The RED-S, White and Blue

Hi Just Tri babes,

Let's talk about the RED-S, White and Blue because it's the 246th birthday of America! And it's about time women start to celebrate their bodies and the benefits of food and proper fueling for the demands of sport and daily life.

What is RED-S?

RED-S stands for Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport. The condition was originally termed by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) back in 2014, previously known as the Female Athlete Triad. The IOC explains that the syndrome is a result of "relative energy deficiency that affects many aspects of physiological function including metabolic rate, menstrual function, bone health, immunity, protein synthesis, cardiovascular and psychological health." Ultimately, it's a decline in hormone function due to inadequate nutrition. Through improved research and understanding of its detrimental affects on almost every system of the body, the IOC adopted the new name, RED-S, because its symptoms can impact both female and male athletes. 

If this is the first time you've heard about it, you're not alone... Women can succumb to low energy availability (with or without an eating disorder) very quickly so it's important to be in tune with your body and aware of your daily food intake and energy expenditure.

In today's culture, women can fall under intense scrutiny. We are often confronted with other's perceptions and opinions about what we wear, how we look, and what we eat. Our male-dominated society has left a damaging legacy on women for generations. The biggest repercussions being: body image and our relationship with food.

Starting at a young age, active teenage girls are sold this unrealistic view, through social media and advertising, of what our society desires women to look like - slim. So once their body composition starts maturing and changing during puberty (i.e. gaining weight, wider hips, etc.) their first thoughts are "I need to loss weight, go on a diet, and exercise more". These thoughts can compromise their energy availability and optimal performance.

I don't think you need me to recap the latest diets among athletes and exercise goers... but just to jog your memory, here are a few of the current top trends: keto, paleo, and intermittent fasting.

I'd like to highlight the blatant oxymoron and one of the major reasons why I believe our fitness industry is broken... "diets for active people". Yeah, I'll touch on this later.

First, most diets and sports performance trends stem from sports nutrition research conducted on active male populations. Second, to quote Dr. Stacy Sims, "women are not small men". So to be frank... these diets weren't designed for women and can do more harm than good because women respond differently to these diets than men.

In reference to changing body composition and losing weight, a diet by definition, is decreasing your daily caloric intake by reducing our overall consumption or manipulating your macronutrients (i.e. keto aka low-carb diet).

But in order for active women to maintain a healthy body composition and perform optimally, you need to EAT. Eat enough to support your training and recovery. Dieting will not help you meet your energy needs. When you're chronically underfed and inadequately fueled, you'll send your body into a state of low energy availability which could result in RED-S and menstrual dysfunction.

Remember, if you stop getting your period during training, that's a red flag and something you need to address. Schedule a visit with a trained health care professional to rule out RED-S and get you safely back out on the field, court, track, trail, road, etc.

Lastly, if you're interested in learning more or working with a coach, reach out to me at [email protected]. Also, if you'd like more personalized advice to meet your specific needs, I'd recommend working with a dietitian or reaching out to my friend and nutrition coach, Tiana Tallant, at [email protected].

Thank you so much for reading! I'll dive deeper into the dos and don'ts around diet culture in another blog post.

I hope you have a great Independence Day! Have fun and be safe! And remember to always, Just Tri!!

Yours in Sport,

Lindsay

P.S. Follow the Just Tri Performance social media pages on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube - handles and link below :)

Instagram: @just_tri365 ; TikTok: @justtri_performance ; YouTube link.