, for mood neurotransmitter production, a whole host of things. And eggs are great. Poultry fish lean, red meat. Tofu is good for a vegetarian, protein powder. Obviously is also almost an essential part of the athletes toolkit."

It's recommended to address good sleep hygiene before looking into melatonin, as it is not a panacea and the doses of melatonin supplements are much higher than what our body naturally produces.
 
Transcript: "Hey Brian, I suspect there will be a variety of answers that you might get for this question. In my opinion, if you're you haven't dialed in a good sleep routine and which includes that, you know, early bright light exposure, dimming lights at night, having them below eyeline blacking out curtains and the in the bedroom giving out of sort of not having Stimulants in the afternoon like caffeine and things like that. Then I think you need to dial those things. And first before, looking at something like melatonin, I mean, it's perfectly safe. But a lot of the Melatonin supplements, there in amounts, or doses of a, quite a lot higher than physiologically, we produce in the body and it's not really a Panacea. So, yes, it's got some great health benefits in addition, but I don't think that there's Any particular reason why Masters athletes necessarily need it. And particularly, if other areas of sleep hygiene aren't addressed,"

The amount of protein you need per day is based on your body weight and age. Generally, it's recommended to have at least 1.6 grams per kilogram body weight per day, but more is better if you have blood sugar issues. In a single meal, aim for around 120 grams of protein which could be two eggs and a cup of egg whites or 150 grams of fish. A serving of protein powder with some egg whites is also a good option.
 
Transcript: "Hi innate. So it is based on your age, but also on your weight. So per kilogram body weight, you'd want to have at least 1.6 grams per kilogram body weight per day, but if but people generally fear on a little bit more, particularly if they've got blood sugar management issues and things like that. So I would want to know what your body weight was first, and then we could calculate it. More accurately, however, focusing on four, He grams of protein in a meal. So if you're having three meals a day, that would be 120 grams of protein. And that might equate to two eggs and a cup of egg whites as a single meal or 150 grams of fish cooked as a single meal, because we do need that additional protein to help support muscle protein synthesis, because those signals just diminish as we age and also a protein, a serving of protein. Powder with some egg whites as another good option as well. Hope that helps. I hope you're well. See you later"