Periodized Nutrition for Athletes

It is becoming increasingly clear that adapta- tions, initiated by exercise, can be amplified or reduced by nutrition. Various methods have been discussed to optimize training adaptations and some of these methods have been subject to extensive study. To date, most methods have focused on skeletal muscle, but it is important to note that training effects also include adaptations in other tissues (e.g., brain, vasculature), improvements in the absorptive capacity of the intestine, increases in tolerance to dehy- dration, and other effects that have received less attention in the literature. The purpose of this review is to define the concept of periodized nutrition (also referred to as nutri- tional training) and summarize the wide variety of methods available to athletes. The reader is referred to several other recent review articles that have discussed aspects of peri- odized nutrition in much more detail with primarily a focus on adaptations in the muscle. The purpose of this review is not to discuss the literature in great detail but to clearly define the concept and to give a complete overview of the methods available, with an emphasis on adaptations that are not in the muscle. Whilst there is good evidence for some methods, other proposed methods are mere theories that remain to be tested. ‘Periodized nutrition’ refers to the strategic combined use of exercise training and nutrition, or nutrition only, with the overall aim to obtain adaptations that support exercise performance.

This review defines periodized nutrition and summarizes methods for optimizing training adaptations in athletes.