Calcium is one of the most important minerals in our body. In fact, without calcium we wouldn’t be able to stand or eat as 99% of our calcium is in our bones and teeth!

A small amount of calcium is also dissolved in the blood and is essential for our heart, muscles, blood and nerves. In fact, every contraction of our muscles requires calcium.

So how much calcium do we need and where do we find it? 

Calcium Requirements

After higher calcium needs as a growing teenager, our requirements stabilise at 1000mg/day until they increase again as we get older. This is because calcium isn’t absorbed as well in our later years.

We achieve peak bone mass by our early 20’s so it’s important to lay down a good foundation in our teenage years to set you up with good bone density for life.

Food sources of Calcium

In food terms, the best sources of calcium are dairy sources.

Check the label on your milk product and ensure that for each 250ml serve, it contains at...

Introducing Dave!

Dave aka Bangar can do it all. From indoor rowing to rugby, surf swimming, pool swimming and running, what can’t you do well Dave? Just quietly he holds the title for the No. 1 ranked Indoor Rower for the half marathon IN THE WORLD!

Dave’s next focus is on smashing his Gold Coast 10km run time with the goal to go sub 39 minutes this weekend. Good luck Dave!

_{Dave with his son Jack after blitzing the Burleigh Swim Run 2017}

Name: David

Current location: Palm Beach, QLD      

Profession: Turf Contractor

Sport of Choice: Running/Swimming

How many years have you been training and competing in your sport? 26 years

What got you into it in the first place? Looking for a new sport

What’s your favourite training session? 4-10 1km reps (running)

Main Competition or Event for 2017: Gold Coast 10km run + Burleigh Swim Run (Australia Day 2017)

Looking ahead to 2018 and beyond, what are your...

Introducing Bec!

An all-round LEGEND, Bec is one of our longest-standing clients! She even has an original meal plan with our old logo on it – sorry about that Bec From humble beginnings as a triathlete 3 years ago, she’s gearing up to race Cairns IRON(Wo)MAN this weekend. Good luck Bec! You’re going to absolutely smash it!
 

Name: Rebecca aka Bec

Current location: Mackay, QLD      

Profession: Podiatrist

Sport of Choice: Triathlon, but my first love was and still is netball – I’ve retired from playing now to coach

How many years have you been training and competing in your sport? On and off since 2010, started taking triathlon more seriously in 2015

What got you into it in the first place? I love a challenge and a few people I went to university with competed at a pretty decent level so they were a bit of inspiration for me

What’s your favourite training session? Long rides or a brick...

We look at the latest evidence on what cramps are, why we get them, how to prevent them and how pickle juice may be able to help.

What are muscle cramps?

Ah cramps! They make me nervous just thinking about them! Most of us have had one at some point or another but what are they exactly?

A cramp is defined as a painful spasmodic involuntary contraction of a skeletal muscle which occurs during or after exercise. There are actually two main types of cramps:

1. Whole-body cramping, but thankfully these are not as common;
2. Exercise-Associated Muscle Cramps (EAMC). This type of cramping involves individual muscles or groups of muscles and is common in the calf, hamstring and quadriceps. Think a calf cramp as you go to push off the wall in the pool. It typically involves the muscle being used.
   
   

Cramping prevalence has been reported to be as high as 6-20% during Ironman events, 30-50% in marathon runners, 60% in cyclists and 30-50% in team sports.

Although localised and short in...

Schools are back…”Phew!” I hear you say… Kids are kept busy for the term and parents can find their sanity again.

With back to school also comes the challenge of school lunches. They can be fun for the first week or two and then boredom sets in for both parents and kids alike. Here are a few tips on packing school lunches to make your life easy and fun.

1. Have your tools ready

Containers of different shapes and sizes make packing lunch easy and allow you to separate foods so juices from one don’t run into the other. Have an insulated bag to put all your containers into to keep lunches fresh in this hot weather.

2. Cold packs

Food safety is important; especially with the summer heat, cold packs are a must to keep your kids food cold until lunchtime.

3. Stick with a basic structure

(it's much easier to slot things in if you have a basic plan):

• Brain snack: small apples, pears, carrot or cucumber sticks, strawberries or snacking tomatoes...

As the Turmeric latte surges to the front of the trend list, what is it about this spice that’s causing all the hype? We take a look at what it is, the potential benefits and how to include it in your diet. 

Why the hype?

Turmeric is a golden yellow spice that has been used for centuries in Indian cooking. Turmeric contains the bioactive compound Curcumin, which has strong antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. It’s claimed to have a positive effect on heart disease, irritable bowel syndrome, diabetes, arthritis, depression, anxiety, Alzheimer’s disease, colorectal cancer and many other conditions. Be mindful though that research for these benefits has been done in vitro (in a petri dish) or in animal models (mostly rats) which is difficult to extrapolate to humans. The research in humans is limited and more trials are needed.

How much Turmeric and Curcumin may benefit?

It’s not as simple as adding a little turmeric to your latte or smoothie....

Sports Supplements are everywhere!  I struggle to keep up with the latest products on the market with new brands popping up every week. As many athletes search for that ‘magic bullet’, sports supplements have become a multi-billion dollar industry. In fact, a recent study found that 40-70% of athletes take supplements. 

A nutrition supplement, as the name suggests, is designed to supplement the diet and should never replace it. My approach as a dietitian is always “food-first” as your day-to-day nutrition is where you will see the greatest health and performance benefits long term. Supplements are considered the sprinkles, on the icing on the cake. It’s important to get the foundations of a balanced, healthy diet in training right first (the sponge), before adding the icing and even considering the sprinkles.

Supplements typically fall into three main categories: Sports foods and fluids, Medical supplements and Performance supplements.

Sports...

We asked Professional Cyclist Nic Moerig to provide a little bit of insight into what it’s like on the road as an elite athlete. Her account may surprise you…

Words by Nic Moerig

At World Tour races you are constantly surrounded by athletes from the World’s top teams. You race together, stay together and eat together. In the dining hall, you’re surrounded by the greats. Wiggle, High5, Rabo, Liv and Boels-Dolmans to name a few. It still puts me in my place, being surrounded by these amazing athletes with years of experience over and above me.

I never would have expected eating in this sort of environment would have made me feel so self-conscious about my food choices. Filling up my plate at the buffet and parading around in front of the rest of the peloton with my selection of dinner on display is a nerve-wracking experience. Yes, I see the eyes watching me, just as I watched my competitors do the same walk of judgement back to their designated seats. How...

There can be many reasons for feeling tired and exhausted sometimes. Keeping up with the demands of training, getting enough sleep, managing stress, eating well and staying hydrated are all factors that affect how we feel day to day. Meeting our vitamin and mineral requirements is also key to feeling energised. A common culprit to feeling flat for no apparent reason is iron deficiency.

The importance of iron for athletes

Iron is an essential nutrient for a number of fundamental functions within the body.  Iron is important for:

• red blood cell (RBC) production,
• transporting oxygen around the body (via haemoglobin),
• storing oxygen in the muscle (via myoglobin – a special protein responsible for the red colour of muscles),
• energy production systems
• helping to maintain a healthy immune system.
  
  

It’s also an important nutrient for athletes as it plays a key role in aerobic metabolism (the slow and steady type of exercise) where energy is extracted from carbohydrate,...