Who to read in nutrition? 21/11/2011
As the end of the year fast approaches, today I have been reflecting upon the most common questions I am asked by personal trainers. Without doubt, questions on nutrition are the most commonly asked. Personal trainers, I think, struggle with this area the most because our primary education is not in the nutritional sciences - it's in exercise. So, because our grounding in the basics of nutrition is generally poor and our information predominately comes from 5 day courses, internet sites and blogs and popular books, there is little wonder why we are so confused with what to recommend to our clients and athletes in terms of what to eat or what supplement to take. Here are a few guidelines to think about: 1. Does the author or educator have a PhD (or a research masters in nutrition) from a real, accredited university in nutrition? A medical doctor is not a nutritionist. Degrees from non-accredited universities also don't count. The reason why Dr Mark C. Houston is so well respected is because he is a medical doctor who went back to university to earn a M.Sc in nutrition. 2. Do you read peer reviewed research conducted on humans with real endpoints tested with a control/placebo group? Do you read epidemiological studies? Do you read review studies? I had dinner recently with a professor of chemistry from Australia's most prestigious university who told me she reads over 100 peer reviewd papers a week! Reading popular books is good - but it can also be very confucing unless you have a solid foundation in nutrition to understand the differing opinions with the merits and problems with their arguments. 3. All claims made for the benefits of supplements or supplement doses MUST have scientific literature evaluating their proposed use with the dose, population group, placebo control, sufficient subject numbers with hard performance or clinical endpoints. Everytime a supplement or supplement dose is recommended, good hard science must be provided. If you don't know how to evaluate scientific research yourself, book someone's time who does to explain it to you - but don't try, recommend or sell supplements until you know how it works, the published research on it and its potential off-target side effects, toxicity and interactions with medications. We are not insured as personal trainers to be "functional medical practitionars". 4. Look for sensible, well credentialed nutritionists to guide you. If you recommend low carbohydrate diets to clients who are training hard an hour or more a day or who are athletes, you may want to rethink that nugget of advice. If you advise clients or athletes to swallow multiple supplements a day and have never read a research paper on humans with a placebo control group with good research design, you may want to rethink those pearls of wisdom. For general nutrition, explore the works or Dr Rosemary Stanton (new book The Choice Guide to Food), Professor Jennie Brand-Miller, Dr Joanna McMillan and food writer Michael Pollan. For sports nutrition and supplementation, immerse yourself in the work of Dr Louise Burke, Professor Asker Jeukendrup, Professor Inigo Mujika and Professor Stuart Phillips. It is fine to be a critical thinker, to ask "how do you know that" and "what is the science behind that" is a must for all personal trainers. We have a tendency to be easily led by gurus in our industry. It is time to up our critical thinking skills to serve our clients better. Comments Comments are closed. | 
ABOUT TONY Tony is the director of the Boutagy Fitness Institute and has recently completed a PhD in sports science at Charles Darwin University. He is also an Adjunct Associate at the University of the Sunshine Coast. Previously, Tony has been a lecturer at the Australian Fitness Network, the Australian Institute of Fitness, the Australian Catholic University, NetFit New Zealand, New Zealand Weightlifting & is currently on the editorial board for The University of the Sunshine Coast's Fitness Research program, a member of the Australian Institute of Fitness Personal Training Advisory Panel and sits on an expert task force panel for Fitness Australia. Having written strength workouts for athletes in 24 different sports, Tony is actively involved in strength & conditioning and providing educational seminars & resources for personal trainers. Tony was the recipient of the 2004 Australian Fitness Industry’s Author of the Year Award and is a certified ART provider for the entire body and long nerve tract. He is a member of the American Society of Nutrition (ASN), the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM), the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the National Lipid Association (NLA), the American Nutraceutical Association (ANA) and The National Strength & Conditioning Association (NSCA). In his spare time, Tony enjoys cooking (mainly Thai), playing guitar (mainly classical) and reading (mainly ancient history). ArchivesMay 2012 Categories |
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