Low Energy Availability's Impact on Athletic Performance: The Science Behind It.
A new study in the Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports highlights the impacts of underfueling on sports performance, along with some of the nuances. The study is looking at performance impacts, rather than health impacts, so it introduces a layer of complexity that is key to understand for an evidence-based fight against cultures of underfueling. Nutrition recommendations are so complex because everyone’s physiology is different. Low energy availability can be unintentional and not associated with disordered eating, especially with the high caloric requirements of hard training.