Fuelling a female footballer
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Good quality nutrition is key to sporting success. But while plenty of research exists on the impact of nutrition on performance, most of it has been done on male athletes. That\\u2019s despite female athletes now making up nearly 50% of participants in professional sport.
In the case of female footballers, research shows they could be consuming only half the carbohydrates they need. Not eating enough \\u2013 or under-fuelling \\u2013 as it\\u2019s known in footballing circles \\u2013 is thought to be endemic in the women\\u2019s game. Experts believe much of that is down to a lack of available information.
As the Women's Euros 2022 tournament raises the profile of women's football around the world, Ruth Alexander explores what it takes to fuel a female footballer and how focusing on the particular nutritional needs of sportswomen could make a huge difference to performance. She speaks to professional footballer, Ode Fulutudilu, a forward for the South Africa women\\u2019s national team, Aimee O\\u2019Keefe, performance nutritionist at Manchester United Women, Dr Jos\\xe9 Areta, lecturer in sports nutrition at Liverpool John Moore\\u2019s University in the UK, and Abbie Smith-Ryan, exercise physiologist and sports nutrition researcher at the University of North Carolina in the US.
If you would like to get in touch with the show, please email: thefoodchain@bbc.co.uk
(Picture: Two women playing football in an arena. Credit: Getty Images/BBC)
Producer: Elisabeth Mahy
The deadline for nominations for the award referenced at the end of this podcast has been extended to 23:00 GMT on Thursday 18th August 2022. \\n*Page updated 28 July 2022 due to entry window extension.
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