Super Digestible - July 2026 ✅
You monthly nutrition science cheat sheet.
I Missed a Day! 😖
First one since starting the newsletter and it ends the 641 day streak! Slightly annoying as the post was ready I just put in the wrong date for publishing.
Anyhow, as a wee apology this edition of Super Digestible is free to all subscribers. Please enjoy and thanks again for being a valued subscriber to Performance Nutrition Digest.
ICYMI: Fuel The Distance is now available
I launched Fuel The Distance: The Complete Marathon Nutrition Guide, a 64-page science-based guide covering daily fuelling, carb loading, race-day nutrition, gels, hydration, electrolytes, gut training, recovery and example marathon fuelling plans.
What is Super Digestible?
Every day I post a research breakdown of the latest nutrition science related to human performance, health and the power of food. The daily 1-min reads are a great way to stay on top of the research. But, I want to make actionable summaries even more accessible 📝
Therefore, I started Super Digestible, a monthly newsletter containing a one-to-two sentence summary of each study I’ve reviewed that month. Focusing specifically on how you can apply these findings in your own practice ✅
Each study will be filtered into: DO, CONSIDER, DON’T. Based on the research findings, paired with my professional experience in the world of elite sport 🏆
This is your monthly research cheat sheet, so you can stay at the very pinnacle of science-based performance nutrition 🏔
A huge shoutout to Daniel Rowland who inspired this format. I highly recommend following Daniel’s Endurance: Ideas & Implementation Substack.
The Super Digestible newsletter is a paid subscriber special. If you’re not a paid subscriber yet but want to know more, check out the January 2025 edition for free!
Each item is linked to the original research breakdown. Just click on the DO, CONSIDER, DON’T 👈
Please note that paid subscribers have access to all previous research breakdowns via the Performance Archive 📚
✅ DO these things…
DO: Supplement with blackcurrant extract, acute doses of 300 - 600 mg can improve strength, power, lifting volume and cognitive performance 📈
DO: Utilise lower doses of caffeine (≤ 3 mg/kg) to enhance endurance performance, you don’t always need moderate to high-doses to see benefits, plus it’s less likely to disturb sleep ☕️
DO: Target higher carb intakes (60 - 90 g/hr +) and higher sodium intakes if you are aiming for a fast finish in ultramarathons, data from the Western States Endurance Run show that these priorities support higher intensity running and better finishing times ⛰️
DO: Supplement with polyphenols including tart cherries (for recovery), blackcurrant extract (for performance), pomegranate (for performance) and turmeric (for recovery) 🍒
DO: Manage the interaction between gut tolerance, appetite, heat stress, psychology and practicality alongside carbs, fluids and electrolyte intake for ultramarathons, it’s a multifaceted challenge as outlined in this paper on the Marathon des Sables 🏜️
DO: Prioritise whey protein as your primary source of supplemental protein, in addition to benefits in and around training sessions it appears to also improve sleep and recovery when compared to casein 💤
DO: Where possible, implement > 31 min naps into training and competition routines, evidence shows this has significant benefits to endurance and power performance 😴
DO: Utilise GI symptom management strategies for adult athletes with youth athletes, evidence suggests that pathways are similar and therefore these tools / approaches are transferable 😮💨
DO: Employ food-based antioxidant strategies to support adaptations to endurance training, recovery during heavy training blocks and in congested competition periods, during eccentric exercise blocks, during heat stress or environmental strain, during travel or tournament settings and when returning from illness 🫐
DO: Add vitamin C to l-arginine supplementation, this increases arginine bioavailability and has been shown to improve VO2max, body composition and testosterone levels in bodybuilders 📈
DO: Combine structured healthy nutrition interventions (e.g. breakfast clubs) and physical activity (including cognitive components) in the morning before school, it has significant benefits to cognitive performance, academic achievement and physical fitness 🎓
DO: Use fish oils (3000 mg/day) and creatine (3 - 5 g/day) to support recovery after concussion in contact sports, these are low risk and potentially high reward supplements which are typically already used routinely by many athletes 💥🧠
DO: Plan hydration and carbohydrate intake as equally important during endurance exercise, dehydration can reduce how effectively athletes use the carbs they consume by impairing carb oxidation 🥵🚨
DO: Use split or multi-day dosing protocols, enteric-coated products and carbohydrate-hydrogel mini-tablets to reduce GI distress when using sodium bicarbonate 🧂
DO: Use caffeine (3 mg/kg) to improve sprint performance, reduce RPE and improve passing performance in rugby 🏉
🤔 CONSIDER these things…
CONSIDER: A higher dose of creatine (> 5 g/day), results from this paper showed that 5 g/day was not sufficient to elicit changes in muscular adaptations, also timing of creatine probably doesn’t matter much 🙅♂️
CONSIDER: That you probably don’t need to add carbs to your post-workout protein shake to enhance resistance-training outcomes, it has little effect (if any at all), but if you are training later in the day then do add those carbs for performance purposes 💪
CONSIDER: Ashwagandha (500 - 600 mg/day) to support aerobic exercise performance, it may not be a game changer but could offer benefits, also it doesn’t appear beneficial for strength / power performance 🫚
CONSIDER: That beta-alanine may not be as effective for female athletes, evidence suggests only small benefits for time-to-exhaustion with limited to no evidence for any other performance outcome ‼️
CONSIDER: Dark chocolate, daily mindfullness yoga, cryotherapy and (when medically directed) acetaminophen to help manage menstrual cycle symptoms as a female athlete 🩸
CONSIDER: Turmeric / curcumin supplementation to support recovery during high training stress, repeated competition, or when reducing excessive soreness and oxidative stress is the priority 🫚
CONSIDER: Probiotic supplementation alongside intensive endurance training blocks to boost physical and psychological recovery 🦠
CONSIDER: That intermittent fasting does not appear to compromise chronic resistance-training adaptations (as long as total daily calorie and macronutrient intake is sufficient) ⏰
CONSIDER: Collagen supplementation (15 g/day) to enhance resistance-training induced adaptations including muscular type I collagen content which can provide structural support and transmit contractile force to tendons 💪
CONSIDER: That total fasting (e.g. water fasting, complete food deprivation) duration (> 3 days) may lead to greater weight loss but also comes at the expense of greater fat free mass loses 🩻
CONSIDER: HMB supplementation (90 mg/kgFFM/day) to optimise aerobic performance gains including VO2max, power output at anaerobic threshold and heart rate metrics 🫁
CONSIDER: Astaxanthin (12 mg/day) to support fat oxidation and potentially improve endurance performance in female athletes 🧐
CONSIDER: Ketone monoesters before and during exercise in the heat, it appears to improve both endurance and cognitive performance when combined with pre-exercise caffeine 🌡️
CONSIDER: 20-min power naps during multi-day ultramarathons to improve cognitive performance, lower risk of making mistakes and improve fatigue management without compromising your finishing time, data from the Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc 💤
🚨 DON’T do these things…
DON’T: Just use symptom reporting to analyse gastrointestinal symptoms in athletes, as it likely underestimates GI issues, it should therefore be paired with blood biomarker data (e.g. IL-6, IL-10, IL-1ra) 🩸
DON’T: Aim for (or provide) general body composition targets for football players, evidence from over 900 DEXA scans shows that pro football players are commonly over 10% body fat and targets should be based on playing position, competition level, ethnicity and seasonal phase, rather than just pulled out of thin air ⚽️
As a paid subscriber to the newsletter you are also automatically entered into a monthly giveaway where you can win a £50 voucher for Healthspan Elite (our primary partner and leading science-led sports nutrition provider), plus a years membership to Sports Nutrition Digest (your science-based sports nutrition toolkit) 💰
Thanks for supporting nutrition science communication! 🤝
If you’ve enjoyed reading Super Digestible, consider becoming a paid subscriber of the newsletter to continue to receive your monthly copy ✅
Performance Nutrition Digest is powered by Healthspan Elite ⚡️
Healthspan Elite is a science-led sports nutrition range developed in collaboration with leading experts to support athletic performance, recovery, and health.
Use code: TCDIGEST25 for 25% off at https://www.healthspanelite.co.uk/ 💪