Diet and risk of running-related injuries 🚨
Nutrients that might be worth monitoring.
Diet, risk of disordered eating and running-related injury in adult distance runners: A systematic review and meta-analysis of prospective cohort studies
Background
A poor diet can lead to increased risk of injury, but what does the data show specifically about runners? 🧐
Study Details
This new meta-analysis compiled data from 15 studies and 5,942 runners (2,364 females) 🔍
Key Findings
Here are the key findings ⬇️
Male runners consumed more energy and total fat intake than female runners 🏃♂️
Injured female runners had lower…
🔥 Energy intake (-449 kcal/day)
🥑 Fat intake (-20 g/day)
…vs uninjured runners.
Injured runners (men + women) had lower dietary fibre intake (-3 g/day) vs uninjured runners 🫘
Other factors including…
🥩 Protein
🍞 Carbohydrate
🥛 Calcium
🍺 Alcohol intake
🍽️ Disordered eating risk
…did not influence injury risk ❌
Conclusion
Female distance runners with lower energy and dietary fat intake are at increased risk of injury ⚠️
👉 as are runners with low dietary fibre intake
Runners (and practitioners working with these groups) should emphasise these nutrient intakes‼️