Shownotes
Hydration, sleep, carbs, creatine—what actually matters?
We cut through the noise and talk performance nutrition that works in the real world, whether you’re at a tournament, on the road, or squeezing games into a busy weekend.
Bio
Nick Barringer, Ph.D., is a tactical nutritional physiologist with a wealth of applied and academic experience. He previously served as the director of the U.S. Military-Baylor University Graduate Program in Nutrition. He also served as an assistant professor at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y..
Barringer was the first active duty dietitian to graduate from the rigorous U.S. Army Ranger School and serve with the 75th Ranger Regiment. He received his undergraduate degree in dietetics from the University of Georgia and his doctorate in kinesiology from Texas A&M.
Barringer has presented at national and international conferences on tactical athlete nutrition and performance. His research has appeared in multiple media outlets such as Science Daily and Men's Journal.
Takeaways:
- In this episode, Dr. Nick Barringer elucidates the significance of tactical nutrition for performance in athletes, emphasizing that proper fueling is paramount for optimal output.
- Dr. Barringer shares his unique journey from a struggling athlete to a leading expert in tactical nutrition, highlighting the transformative power of knowledge and experience.
- The discussion encompasses practical advice on hydration, detailing how to monitor fluid loss and the crucial steps to ensure adequate hydration for athletes during training and competition.
- A central theme emerges regarding the importance of establishing healthy nutritional habits early in life, which can significantly impact an athlete's long-term performance and health.
- Dr. Barringer stresses the evolving landscape of performance nutrition, particularly the integration of technology and monitoring systems to enhance athlete care and performance outcomes.
- The episode concludes with a compelling reminder that consistent development, both in nutrition and overall performance, is essential for athletes at all levels, encouraging a mindset of continuous improvement.
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Transcripts
This is Sharpening youg Edge with Chuck and Eric.
Speaker A:In today's episode, we'll be speaking with Dr. Nick Barringer.
Speaker A:He's a tactical nutrition physiologist with a wealth of applied and academic experience.
Speaker A:He previously served as the Director of the U.S. military Baylor University graduate program in New York, and he also served.
Speaker B:As an assistant professor at the US.
Speaker A:Military Academy at West Point, New York.
Speaker C:Welcome to another episode of Sharpening youg edge presented by CV3 Hockey Development.
Speaker C:I'm Chuck Verdolino, along with my co host, Eric Melanson.
Speaker C:And today we are excited to bring on a tactical nutrition physiologist, among many other things, which we'll get into throughout the podcast, Dr. Nick Barringer.
Speaker C:Dr. Nick, thank you and welcome to the show.
Speaker A:Hey, Chuck, thanks so much for having me on here.
Speaker A:I'm really excited to talk to you guys today about performance nutrition.
Speaker B:Nick, my man, welcome to the show.
Speaker B:So good to see you.
Speaker B:It's been a couple, been a couple months since.
Speaker B:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker A:Great seeing you as well.
Speaker B:It's wonderful.
Speaker B:So, yeah, like Chuck said, storied, storied history there.
Speaker B:Last lot to unpack, so we'll just kind of get right into it.
Speaker B:You've had a pretty unique career, from 75th Ranger Regiment to teaching at West Point, then directing the military Baylor nutrition program, but kind of taking it all the way back to the beginning to your Georgia Bulldog days, kind of what drew you to nutrition and then how did that evolve from whatever you thought it was going to be freshman year to tactical performance nutrition and getting your PhD in physiology?
Speaker A:Yeah, what really drew me in is I was a horrible athlete, but I liked athletics.
Speaker A:And so I needed to figure out every tactical advantage I pro possibly could.
Speaker A:And so, you know, exercise and nutrition were one, you know, were two tools that I could manipulate to try to level the playing field.
Speaker A:And that interest from high school, my own personal athletics, carried over into college.
Speaker A:And I started out, I wanted to be a strength coach that was.
Speaker A:I was going to be a collegiate strength coach.
Speaker A:I started out in the University of Georgia weight room there as a student assistant.
Speaker A:And it was great.
Speaker A:There were some great individuals in that program.
Speaker A:You know, funny enough, when I was there, there were these two grad assistants by the name of Kirby Smart and Mike Bobo.
Speaker A:They had just graduated.
Speaker A:They're doing pretty well.
Speaker B:Yeah, I'd say so.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:But just seeing that environment was, you know, high performance, you know, really piqued my interest and my passion.
Speaker A:And then I had to take a nutrition class as part of my exercise Science program.
Speaker A:And it just blew my mind.
Speaker A:The instructor was unbelievable.
Speaker A:And so I immediately went to, my advisor was like, can I major in this?
Speaker A:And so I switched, majored in that, joined ROTC around that time.
Speaker A:And then like 9, 11 happened.
Speaker A:And, you know, that, that changed the trajectory of like, okay, now can I take this knowledge and apply it to the war fighters?
Speaker A:Because, you know, now we're at war.
Speaker A:And so that kind of was the thrust of kind of me going from performance nutrition, hey, I want to be a collegiate athlete to, or, pardon me, collegiate strength coach to, okay, I'm going to do, you know, I'm going to focus on nutrition, but now we're going to do it tactical because I, I joined the Army.
Speaker B:Awesome.
Speaker B:I mean, that's, that's incredible.
Speaker B:I think, now, correct me if I'm wrong, you still essentially ended up becoming a strength coach.
Speaker B:Right?
Speaker B:You are.
Speaker B:Did you go through the cscs?
Speaker A:Yeah, I did the cscs.
Speaker A:Once I got in the army, I did that.
Speaker A:And, you know, but I want, I want to give myself the credit of being a strength coach in terms of, like, you know, what the level that the individuals are at that are working, you know, in the collegiate environment or even now in the tactical space.
Speaker A:Even though that wasn't really a thing when I was, you know, first getting started.
Speaker A:But, yeah, I was, I was nowhere to level that you're seeing now when you think of a strength coach.
Speaker B:Okay, and so you were the first active duty dietitian to graduate from Ranger School?
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker B:Ranger School is both fun, right.
Speaker B:And challenging.
Speaker B:And I know that nutrition plays an extremely critical part in the success of the service members trying to make it through to the end with, you know, a close friend of mine losing about 40 pounds on graduation or when he was waiting on graduation, ended up getting hospitalized.
Speaker B:But that experience, every phase of Ranger School that you went through, kind of.
Speaker B:How did you take or what did you take away from there in terms of lessons learned for being able to fuel those tactical athletes or those, you know, whomever you were going to be responsible for providing advice to.
Speaker B:How did that kind of shape you from that point forward?
Speaker A:Well, you know, it didn't really teach me stuff in anything I didn't already know nutritionally in terms of if you don't feed people enough calories and have them do a lot of exercise and don't let them sleep, it really sucks and your performance degrades.
Speaker A:I kind of knew that, you know, going in, but experience experiencing it firsthand did give me some insights in, you know, how the body kind of reacts.
Speaker A:Some of the things I did, you know, trying to utilize my knowledge to the best of my ability.
Speaker A:When you have MREs, we would trade and most people trade for flavor and I would trade for calories.
Speaker A:So, you know, the example I give is M&M's.
Speaker A:210 calories for a packet of M&M's.
Speaker A:Everybody wants M&M's.
Speaker A:Everybody crazed chocolate.
Speaker A:I can trade that for a dairy shake.
Speaker A:That was 410 calories.
Speaker A:So now I'm up 200 calories.
Speaker A:So I was, I didn't care about flavor, I cared about calories.
Speaker A:That was probably the only advantage of being a dietitian besides that.
Speaker A:But what it did teach me is, you know, one binge eating, I didn't really understand that concept until I kind of experienced it of like, wow, I couldn't stop eating once I got out and I had to, you know, approach that a certain way.
Speaker A:But then the other piece of it is just really the credibility because a lot of performance, nutrition or I think even like strength coach, cognitive specialists, all these things working in these high performance environments is you need to develop trust and you develop a relationship with those athletes you're working with.
Speaker A:And anything you can do to that is going to make you to improve that.
Speaker A:It's going to make you a more effective at your craft.
Speaker A:So by getting that Ranger tab, I didn't get like all of a sudden this, you know, great nutrition knowledge.
Speaker A:I, I still, you know, had it going into the school the same that I came out, but now rangers trusted me more and so that allowed me to be more effective.
Speaker B:Okay, awesome.
Speaker B:Yeah, that makes total sense.
Speaker B:And I think we'll, we'll get into it as we go.
Speaker B:But I think you'll see, I mean, I, I've seen some overlaps in, you know, obviously two very different career paths.
Speaker B:Tactical athlete, like, and an actual, you know, high performance athlete.
Speaker B:But overlap in terms of just the availability of food, what to eat at the perfect timing and it maybe it doesn't taste the best, and this is something I'm going through with my kids now is that, hey, we're doing this because it's fuel.
Speaker B:It might not be your favorite thing, but it's fueling it.
Speaker B:It's hitting that it's going to make you perform better.
Speaker B:So just get it down and go out there and perform a little bit better.
Speaker C:We've thrown the term around tactical athlete, tactical nutrition.
Speaker C:And you've presented at the national and international conferences, so it's safe to say you probably Know what you're talking about when it comes to tactical athlete nutrition and performance.
Speaker C:First off, for those that don't know the term, what does being a tactical athlete mean and how does it relate to athletes?
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker A:And so this term, and you know, I know in the tactical world, some people love it, some people hate it, but I'll define it, how I see it and why I use that term is if you rely on your body to make a living, you're an athlete.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:You should look at yourself, you should feel yourself like an athlete.
Speaker A:Whether you are or not, if you are police, if you're a firefighter, if you're, you know, military, for a first responder, that is the tactical space.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:And so we look at those individuals as tactical athletes.
Speaker A:And previously when I was starting out, you know, during this time frame, there wasn't people focusing on them.
Speaker A:You know, there wasn't strength coaches for the military or firefighters or police or dietitians working with them.
Speaker A:They were just kind of forgotten about to figure it out on their own.
Speaker A:There were some pioneers.
Speaker A: ,: Speaker A:So he was way ahead of his time, definitely a pioneer.
Speaker A:But besides that, there was nothing else out there.
Speaker A:And so that's, that's this population we're looking at and it is emerged and now it's growing.
Speaker A:But that's who the kind of tactical athlete, when I say that, and then the nutrition, you know, whether you call it tactical nutrition, all it is is performance nutrition.
Speaker A:I'm just taking the performance nutrition principles on how you would fuel just light and you're playing football, hockey, bobsledding, mixed martial arts, whatever, and applying it for that, that tactical athlete in whatever, you know, environment that they're going to be employing their skills in.
Speaker A:And that's really where you get the larger variability because, you know, for instance, hockey, an ice rink or whatever, that's pretty controlled.
Speaker A:I imagine it's pretty consistent wherever you're playing.
Speaker A:Whereas with, you know, a military or service member, they could be fighting in the desert, they could be fighting up on a mountain, you know, with snow.
Speaker A:So, so there's all these different environments.
Speaker B:You adjust for to kind of take it back.
Speaker B:And I know you are a proud dad as well.
Speaker B:So I'm sure you've felt the pain in trying to get your kids on board with eating both things that are healthy and the things that Taste good.
Speaker B:Because there's a, you know, looking at the Venn diagram, it's not very complete.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:And I know you're trying to really perfect your protein donut recipe.
Speaker A:Yes, it's a work in progress.
Speaker B:But for the parents that are kind of listening, I guess, starting from the beginning, for those that are trying to get.
Speaker B:Their kids are playing at a little bit higher level now, they're competing more often, their body's under a lot more stress.
Speaker B:They're either on the ice or in the gym.
Speaker B:And then if it's a tournament weekend, we're sandwiching a bunch of games in with either a large break in between or a very inconvenient break.
Speaker B:So I guess right off the bat, like, like, what is something that a parent can do to help these younger players kind of optimize their energy levels going into a practice or just some key things to take away regardless of environment?
Speaker A:Well, I mean, one, and this is tough, and I get it, we're all busy and stuff, but you got to model the behavior you want because, you know, you got kids.
Speaker A:What do kids do?
Speaker A:They watch you.
Speaker A:They are constantly, whether, whether, you know, it's good or bad.
Speaker A:And I've, you know, I, I've made my mistakes.
Speaker A:But like, they are constantly watching.
Speaker A:And so what you do, they pick up on and they're like, okay, this must be the way to do it.
Speaker A:So the more you can model, you know, what for them to eat.
Speaker A:So the parent.
Speaker A:It's going to be a challenge.
Speaker A:Let me just put it this way.
Speaker A:If, you know, you're eating McDonald's and you're telling the kid to eat a certain way or, you know, feel a certain way for their game or, etc, because they're like, well, wait a minute, this is what you're doing.
Speaker A:Isn't that what I'm supposed to be doing?
Speaker A:So if you can model the behavior as much as possible, that's going to help.
Speaker A:The other piece is having that conversation with them, educating them as much as possible.
Speaker A:That's going to help.
Speaker A:And then the other of it is getting them involved with the nutrition process as early as possible with the, you know, the food selection, the prepared.
Speaker A:Take them to the grocery store, like, hey, why are we getting this?
Speaker A:You know, show, you know, show them reading the label.
Speaker A:Why do we get this cereal over this cereal?
Speaker A:Why does it have lower sugar in it when you get down to meal prep?
Speaker A:And I get it, it can be a little dangerous, you know, kids in the kitchen.
Speaker A:But if you get them, if you get them involved Find little things they can do, whether it's washing the fruit or anything.
Speaker A:Now they're bested in that meal prep and they'll at least try it.
Speaker A:From my experience, if my kids help prepare the meal, they're going to at least try it.
Speaker A:And a lot of times they like it or if they don't like it, you know, you can try it another time.
Speaker A:But it's just about getting them involved, giving them the vote and then modeling the behavior you want them to do.
Speaker B:Awesome.
Speaker B:Yeah, it's a fantastic point.
Speaker B:I'm a huge believer in the cot, not Todd principle.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker C:We have a wide range of audience members stemming from parents of 8 to 12 to 14 year olds.
Speaker C:We also have high school athletes that listen and NCAA athletes that listen as well.
Speaker C:So obviously there's a difference in overall nutrition.
Speaker C:What would you say would be the, the biggest difference or what would it look like nutrition overall, nutrition wise for a 12 to 14 year old versus 17 to 19 year old or an NCAA athlete?
Speaker A:It really should look the same in terms of mostly protein, fruits and vegetables, complex carbohydrates.
Speaker A:It's just going to be the volume compared to that body size.
Speaker A:They need all the same nutrients because they're doing the same tasks.
Speaker A:It's just going to be on a, you know, a grander scale.
Speaker A:As they get older, that amount of calories coming from that is going to increase along probably with their activity and the intensity of their training.
Speaker A:Because I imagine, you know, you said the NCAA level, now you're talking about multiple practices, lifting sessions, all like that.
Speaker A:So the energy expenditure is going to be bigger.
Speaker A:But even still, the little ones, they're growing.
Speaker A:So, so there's going to be, you know, something there.
Speaker A:But they're not going to be taking in as many calories as the NCAA athletes.
Speaker A:But their diet should look the same.
Speaker A:There should be, you know, if you could get at least three colors on their plate, right.
Speaker A:And when they have hard practices, maybe half their plates, you know, some form of complex carbohydrate, pasta, rice, etc.
Speaker A:You've got some vegetable on their plate, you're making sure they're drinking plenty of water.
Speaker A:If they're out there sweating in the game, you have a carbohydrate or electrolyte beverage.
Speaker A:Principles don't change.
Speaker B:That's fantastic.
Speaker B:Now, to take this kind of a step further, we've touched on it a little bit earlier, but for these athletes and as it transitions from parent to them as they get older.
Speaker B:Right, but they've got school all day where they get their lunch and that's about it.
Speaker B:And then they're in the car for either a couple hours like me or, or a couple minutes like some other folks that live closer to the rink.
Speaker B:And then, you know, pair that with a game day or a tournament weekend where you've got minimal time in between games, maybe an hour, two hours.
Speaker B:So like what does right look like?
Speaker B:I mean, what's the minimum effective fueling?
Speaker B:What are the things to stay away from?
Speaker A:Yeah, if you only had a couple hours between games.
Speaker A:Talking about like that scenario, you know, for fueling, I'm looking at some cut up fruit.
Speaker A:You know, if we could get, you know, 30 to 60 grams of, of carbs depending on their body weight.
Speaker A:If they're really small, that might be a little less than that.
Speaker A:But you know, that could be a couple pieces of fruit.
Speaker A:It could be a, you know, quick sandwich.
Speaker A:Just, you don't want to overdo it obviously with it with a couple hours.
Speaker A:But something simple, easy to digest, to get in their system to give them some fuel for that next game so they can fuel up.
Speaker A:So they just played a game, they got two hours, we needed fuel.
Speaker A:And I would do that with a mix of, you know, depending on if you had like a kid with a sensitive stomach because, you know, some might not want to eat.
Speaker A:I know some people get nervous between games.
Speaker A:So then that could be like a piece of fruit.
Speaker A:And then maybe you introduce like a carbohydrate beverage in there.
Speaker A:So you're getting some carbohydrates in and it's pretty easy to digest.
Speaker A:You know, if they're drinking it, it could be rice.
Speaker A:I mean, I'll give you a personal example.
Speaker A:So I was a wrestler, right?
Speaker A:So you know, you'd have these tournaments that were like all day and you're, you're there and you got to wrestle multiple matches, but there would be breaks to eat.
Speaker A:And you know, my mom would make me like a tuna pasta thing with some Italian dressing on it.
Speaker A:It was amazing.
Speaker A:And I ate, you know, I had some, some carbs, little bit of protein, had the Italian dressing on there, not too much, so it wasn't too oily to give a little flavor.
Speaker A:Eat it.
Speaker A:Maybe it gave me advantage.
Speaker A:The garlic on my breath might have helped me win a few matches, I don't know.
Speaker A:But again, it was something easy to digest.
Speaker A:And then most importantly, I liked it so you know, I could eat it.
Speaker A:And I'm a creature of habit.
Speaker A:I would have that same thing all the time.
Speaker A:So if, you know, hey, it works for you and your, your kids up for it.
Speaker A:Just make that same thing so you don't have to think about it.
Speaker A:No decision fatigue.
Speaker A:All right, this is our meal prep for our, you know, two hour window.
Speaker A:When we're playing multiple games.
Speaker A:This is what we have.
Speaker B:And now I'm going to just take it one step further.
Speaker B:And I know and I've heard you talk about this many times before, so especially since we've been on the road together all the time where it's okay, that's great in a perfect world.
Speaker B:But you're staying in a hotel now and you're on the road and all we got is the Wawa or the Royal Farms gas station or we got, you know, we're in the airport and we got whatever the little shop at the airport has.
Speaker B:So what are some things that you found in your experience that are great fueling sources that you can pick up at a gas station or at the airport?
Speaker B:Some.
Speaker A:Yeah, you know, gas.
Speaker A:Like strip waffles.
Speaker A:Usually kids love those.
Speaker A:About 15 grams of pop.
Speaker A:Little, little yummy things.
Speaker A:You can get that some string cheese for a protein source.
Speaker A:You know, the sabras with the pretzels and, and to get some hummusan, you know, you got a little bit of, you know, protein in those.
Speaker A:What else we got?
Speaker A:I mean there's a lot of different, you know, shakes too.
Speaker A:Like chocolate milk.
Speaker A:I would be buying a lot of chocolate milk for recovery, like post game.
Speaker A:So they can, they can chug that down, work on their hydration, but then also work on the protein and the carbohydrates to help them recover from that game.
Speaker A:You know, grab some bananas.
Speaker A:There's usually bananas in the convenience store.
Speaker A:If they don't, if they don't have it.
Speaker A:Trying to think anything else?
Speaker B:There are the, like the little, what were the uncrustables.
Speaker B:Are those pretty good?
Speaker A:Yeah, uncrustables.
Speaker A:You can go RX bars.
Speaker A:I like those.
Speaker A:You know, not the name brand, but just ones that's out there to easy digest.
Speaker A:The key is, you know, if, you know, hey, that's going to be your option.
Speaker A:If there's a way you could utilize those in practice to see, just to make sure, you know, it works, that would be ideal.
Speaker A:I understand that doesn't always happen.
Speaker A:So again, it might be walking through with your kid and being like, okay, here are your options, which one you prefer?
Speaker A:Because if you obviously let them off the.
Speaker A:But they'll be grabbing Reese's cups and you know, everything else.
Speaker A:One thing I will hit on, because I had this conversation, I was just talking to some police officers up in Dallas and one of them, as his part, like his little quick pre workout, he would have gummy bears.
Speaker A:And I'm like, that's fine, that's awesome.
Speaker A:Like, right before he would get, he would do like a, you know, kind of like a CrossFit style workout and, you know, very fit individual, very, you know, competitive.
Speaker A:And he would have these gummy bears.
Speaker A:And I'm like, that's great.
Speaker A:And so it could be gummy bears for some of those kids.
Speaker A:Like to have some gummy bears in between.
Speaker A:Yeah, I would like to get fruit, I'd like to get other nutrition in.
Speaker A:But if you're just trying to get them fueled up to get them, you know, back in the game or maintain that glucose level, sometimes something simple like that is, is very effective now.
Speaker A:Not after, not, not during, you know, the day, like all the time.
Speaker A:Gummy bears.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker C:And we're talking about quick and easy too.
Speaker C:We see it a lot with the, Eric knows, going to tournaments, as he mentioned, and even having two games in one day and not much time to eat or do anything like that.
Speaker C:Do you think supplements would help too, as well, or vitamins or do you think just having a clean diet?
Speaker A:Yeah, you know, it's a great question, Chuck.
Speaker A:I'm a, I'm a food first, but I'm, you know, not a food only.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:I, I use dietary supplements now for kids.
Speaker A:I'm a little cautious when you're talking like 12 and under.
Speaker A:Outside of a multivitamin, I just don't feel or, or a hydration solution, you know, some sort of electrolyte beverage.
Speaker A:I don't feel comfortable getting, you know, prescriptive at that, at that age.
Speaker A:Once they, they become a teenager, you know, you get in those teenage years.
Speaker A:Yeah, I think creatine, monohydrate, something that very effective, you know, especially like hockey.
Speaker A:I know brain health.
Speaker A:You worry about that.
Speaker A:That can help with, that helps with strength, helps with muscle mass.
Speaker A:Really, really nice electrolyte beverages potentially.
Speaker A:You know, some omega 3 fatty acids, so some fish oil, if they don't like to eat fish, that, that can be beneficial for recovery and sleep if they're getting beat up, like, let's say you're in a tournament.
Speaker A:Six ounces of tart cherry at night can help with sleep, but then also can help with muscle soreness.
Speaker A:You know, you're getting some antioxidants in there.
Speaker A:So, you know, very simple stuff.
Speaker A:But the basics are really what's going to get you there in terms of, you know, making sure you're, you're getting fruits, your vegetables, your protein, enough fluids and you know, during the day.
Speaker C:And I'm glad you brought up creatine too, because that's been chastised.
Speaker C:And you know, there have been different opinions on that, but recently it's become popular and the studies have come out how beneficial it is for older like, like you said, teenagers and NCAA athletes.
Speaker C:Can you talk a little bit more about the benefits of creatine?
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:So, you know, first let me clarify and say it's creatine monohydrate, right?
Speaker A:That's what we want.
Speaker A:And why I say that is because there's creatine athletes, there's creatine, there's other stuff that's being sold that's marketed as superior.
Speaker A:It hasn't been shown to be.
Speaker A:You just want creatine monohydrate.
Speaker A:And then the other thing for parents to look for is look for Crea pure or Crea Vitalis on the label because that's the German based creatine.
Speaker A:And the German based creatine has never failed any tests for contaminants.
Speaker A:Whereas the like a Chinese or India based creatine, there has been cases of them failing.
Speaker A:Not to say all of them are bad, but if you just want to know, hey, I'm getting the purest form of creatine, creapure Crea Vitalis, the German based is the best after that as far as benefits go, you know, being able to produce more force, gain lean muscle mass and then cognitive.
Speaker A:Even under conditions of sleep deprivation, creatine can be beneficial.
Speaker A:When you have a brain injury.
Speaker A:One of the mechanisms they, you know, that's hypothesized that causes some of the issues is your brain likes to run off of glucose.
Speaker A:And so when you get that injury, it doesn't utilize the glucose as well.
Speaker A:It can use creatine as a fuel source.
Speaker A:You just have to take in more creatine.
Speaker A:So if I was using creatine like post concussion with a full size, you know, with a grown athlete, where normally I might have them just take in, let's say 5 grams a day, I would go 25 grams post concussion because I would go higher because I want, you know, there's going to be creatine taken up by the muscle.
Speaker A:So I want to have extra more to get taken up by the brain to get in there.
Speaker A:And if you look at the research with, with creatine and kind of the brain, it's higher doses usually at like 0.3 milligrams per kilogram of body weight.
Speaker B:So I'm glad you brought up the supplements, Chuck and Nick, I'm glad you touched on creatine because I know we've had that conversation several times.
Speaker B:Supplements in general, right.
Speaker B:There's so many of them out there and like you said, they're coming from India, they're coming from China, they're coming from Germany.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:What's a resource for parents where they can go to make sure that they're getting like a high quality supplement?
Speaker B:Whether that, you know, something as simple as protein, because.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:Amazon's the easy button.
Speaker B:But there's got to be.
Speaker B:And the reviews are great, but that they're, some of them are paid for and some of them are not.
Speaker B:But what, where can they go to kind of as a resource to look at some of these supplements and make sense of them because there's so many of them out there now.
Speaker A:I like, I mean, if you're getting supplements for, you know, your kids, I'm going to say NSF Certified Safer Sport.
Speaker A:Go on there and look and find the brands that are on there or I know we don't have a video, I can show you.
Speaker A:It's, you know, it's on the label.
Speaker A:You can find the label if you look.
Speaker A:NSF Certified Safer Sport.
Speaker A:What that is, that's a third party testing that makes sure you know what's on the label is in the label and it's free contaminants and any banned substances, you're gonna pay more for those.
Speaker A:So if you look at like something on Amazon and it's, you know, no third party certification, it's going to be cheaper because the supplement company has to pay for that to get tested.
Speaker A:It's worth it, right?
Speaker A:I, I work with some professional athletes like never ever would have failed drug test.
Speaker A:You know, can you use the excuse of it was my supplement?
Speaker A:I mean you can, but it never goes well.
Speaker A:But if you're, you know, talking especially you know, young kids and things, obviously you don't want to risk it.
Speaker A:So I would say be safe.
Speaker A:Look at NSF Certified Safer Sport.
Speaker A:There's lab door you can also look at.
Speaker A:But the NSF certified Safer sport is really going to make sure, I mean that's, that's where all the Olympic athletes are using.
Speaker A:That's what the UFC Ultimate Fighting Championship is using.
Speaker A:I guarantee you all the major hockey teams, you know, the NHL, if they have a dietitian, they're having them on stuff that's NSF Certified safer sport.
Speaker C:And now let's take a quick break to hear from our partners.
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Speaker C:Sports drinks.
Speaker C:They're all a rage now.
Speaker C:You see the kids carrying around the body armor, the prime, the vitamin waters, the Gatorade.
Speaker C:Do kids, young kids really need that if they're playing a sport?
Speaker C:Or is that more tailored towards, you know, higher level sports and marathon runners and competitive swimmers and cyclists.
Speaker C:And if so or if not, what in your mind does optimal hydration look like?
Speaker A:Most kids, I mean, and most adults, I mean, you can drink water because where do you get electrolytes from?
Speaker A:You get it from the food you eat, right?
Speaker A:You get sodium and food you eat magnesium, you know, you get all those things from the food you eat.
Speaker A:With that being said, if you're, you know, really out there swaying, right, you're losing a lot of fluid.
Speaker A:For instance, I'm in Houston, Texas during the summer.
Speaker A:If I'm out and I'm pushing it on a ruck or really getting after it or my kids, you know, out like soccer and you know, in Summer or whatever, that's where.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker A:And you know, they're not going to eat.
Speaker A:That's where an electrolyte beverage be appropriate because one, they're not eating but they're losing all these fluids and with losing these fluids, they're losing these electrolytes.
Speaker A:So we can get these electrolytes back in their system really quickly by, by drinking and prevent cramping and promote hydration.
Speaker A:Now what does the right.
Speaker A:Hi, you know, hydration product look like?
Speaker A:You want to have some sugar in it?
Speaker A:This is what I get.
Speaker A:You know, people like want things, all things sugar free.
Speaker A:If you're just looking to flavor your water, your kid just wants a flavor, you know, something to flavor their water, by all means go sugar free, right?
Speaker A:That's fine.
Speaker A:But if you're looking to maximize hydration, the way you drive fluid in cells is through the sodium glucose transport.
Speaker A:So you've got to have sodium, you got to have glucose and that's what's going to shuttle, you know, the fluid to the cells the fastest.
Speaker A:What that might look like is, you know, anywhere from, you know, 350 to 650, you know, milligrams of sodium, 200 to 300 milligrams of potassium and like, you know, it would be about like 7 grams of sugar for a 16 ounce beverage.
Speaker A:Right?
Speaker A:So you know, 5 to 7%, you know, carbohydrate, you don't want to go any higher than that because that'll mess with absorption.
Speaker A:So that's like the sweet spot of being able to replenish electrolytes as fast as possible.
Speaker A:The other potential benefit is, you know, just because you put cold water out for your kids during a game doesn't always mean they drink it.
Speaker A:So adding a flavor they like promotes hydration.
Speaker A:So that's another potential benefit if you know that, hey, if I just put cold water out there and they're not going to drink it or they're not going to drink as much and you know, they're really sweat and heavy under all those pads, then a carbohydrate beverage might make sense.
Speaker B:Now in hockey, and I know you haven't ventured into this world yet with your kids, but now that you know the stars are kind of on the map and we're doing well in hockey in Texas, maybe you'll end up that way.
Speaker B:Early morning games are kind of a staple, especially in some of the younger ages of youth hockey.
Speaker B:And I know for me personally it's been a battle with some of my kids.
Speaker B:I'm not Hungry, you know, because you get them out of bed in their pajamas and they're in the car and you're on the road and they just don't eat.
Speaker B:But then they're going to be on the ice and expected to perform at a relatively high level with nothing in the tank other than whatever they had the night before.
Speaker B:Had it.
Speaker B:You know, depending on where that's at in their digestive system.
Speaker B:Is there kind of something that we should get at it at a bare minimum or are there tips or tricks for how to get these things to the kids that aren't really an early morning eater?
Speaker A:Yeah, smoothies are your friend.
Speaker A:Make them a super smoothie and let them get involved in it.
Speaker A:Like pick out.
Speaker A:That's one of the keys.
Speaker A:I don't have to worry about my sons ever going hungry because they are going to tell me.
Speaker A:My daughter, she just gets going with everything and she's the type that'll forget to eat, you know, and then get hangry.
Speaker A:So my, I, I've been in those situations.
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker A:Something in the morning, some recital, something.
Speaker A:I know she's gonna be going all day, she's like, I'm not hungry.
Speaker A:But she'll do a smoothie.
Speaker A:And so we can throw some blueberries, some strawberries, you know, some milk in there, you know, depending on, you know, if you want a little whey protein, what have you.
Speaker A:But, but make them like a, you know, a super smoothie, you know, that they like and that they enjoy and then they can just chug back.
Speaker A:Because most kids can drink something, right, Even if they're not hungry, so they drink that.
Speaker A:So you're not gonna, you're really getting two birds, one stone.
Speaker A:You're knocking out some hydration and you're getting some nutrition in them.
Speaker C:When you mentioned smoothies too, that, that brought me to something else because we talked about supplementation with younger kids.
Speaker C:I've heard mixed things about protein with, with younger children.
Speaker C:Protein supplements and things like that.
Speaker C:Jocko, right, he's got the protein supplements.
Speaker C:I take them, I mix some powder in and my kids often ask me, can I have some?
Speaker C:Can I have some?
Speaker C:What are your feelings on protein powder for children?
Speaker A:How old?
Speaker C:They're 10.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker C:I have a 12 year old and I think that's okay for the 12 year old, but for the audience too.
Speaker C:Talking like 6 to 8 year olds as well.
Speaker A:Yeah, I mean, for the younger kids, I, I'm not, you know, having them have, there's no need for the, for them to get on like the protein powder or Anything, you know, probably that 12 to 13, if they want it and we're getting in other ways.
Speaker A:I would look at that.
Speaker A:Now, do I.
Speaker A:Do I let my kids, like, try my protein shake or whatever?
Speaker A:Yeah, I would let them, you know, sample it.
Speaker A:But, you know, and it's tough because I'm trying to think is like, is there a literature, you know, paper I could.
Speaker A:I can lean on to say, this is why I think that way.
Speaker A:And I can't.
Speaker A:This is going off of experience and just kind of gut feel.
Speaker A:So I don't know if there's anything, you know, detrimental you're doing to the kid at that point, but I just kind of.
Speaker A:The risk to reward.
Speaker A:I would, I would err on the side of caution, especially dealing with young kids and say, okay, yeah, that 12 to 13 range, but otherwise, hey, throw some fruit, throw a banana in there.
Speaker A:I mean, most milk to, you know, if you're getting a filtered milk, it's going to have 20 grams of protein in it.
Speaker A:Like, they're going to get their protein in there and for the size of their body, that's going to be plenty.
Speaker C:So we're talking like when kids hit puberty to kind of be safe to introduce protein powder and supplements like creatine and things like that.
Speaker A:Yeah, especially, I mean, the protein powder, the protein powder is a tool that, you know, they're not eating protein.
Speaker A:Like, I'm going to feed my kids eggs, I'm going to have them eat chicken.
Speaker A:I'm going to have them.
Speaker A:It's only if, you know, I can't get anything else in them would I go to that.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker C:And Eric, Eric knows hockey.
Speaker C:It's tough sometimes to get stuff in them.
Speaker C:Or like you mentioned, early mornings or not much time in between games or.
Speaker C:Or you're away at tournaments and it's quick and easy.
Speaker B:I let my kids try my protein shakes.
Speaker B:You know, I'll buy him one, especially if we're going from school to the gym to.
Speaker B:Then he's going to want to come home and shoot pucks.
Speaker B:And I know he's not going to want to take a break and come inside and have an actual snack.
Speaker B:So I'll get them one of those Fair life, you know, I know they're not the best.
Speaker B:You know, I'll give them a fair life with a little, you know, some chocolate milk or something like that to get that protein in.
Speaker B:And I think, you know, one of the things that I've struggled with, especially being on the road and in hotel living on the weekends with the Kids is like their sleep, right?
Speaker B:So nutrition's the one.
Speaker B:How does nutrition and sleep kind of go hand in hand?
Speaker B:Like, you know, is it okay for my kid that, you know, he's.
Speaker B:We're done with dinner and, you know, it's nine o', clock, he's getting ready to go to bed, and he's like, I need a snack.
Speaker B:I'm like, all right.
Speaker B:You know, at this point, I'm like, okay, whatever.
Speaker B:Just whatever gets you to go to bed.
Speaker A:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker A:No, I mean, for my adults, I would say no.
Speaker A:Right?
Speaker B:Get.
Speaker A:Get your.
Speaker A:You know, go to bed.
Speaker A:Because usually we don't need those extra calories anyway for kids because they're growing and especially if they're playing sports.
Speaker A:Like, my son's doing soccer right now.
Speaker A:My six year old.
Speaker A:Like, if he's like, hey, I want something, I'll control what it is.
Speaker A:Now he can't go downstairs, just get crazy with it.
Speaker A:But I'll be like, hey, you have some banana and milk.
Speaker A:You know, give them kind of the best option.
Speaker A:And.
Speaker A:But.
Speaker A:But otherwise, yeah, I'm gonna let the kid eat.
Speaker A:Because kids are pretty, pretty good about that.
Speaker A:When they say they're hungry, they're hungry.
Speaker A:So.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:And like you said earlier, and much like you made the tie with the CSCS certification, for you, it's another tool and it's another piece of credibility, right?
Speaker B:So nutrition that, you know, we're trying to focus on is.
Speaker B:Is a tool in the performance package, if you will.
Speaker B:For any athlete or tactical athlete, sleep goes hand in hand.
Speaker B:Obviously, sleep is equally as important.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:Is there, like, what are the overlaps between nutrition and sleep?
Speaker B:Like, where.
Speaker B:Where does that.
Speaker B:You know, how are they beneficial?
Speaker B:How do they overlap?
Speaker A:Oh, yeah, you know, it.
Speaker B:What are we looking at there?
Speaker A:Well, I tell you.
Speaker A:So I always say, this is when I start working with somebody, right?
Speaker A:I take somebody on as a client, the first thing I ask them about is their sleep.
Speaker A:And I'm not a neuroscientist.
Speaker A:I'm no Allison Brager, you know.
Speaker A:You know, and.
Speaker A:But why?
Speaker A:Because if that's wrong, if I'm working with somebody and they're.
Speaker A:They're sleeping like four hours or less a night, and then I try to change their nutrition.
Speaker A:Good luck, you know, because they're just.
Speaker A:They're just functioning.
Speaker A:They're just like grabbing whatever they see because they're so tired, you know, you can't get them.
Speaker A:There's no inhibition.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:It's hard to make those decisions.
Speaker A:So if I can get somebody to sleep in Six, eight hours.
Speaker A:It's so much easier to change the nutrition and to get them going.
Speaker A:And so same for those young athletes is if they don't get enough sleep.
Speaker A:And we've, you know, got kids, so we, we all know on here, man, they're cranky.
Speaker A:It's hard to, you know, you can't, you can't reason with them at that point.
Speaker A:So.
Speaker A:So getting those sleep habits down is just going to make everything.
Speaker A:It's going to make the practice easier, it's going to make school easier, it's going to make nutrition easier.
Speaker A:Like, it sets the foundation for everything else.
Speaker A:It's going to help them recover, you know, from those training sessions.
Speaker A:So if you don't have sleep, sleep is definitely the foundation.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker B:Yeah, that's.
Speaker B:I mean, that's huge, right?
Speaker B:I mean, I think if you get a poor night's sleep, is there a way to, to combat it on the nutrition side?
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:Like, and I know you talked about the creatine.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:And I'm a huge believer in that.
Speaker B:Are there other things that they can do?
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:Because we're, we're not quite.
Speaker B:For some angry at the caffeine age right now.
Speaker A:That's all about to say that's, that's the biggest, you know, band aid for sleep.
Speaker A:You know, outside of that, making sure everything else is as dialed in as possible.
Speaker A:The calories, the hydration, you know, maybe the creatine.
Speaker A:So they're cognitively dialed in, but besides that, there's nothing really, you know, a nap, maybe a tactical nap, if you can get that in.
Speaker B:Yeah, I'm huge.
Speaker B:You know, as they get older, I'm a huge believer in the.
Speaker B:The nappuccino.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:Slam a cup of coffee and then take a nap.
Speaker B:It's perfect timing.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Awesome.
Speaker B:I mean, those are.
Speaker B:I mean, I think, like you said, sleep sets the foundation, right.
Speaker B:For you to build on all the other pillars of human performance.
Speaker C:I wanted to transition to the older groups, the high school athletes, the NCAA athletes.
Speaker C:People think that, you know, on the off season, maybe they want to gain muscle, but you say you see them shoving fast food in their mouths or omega sixes and seed oils and things like that.
Speaker C:How do you differentiate healthy bulking from unhealthy overeating?
Speaker A:I'm looking at like a half a pound a week, right?
Speaker A:That's all I want.
Speaker A:Give me half a pound a week.
Speaker A:If you do that steady and we just increase the volume of the good food, we're.
Speaker A:We're hitting it where.
Speaker A:Yeah, like you said, Is like if people are slamming the in and outs or the different burgers and the hammer, you know, just kind of that dirty bulk and they put on £4 in a week or something.
Speaker A:You know, that's a lot of sodium probably in there.
Speaker A:Fluid retention, that's not good.
Speaker A:So I give the athlete, we go half a pound a week and we just, you know, create a little bit of a caloric surplus.
Speaker A:So 250 to 500 calorie surplus right over, over their normal baseline and see and track and that's it.
Speaker A:Again, you don't want to try to gain that 20 or 30 pound goal in a couple months, like take time.
Speaker A:So, so that's how I, I avoid it or would recommend avoiding it because that mass isn't going to be advantageous.
Speaker A:If it's mostly fat mass, it could slow you down.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:You're going to get winded more easily.
Speaker A:All those factors versus if you just take the time to allow it to be lean mass and that's what's going to be beneficial.
Speaker B:Now kind of, you know, this goes I guess across any age range.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:But you know, whether it's the younger athletes or all the way up to the NCAA athlete level, are there some, some red flags?
Speaker B:I guess it's, you know, for either the player or for the parents to look out for in their child or in themselves that hey, maybe I'm under fueling.
Speaker B:There's some, some key indicators here that I'm not performing at my best.
Speaker B:You know, I'm dialed in in the gym.
Speaker B:I thought I was sleeping well, but I'm just not hitting the mark on the ice or on the field.
Speaker B:What are some of those key red flags?
Speaker A:Yeah, fatigue, a lot of, you know, they're just chronically tired.
Speaker A:So if they're sleeping and they're chronically tired, well, they're probably under fueled.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:Weight.
Speaker A:Look at their weight.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker A:Now all of a sudden they're losing weight.
Speaker A:The weight's going the other way.
Speaker A:That tells me you're in a, you know, significant caloric deficit.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker A:We need to close that gap.
Speaker A:You know, there's brittle males, other factors that would come longer, the chronic, but I would say the acute things you can really look at.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker A:If they're not performing and they're just like, hey, I don't have the energy to perform.
Speaker A:All right, let's see how we can.
Speaker A:We can increase some calories in their diet or you know, work on that or find ways to kind of COVID it.
Speaker A:But the main signs are going to be fatigue and weight loss probably going to see.
Speaker C:And now let's take a quick break to hear from our partners.
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Speaker B:I think it's, it's paired.
Speaker B:Maybe we could, we could have covered it earlier.
Speaker B:I could have asked it earlier but I know at the higher levels of hockey there's like, you know, they got those lap sauce packets on the bench and they've got, maybe they've got some gummy bears because these Guys are losing.
Speaker B:You know, some of the NHL goalies are losing 10, 15 pounds of weight a night.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:Carry around all that gear.
Speaker B:They're sweating, they're moving, they're facing, you know, 30, 40 shots, depending on the team.
Speaker B:Is there an age where.
Speaker B:Or is it really just, you know, situation based on when we should start looking at maybe having a couple of healthy snacks on the bench?
Speaker B:Maybe a couple, you know, box of applesauce packets.
Speaker B:I like it.
Speaker B:Some fruit, you know.
Speaker A:No, I would say if you.
Speaker B:If you can get.
Speaker A:If you can do that earlier, the better.
Speaker A:You know, hey, getting the kids to eat a little more fruit, one's not gonna hurt, but then two, like we said, you're developing those habits.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:You're developing those habits at a young age.
Speaker A:So, you know, then it's like, okay, that becomes the standard when they go to high school.
Speaker A:That becomes a standard as they.
Speaker A:They carry on throughout their career and go to the ncaa.
Speaker A:Like, they.
Speaker A:They already know how the game's played.
Speaker A:They're used to it.
Speaker B:So now, is there something that we should like, you know, we go and going carb heavy, probably on the bench.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:During the game to try to continue to keep that energy level high.
Speaker A:Yeah, yeah, I would go carb heavy on the bench during the game because, you know, one, keep that energy high.
Speaker A:But then, two, the last thing you want to do is, like, get something, you know, higher in fat or, you know, high protein.
Speaker A:That's going to cause the stomach issue.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:Where you're trying to, you know, you got blood flow running, all the muscles you're using, and then all of a sudden your stomach wants some of that blood flow and cause issues.
Speaker B:Yeah, that'd be a messy site.
Speaker B:Yeah, you don't want that to happen.
Speaker C:Now, you briefly mentioned habits.
Speaker C:So are there any tricks of the trade to teaching athletes nutritional habits that'll actually stick from maybe a young age and as they get older.
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker A:I mean, as simple as.
Speaker A:And you guys probably do it with your kids.
Speaker A:I mean, basics like hydration.
Speaker A:Like, my kids do not leave this house without a water bottle.
Speaker A:They go to school, they got a water bottle.
Speaker A:They go to tutoring, they got a water bottle.
Speaker A:So they know when they go to tennis or they go to soccer or whatever, they get a water bottle.
Speaker A:It's.
Speaker A:It's drinking, there's happening, they're hydrating, you know, with the snacks and stuff like that is, hey, before you go out, you know something, if you haven't had something to eat, have a banana, have a piece of fruit.
Speaker A:And again, we'll do that before tutoring, we'll do that before piano.
Speaker A:You know, don't go on an empty stomach just so you feel a little better.
Speaker A:And it's just again, those basic habits, there's nothing sexy or exciting.
Speaker A:I, I could really say that we do, it's just we're going to do the basics all the time.
Speaker A:And so that way there's no difference between game day and practice.
Speaker B:Yeah, I mean I had some principle I learned, you know, in the Marine Corps that, you know, chow's continuous.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:If you, if you get an opportunity to eat, you eat.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:So you always can carry around some water.
Speaker B:Water and some snacks to make sure that you're not, you don't hit that hangry threshold.
Speaker B:And that's something I definitely try to avoid with my children.
Speaker B:So before we kind of get to the wrap up piece, I wanted to touch on something that I know is near and dear to your heart.
Speaker B:And that's the research side of things.
Speaker B:And for those listeners, like anytime I have asked Nick a question about something nutrition based, he'll give me that answer and then he'll, he'll quickly pass along the publications that support it.
Speaker B:So, you know, very up to date on all the research.
Speaker B:What is, is there something current, you know, some current research, some new stuff that talks about like the future of performance nutrition.
Speaker B:Are there any things on the horizon that you know, maybe you're excited about as a physiologist that hey, there's some exciting studies coming out in this that may really change the game for performance nutrition for tactical athletes, athletes with their.
Speaker A:Yeah, no, thank you for asking that.
Speaker A:What I think is going to change the game and it's not just nutrition but performance all the way around is the ability that we have now to monitor these athletes 24 hours a day.
Speaker A:So now, you know, again, every client I work with is wearing a ring that I'm looking at their sleep.
Speaker A:Whether they're in Ohio or New Jersey, I can tell you how they slept last night.
Speaker A:Be like, oh, why don't you roll over at 2am I mean it's wild, right?
Speaker A:Like, you know, there's, there's no getting away from this data.
Speaker A:The whoop, same thing.
Speaker A:I think you might wear one.
Speaker A:You know, you're getting all that data now they're doing the blood test.
Speaker A:That's where I'm really excited.
Speaker A:I, I work with a blood testing company but then like, whoops, doing blood testing, you got inside tracker, you get all this and so now you're getting Objective data on that athlete or on that individual, what's going on in their body.
Speaker A:It's not just, okay, how do you feel?
Speaker A:But like, okay, we can see these numbers.
Speaker A:What's going on with your hormones?
Speaker A:What's going on, you know, kind of with your inflammatory markers?
Speaker A:And then the, the last piece is like the real time, like CGMs or continuous glucose monitors.
Speaker A:I think there's going to be.
Speaker A:And I know, you know, I think they're using them in the Tour de France and other places.
Speaker A:I don't know if they're using them in hockey, but we can check the blood glucose of your athlete in real time.
Speaker A:You know, we're talking about fueling them.
Speaker A:Can you imagine to be able to.
Speaker A:Somebody skates in and you're like, oh, you're hypoglycemic here, have this many grams of carbs to get your blood glucose back in this range before you go back out on the ice, because you're not going to perform as well.
Speaker A:We, we're, that's, we're not talking about like the future in terms of, like that capability is there now.
Speaker A:Is it economically feasible for everybody?
Speaker A:Not yet, but soon.
Speaker B:That's awesome.
Speaker B:I mean, is this, is this, does this fall under the umbrella of like, biohacking, essentially?
Speaker B:Right?
Speaker B:Like, are we trying to maximize our body's potential?
Speaker A:A little.
Speaker A:I mean, people are utilizing it, but.
Speaker A:But again, you know, biohackers.
Speaker A:Are you maybe using one way where.
Speaker A:I think with this, like with the CGM standpoint with monitor blood glucose for athletes, it's just okay, finding out where they perform their best, like what, you know, kind of carbohydrate level.
Speaker A:And we can see that.
Speaker A:And then if you see a really big dip, it's like, hey, you're under fueling.
Speaker A:We need to get some more carbohydrates on board.
Speaker A:Or maybe if their blood glucose really shoots up, it's like, all right, either they, they, they overdid it or kind of like I've talked about too is they've had a really high cortisol response.
Speaker A:So they're really under stress.
Speaker A:Hey, let's get the coach over there to calm them down, to bring them down.
Speaker A:Because that would be another thing where the CGM I would use it is if I had an athlete who, you know, we all had our pregame meal.
Speaker A:We go out there and you see an athlete, like, really spiking and blood glucose all of a sudden, that's probably because they're stressed.
Speaker A:And so that's athlete you might want to walk over to and be like, hey, let's do some breathing exercises.
Speaker A:Let's see what we can do to get that down where they're.
Speaker A:That athlete's not going to tell you they're stressed.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:They're going to put their poker face on and maybe hold their stick, but internally again, that.
Speaker A:That cortisol that's dumping in there, that's causing that blood glucose spike, that's not going to lie.
Speaker A:That's going to tell you how they actually feel.
Speaker B:Now, is that cortisol kind of eating away at some of the stores of energy?
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:And you want some of that.
Speaker A:So there's going to be a baseline, you know, some of that.
Speaker A:And that goes back to the monitoring.
Speaker A:So if you were to do this with your team, you would know, okay, one, everybody's about 145 or whatever number you know, we're at.
Speaker A:And then you track that over time, but then all of a sudden you come in and you got an athlete at 180.
Speaker A:Again, you know, something's wrong.
Speaker A:And so that allows you to hone in and either say, hey, they're under stress, Are they fighting an infection?
Speaker A:Like, there's all these other things that can help you as a coach or as a human performance professional adjust.
Speaker C:Yeah, it's cool.
Speaker C:You brought up the fact that this technology today, with the diabetes and things like that.
Speaker C:I'm reading a book, Caleb Dahlgren's book, Crossroads.
Speaker C:He was a member of the Humboldt Bronco team in Canada.
Speaker C:Unfortunately, they had an accident, but I'm reading his book and he talks about the same things.
Speaker C:He's a type 1 diabetic and he's a gamer.
Speaker C:He competes every day.
Speaker C:And he pushed himself to the limit.
Speaker C:He felt his body, but, you know, he put on that poker face and, you know, there were times where he passed out on the bench or whatever.
Speaker C:So it.
Speaker C:So it's nice that there's things that can read this stuff now and kind of give coaches and, yeah, those warning signs.
Speaker A:Yeah, you can stay ahead of it now with all the different monitoring and tracking devices.
Speaker A:I mean, the only downside is sometimes you can get buried in the data very easily.
Speaker A:You know, you start looking at, okay, how many, you know, G's did they pull during practice?
Speaker A:Load management and all those other factors.
Speaker A:But just some of the basic things that will trigger you to talk to the athlete about their hydration, their nutrition and how do they feel?
Speaker A:I think is really powerful.
Speaker B:If you could give, like a hockey player, you know, a youth athlete, really of any flavor, something that, you know, and I know you're getting into the soccer world, but you've been around this world for a long, long time.
Speaker B:You know, if there's something that you've seen as a pitfall or a negative, what is something that they could make kind of one change starting today, keeping that, you know, 1% better every day motto.
Speaker B:What's something that they should just look at improving, you know, right off the bat?
Speaker A:I, I'm going to go with it because I see so many youth athletes and myself included.
Speaker A:You know, I ended up in the hospital with IVs, hydration.
Speaker A:Like, I just found that, that athletes don't think about that enough until they get to the higher level or more experienced.
Speaker A:So for those, you know, youth athletes, weigh them before and after practice, weigh them before and after training, have that fluid ready for them, 16 to 20 ounces for every pound loss, Boom, have them drink it.
Speaker A:That is going to do.
Speaker A:Go so far in making sure that they're hydrated, which is going to affect their performance, you know, or degrade it more quickly than anything else they do.
Speaker C:Right.
Speaker A:If you go into a game dehydrated, it's going to affect your performance.
Speaker A:Your muscles start cramping, you know, that, that becomes problematic.
Speaker A:So if you can focus on hydration and say, okay, I'm going to drink, you know, a ounce of water for half my body weight, right?
Speaker A:In pounds, you know, and then I'm going to weigh myself before and after practice.
Speaker A:And for every pound loss, I'm going to drink 16 ounces of fluid over the next, you know, two to four hours to make sure I'm hydrated for the next day.
Speaker A:You're gonna be doing better than, you know, 99% of the population.
Speaker B:So just to put it in context, if you're on the bench and you're already feeling those effects of dehydration, is it kind of too late?
Speaker B:Like, at that point in the game, it's kind of too late to come back from that.
Speaker D:Right.
Speaker A:It's tough.
Speaker A:If you, if you're, you know, severely dehydrated, the literature, it can take you 24 to 48 hours to really get it all back.
Speaker A:And that's where if, let's say, you know, you have an athlete and they're cramping, right?
Speaker A:You got an athlete on the bench cramping, or they're, they're to the point of where they're already unhydrated.
Speaker A:That's where I would go.
Speaker A:Electrolyte, right?
Speaker A:Okay, let's, let's get Some electrolytes.
Speaker A:You were talking about that with the youth athlete.
Speaker A:Anybody?
Speaker A:Because at that point we want to get that fluid in the cell as fast as possible.
Speaker A:That's going to take sodium and glucose.
Speaker A:Water ain't going to get it done.
Speaker A:Let's go, you know, let's go.
Speaker A:Electrolyte beverage if they're already dehydrated or especially if they're cramping.
Speaker C:So we covered a lot of stuff and I'm sure we can go on for another hour or two on this stuff.
Speaker C:But so, so briefly is, is there anything that we didn't talk about today that you think it's important to, for either athletes or coaches or parents to know about?
Speaker A:I mean, the last thing I would say is for the young athletes, you know, one, be aware of anything you put on your body, in your body, like know what it is, what it's doing.
Speaker A:Don't ever fall for kind of the quick fix or, you know, something that you shouldn't put in.
Speaker A:It might be offered to say it increases performance.
Speaker A:Parents be aware of that as well.
Speaker A:Especially probably talking about like high school teenage athletes making sure whatever they're taking you, you know what they're taking.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker C:You understand?
Speaker A:Okay, this is creatine, this is protein.
Speaker A:I got it.
Speaker A:For him.
Speaker A:I would say that would be the biggest thing to kind of look out for, you know, a pitfall kind of.
Speaker B:Yeah, I think one of the biggest things I've heard you say multiple times and I think, you know, it's obviously permeated throughout a myriad of communities that you just can't really out train a bad diet.
Speaker B:Right?
Speaker A:Like, yeah, it's tough.
Speaker A:It's tough.
Speaker A:You know, it's going to, it's going to.
Speaker A:If all things are held equal, the person with a better diet is going to play.
Speaker A:And it's tough with you to get that selling point sometimes because when you are young, let's face it, you can get away with a lot.
Speaker B:That metabolism is cracking.
Speaker A:Yeah, it is.
Speaker A:But, but again, part of youth sports, and maybe this is also for the parents, is like, why are you doing it?
Speaker A:You are teaching them habits, you are teaching them, you know, toughness, you're teaching them work ethic.
Speaker A:It's just a vehicle for this.
Speaker A:Like most of the people listening to this, sorry, your kids aren't going to go to the NHL.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:And I, sometimes I think parents need to hear that because trust me, I, you know, and soccer parents are just, I see some parents, you know, coaching like the kids are going to turn pro.
Speaker A:It's Like, I'm sorry, you know, it's, hey, I love it.
Speaker A:I love the passion.
Speaker A:But also, don't lose sight of, like, why your kids are in sports.
Speaker A:Your kids are in sports to learn discipline, to have fun, to, you know, do all these other factors.
Speaker A:So, so make sure that's happening and, you know, bad habits aren't in there at the cost of, you know, trying to do the sport to a level that may never come to fruition for a lot of people.
Speaker A:Very, very few people ever make it pro.
Speaker B:And I love that analogy that, you know, and I think that's, you know, something that just really drove home for me is we're using this sport really as a vehicle for, to teach them these life skills, nutrition being one of them.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:To get us away from this population that we've hit in America where a lot of people are out of shape.
Speaker B:Right?
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:So teaching them these keys through.
Speaker B:If it's, if that's what it takes a sport to teach them how to eat right, then that's, that's all that matters.
Speaker B:And I know that you have shared so much knowledge with us and you, like, like I touched on earlier, you're all in on the recent publications.
Speaker B:You are at, like, the forefront of all the research that's coming out.
Speaker B:And you do share quite a, quite a bit of this information that I always find, you know, amazing on your social media platforms.
Speaker B:Is there a way for our listeners to either follow you on social media, whether that, you know, whatever platform you're the most active on, or, you know, hey, maybe they want to reach out to you and kind of sign up for a consultation, kind of, kind of go under your wing.
Speaker B:And just for our listeners.
Speaker B:Nick is my kid's personal dietitian, so I'm a little biased, but he's amazing and he is 100.
Speaker B:My kids, the healthy eating habits.
Speaker A:I appreciate that, Eric.
Speaker A:Yeah, so I'm just on Instagram.
Speaker A:NickBaringer, PhD, RDN.
Speaker A:You know, I share, I share.
Speaker A:Eric knows my, my Instagram.
Speaker A:I share research.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:I really share research or talk about research.
Speaker A:So you're not going to see any dance videos, you know?
Speaker A:No, no trends.
Speaker A:No, I'm not going to sing songs.
Speaker A:I'm not going to do any of that.
Speaker A:I share, I share research and give you science.
Speaker A:That's what you're going to get on that Instagram account.
Speaker A:And then drnickbanger.com is my website.
Speaker A:You can click there, you can message me or you can sign up.
Speaker A:I do a newsletter that I send out where you know, research I find that I'm interested in, I'll take.
Speaker A:And I'll break it down and kind of give you this.
Speaker A:The so what?
Speaker A:And then how I recommend applying it.
Speaker A:And so that's, that's probably the two best ways to either follow me or get a hold of me.
Speaker B:That's awesome.
Speaker B:I appreciate it, Nick.
Speaker B:I mean, this is, this is like a full circle moment for me.
Speaker B:So it's awesome.
Speaker B:This is, this has been fantastic.
Speaker B:And I think Chuck might have one one final question for you that we kind of ask all of our listeners.
Speaker B:And I know it'll be something that you will provide an out of the park answer on.
Speaker A:No pressure.
Speaker C:Like Eric said, we ask all our, all our guests this question at the end to wrap up because we like to get all the different ANSWERS.
Speaker C:What is Dr. Nick's definition of development?
Speaker C:Whether mental, physical, or any other aspect.
Speaker A:Of the word, My definition of development is this is going to be so cheesy.
Speaker A:And I'm sure you've got it before, is just, you know, trying to get better each and every day.
Speaker A:Getting a little.
Speaker A:Get a little better.
Speaker A:Right back to that, that 1%.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:That's it.
Speaker A:And the key is never stop developing.
Speaker B:That is true.
Speaker B:That is extremely true.
Speaker B:And I think that, you know, that's lost on a lot of people today.
Speaker B:You got to continue to try to, you know, do something to better yourself, whether that be, you know, in the kitchen, in the gym.
Speaker A:Oh, yeah.
Speaker B:Out in town as a, as a decent human being.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:Just try to get a little bit better every day.
Speaker A:And I'm still learning.
Speaker A:Hey, I don't, I don't know.
Speaker A:I don't have all the nutrition answers.
Speaker A:I learned something every day.
Speaker A:And sometimes it's, you know, I had an athlete I was working with and, you know, she told me something, she mentioned something in practice about GABA or whatever.
Speaker A:This, you know, this one thing and I didn't know it and like, I looked it up and I was like, man, she, she knows her stuff.
Speaker A:She's right.
Speaker A:You know, it.
Speaker A:It wasn't that I doubted her.
Speaker A:It's just always be open because you never know, you know, where this person had been competing at a high level for over 20 years and do something about nutrition.
Speaker A:I didn't know, but I was open to learn from her.
Speaker A:So I would also, you know, for.
Speaker A:Especially for the young listeners to always do that is just be open because you never know where that source of truth might come from as well.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Especially in today's like, AI based.
Speaker A:Yeah, right.
Speaker B:We gotta.
Speaker B:We gotta.
Speaker B:It's a slippery slope.
Speaker B:On what?
Speaker B:Oh, I learned this.
Speaker B:Where did you learn it?
Speaker B:I learned it on the Internet.
Speaker B:Well, yeah, I mean, they can't put anything on the Internet.
Speaker B:That's not true.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:So, I mean, be all right.
Speaker C:Didn't Abraham Lincoln say that?
Speaker B:I believe so.
Speaker A:Facts.
Speaker B:Well, brother, it has been an absolute pleasure having you on the podcast.
Speaker B:I appreciate you spending time with us and sharing just a wealth of knowledge.
Speaker B:It's, you know, it's been great for me.
Speaker B:My kids are, you know, eating as healthy as ever and I really attribute that to you and their mother and.
Speaker B:Because I really have nothing to do with.
Speaker B:Because they don't listen to me.
Speaker A:So.
Speaker B:Yeah, I mean, thanks again.
Speaker B:I appreciate, you know, your time on.
Speaker B:On a Friday night.
Speaker B:It means the world to us and I know that you're going to make an impact on our listeners like.
Speaker B:Like you have on me personally.
Speaker A:Awesome.
Speaker A:Hey, hey.
Speaker A:Thank you so much, Eric.
Speaker A:Thank you, Chuck.
Speaker A:The pleasure's been all mine.
Speaker A:And thank you to all the listeners.
Speaker A:Hopefully you got some actionable information from it.
Speaker B:All right, well, share with a friend, coach, parent or player if you think that we might be interested in benefit from the this podcast.
Speaker B:If you've enjoyed this episode, please leave a review on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.
Speaker C:Also, make sure you're following us on all those platforms so you can stay up to date on our guest topics and corporate partners.
Speaker C:Thank you for listening to this episode of Sharpening your Edge and we'll see you next time.