Fueling Female Athletes: Why Nutrition Needs to Be Different

By Sophie Fisher

The Research Gap Nobody Talks About

Much of the research surrounding women’s health generally lacks the same emphasis as research conducted on men. Many of the studies that are meant to be for women are actually tested on men. This begs the question of why generalized information is often pushed on female athletes. Many female athletes suffer from increased injuries and pain that often goes unnoticed. Why are generalized nutritional guidelines applied to female athletes, whose physiological needs are inherently different from their male counterparts?

More Than a Performance Problem

Nutrition for female athletes is crucial to not just performance, but overall health. Low energy availability is a condition where athletes don’t consume adequate calories to support their bodies and their training. This condition is often seen in female athletes at numbers far higher than in men. It’s core to the Female Athlete Triad, a condition that intersects low energy availability, menstrual dysfunction, and decreased bone density. Rhetoric around fueling in female athletes obscures these conditions, disguised as low pain tolerances or dramatized symptoms. In reality, these symptoms cause long-term issues like increased injury risk and impaired recovery among others.

As research continues to expand in this space, it is becoming increasingly clear that underfueling is not only about performance but about health as a whole. RED-S, or Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport, is the framework that shows the extent of inadequate fueling on every system in the body. It doesn’t just affect energy levels or performance, but also hormones, cardiovascular health, and psychological health.

“Low energy availability can disrupt hormonal balance, including reductions in estrogen, which plays a critical role in bone health and reproductive function” (Aarhus University)

The Cycle

Although it seems like there is so much knowledge in this space, the reality is that many female athletes still underfuel, perpetuating this damaging cycle. In college, professional, and other athletic leagues, high training demands coupled with outside pressure leave female athletes susceptible to underfueling. The rhetoric that the smaller the athlete is, the faster they are, is both false and damaging. Countless studies demonstrate that low energy availability leads to decreased endurance, diminished strength, and increased risk of injury.

“Even short periods of insufficient energy intake can negatively affect metabolism and performance”(Aarhus University)

The Bigger Picture Behind Underfueling

The issue of underfueling in female athletes is not just about nutrition, body image, competition, or media, but reflects the broader ecosystem of challenges that female athletes face. Female athletes are often treated as smaller versions of male athletes, yet their bodies respond vastly differently to training, recovery, and nutrition. Instead of receiving specific support, female athletes are often left to manage on their own, putting both their performance and health at risk.

As research continues to shift and expand, systemic changes must occur both from the top down and the bottom up. If the world was to support female athletes, generalized guidance must be eliminated and systems must be designed to prioritize the distinct physiological needs of female athletes.