Soon the 3rd Edition of the textbook Sport Nutrition by Professor Mike Gleeson and myself will hit the shelves. For the last 18 months we have been working closely with the publishers Human Kinetics to get this more than 600 page- book published. A lot has happened in the world of sports nutrition and the new textbook will reflect this! Here we will briefly discuss what is new in this textbook and why it should be adopted for Sports Nutrition courses around the world.
Mike Gleeson and I believe that in order to understand and apply the principles of sport nutrition, some basic understanding of nutrition is necessary, as is some knowledge of the biochemical and physiological processes that occur in cells and tissues. It is also important to understand the way in which those processes are integrated throughout the body. This book will introduce the reader to the principles that underpin sport nutrition and its relation to sports performance.
One of the reasons why we have so much confusion about nutrition and sports nutrition is that many people who do not possess knowledge of this important background (nutrition, physiology, biochemistry) communicate beliefs without really understanding the background.
A book is needed that provides a scientific underpinning of sport nutrition guidelines and advice: a book that provides a scientific basis for sport nutrition that covers the principles, background, and rationale for current nutrition guidelines for athletes.
Readers of this book do not need a deep understanding of biochemistry, biology, chemistry, or physiology, but they should be familiar with some of the main concepts because the physical, chemical, and biochemical properties of cells and tissues determine the physiological responses to exercise and the effect that nutrition has on these responses.
So what is new in this edition? First, this new edition contains a complete update of the nutrition guidelines, which have changed considerably since the last edition of the book. This includes a new chapter on healthy eating.
Another important new chapter examines adaptations to training and how they can be altered by nutrition. Major advances in this area have occurred, mostly because of developments within molecular biology. To understand the role of nutrition on adaptations to exercise training, it is essential to understand the underlying molecular changes. For example, how is it possible that resistance exercise results in more muscle whereas endurance training does not change muscle mass but may improve the quality of the muscle (e.g., its capacity to oxidize fat)? Molecular processes underlie these distinctly different adaptations to exercise. We have incorporated a bit more basic knowledge of the regulation of protein synthesis and gene expression. A completely new chapter is devoted to personalized nutrition which covers aspects related to nutrigenomics, periodized nutrition, sex differences, nutrition requirements for the young and the older athlete, the nutrition challenges for the diabetic athlete, and nutrition for different sports and situations.
The book is also improved in terms of illustrations.
Here is a link where you can get a preview into the new book: http://bit.ly/jeukendrupandgleeson
In brief, this new edition has been updated in all areas and has been significantly expanded in areas that are most important in sport nutrition. But not only the theory has been updated, expanded and improved, the practical applications gets a lot more attention too.
We think anyone interested in sports nutrition can benefit from this book. It is not a book to read on a beach with a cocktail. Someone on twitter, asked if this would be available as an audiobook because he did not like to read.... well, this book is definitely not for this purpose. This book is for someone who wants to really expand their knowledge of sports nutrition, really get a deeper understanding and is willing to study! The book can of course also be used to look up a particular topic and thus function as a Encyclopedia or Wikipedia of sports nutrition.
