Sports Dietitians Australia position statement: Nutrition for exercise in hot environments
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Allanson, Bethanie A
Odgers, Joanne N Caldwell
Cort, Michelle M
Costa, Ricardo JS
Cox, Gregory R
Crawshay, Siobhan T
Desbrow, Ben
Freney, Eliza G
Gaskell, Stephanie K
Hughes, David
Irwin, Chris
Jay, Ollie
Lalor, Benita J
Ross, Megan LR
Shaw, Gregory
Periard, Julien D
Burke, Louise M
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Abstract
It is the position of Sports Dietitians Australia (SDA) that exercise in hot and/or humid environments, or with significant clothing and/or equipment that prevents body heat loss (i.e., exertional heat stress), provides significant challenges to an athlete’s nutritional status, health, and performance. Exertional heat stress, especially when prolonged, can perturb thermoregulatory, cardiovascular, and gastrointestinal systems. Heat acclimation or acclimatization provides beneficial adaptations and should be undertaken where possible. Athletes should aim to begin exercise euhydrated. Furthermore, preexercise hyperhydration may be desirable in some scenarios and can be achieved through acute sodium or glycerol loading protocols. The assessment of fluid balance during exercise, together with gastrointestinal tolerance to fluid intake, and the appropriateness of thirst responses provide valuable information to inform fluid replacement strategies that should be integrated with event fuel requirements. Such strategies should also consider fluid availability and opportunities to drink, to prevent significant under- or overconsumption during exercise. Postexercise beverage choices can be influenced by the required timeframe for return to euhydration and co-ingestion of meals and snacks. Ingested beverage temperature can influence core temperature, with cold/icy beverages of potential use before and during exertional heat stress, while use of menthol can alter thermal sensation. Practical challenges in supporting athletes in teams and traveling for competition require careful planning. Finally, specific athletic population groups have unique nutritional needs in the context of exertional heat stress (i.e., youth, endurance/ultra-endurance athletes, and para-sport athletes), and specific adjustments to nutrition strategies should be made for these population groups.
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International Journal of Sport Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism
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30
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1
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© The Author(s) 2020. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
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Sports science and exercise
Medical physiology
Nutrition and dietetics
Sport and exercise nutrition
fluid
food
heat
hydration
thermoregulation
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McCubbin, AJ; Allanson, BA; Caldwell Odgers, JN; Cort, MM; Costa, RJS; Cox, GR; Crawshay, ST; Desbrow, B; Freney, EG; Gaskell, SK; Hughes, D; Irwin, C; Jay, O; Lalor, BJ; Ross, MLR; Shaw, G; Périard, JD; Burke, LM, Sports Dietitians Australia position statement: Nutrition for exercise in hot environments, International Journal of Sport Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism, 2020, 30 (1), pp. 83-98