Thinking Nutrition

If you've ever necked a protein shake the second you walk out of the gym to start building new muscle, taken on extra carbohydrate to help refuel muscles, or reached for a supplement promoted for its anti-inflammatory benefits the day after leg day because you're limping down the stairs, then you're following standard advice about exercise recovery and adaptation. But a new scientific review has pulled together research on exercise recovery nutrition, and it's arguing that there could be some benefit in thinking about things a little differently. The simple premise is that recovery nutrition should match the next athletic demand, rather than simply minimising soreness. In this episode, I walk you through what is termed "recovery-adaptation coupling", and outline what it could mean for how you eat around your training and recovery and what types of supplements could be worth considering.

Links referred to in the podcast

• Nutritional strategies for recovery–adaptation coupling after exercise https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC13468400
• AIS Sports Supplement Framework https://www.ausport.gov.au/ais/nutrition/supplements

Episode transcript
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After water, tea is the most popular drink in the world. We turn to it for comfort, for a break in the day, and increasingly, for its claimed mood‑calming powers. Scroll through social media and you’ll find no shortage of claims that tea, or more so one of its bioactive compounds called L‑theanine, are a natural answer to stress and anxiety. In this podcast episode, I take a closer look at those claims through the lens of a new review that pulled together clinical trials on green tea, its key bioactive compounds, and mood with a particular focus on L‑theanine and anxiety.

Links referred to in the podcast

• Thinking Nutrition podcast episode 12 on tea and health https://thinkingnutrition.buzzsprout.com/808853/episodes/3156961-drink-tea-and-carry-on
• Systematic review on tea and its effects on mood https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40722728

Episode transcript
To access the full episode transcript, go to the following link and select the individual podcast episode and then click on the ‘Transcript’ tab https://thinkingnutrition.buzzsprout.com

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One of the best guides to food variety is colour. And for colour, there’s a group of natural plant chemicals called anthocyanins that are getting a lot of attention for their potential benefits on the brain. Anthocyanins are the pigments that give red, purple, and blue plants their rich colouring – they literally put the ‘blue’ into blueberries. A few years back on this podcast, I took you through the science of anthocyanins and brain health. In this episode, I’m revisiting that story with new research. In this episode, I’ll unpack what this new research review found, how it fits with what we already know about anthocyanins and the brain, and what it all means for your shopping basket and your long-term cognitive health.

Links referred to in the podcast

• Podcast episode 81 on berries and brain health https://thinkingnutrition.buzzsprout.com/808853/episodes/9099255-blue-is-the-new-black-berries-anthocyanins-and-your-brain-health
• Systematic review on anthocyanins and cognitive function 2025 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41351717

Episode transcript
To access the full episode transcript, go to the following link and select the individual podcast episode and then click on the ‘Transcript’ tab https://thinkingnutrition.buzzsprout.com

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If you’ve ever been stopped dead in your tracks during exercise by a muscle cramp, you know you’ll try almost anything to make it stop. There have been countless theories and remedies put forward to explain and treat a dreaded muscle cramp, but science still has a bit of catching up to do. But there is one particular treatment that has been gaining traction by athletes as a secret weapon to treat cramps. And it is one that sounds more like a pregnancy craving than a sports supplement: it is pickle juice. Is this just another passing fad, or is there actual science behind downing a shot of pickle brine to uncramp a muscle? In this podcast episode, I’ll cut through the noise to look at the evidence and the surprising mechanism of how it may work and spoiler alert: it has nothing to do with electrolytes.

Links referred to in the podcast

• Pickle juice ingestion in electrically induced muscle cramps  https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19997012
• AIS fact sheet on pickle juice https://www.ausport.gov.au/ais/nutrition/supplements/group_b/tastants/transient-receptor-potential-channel-agonists

Episode transcript
To access the full episode transcript, go to the following link and select the individual podcast episode and then click on the ‘Transcript’ tab https://thinkingnutrition.buzzsprout.com

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Athletes are always on the lookout for a new sports supplement that could give them an edge. And there certainly are some sports supplements that deliver on their promises: creatine and caffeine are two clear examples. But a new supplement is starting to gain traction for its performance benefits: and that’s the humble mushroom. There's now emerging science suggesting that certain functional mushrooms, particularly the varieties of Cordyceps and reishi (also known as Ganoderma lucidum), may offer genuine benefits for endurance, recovery and immune function in athletes. In this podcast, I unpack the research behind these fungal supplements to see what's real, what's hype and whether these mushrooms deserve a spot in your supplement arsenal.

Links referred to in the podcast

• Review of the effect of mushroom supplementation on performance in athletes https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/nutrition/articles/10.3389/fnut.2025.1670416/full

Episode transcript
To access the full episode transcript, go to the following link and select the individual podcast episode and then click on the ‘Transcript’ tab https://thinkingnutrition.buzzsprout.com

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If hearing that athletes are downing shots of beetroot juice to improve their performance makes you exclaim: “What sorcery is this?”, you’re not alone. But this isn’t just another passing fad - there’s some solid science showing that the nitrates found in beetroot juice can boost sports performance. From improving blood flow to enhancing muscle efficiency, beetroot juice has gained traction among endurance athletes and sprinters alike. In this podcast episode, I take a dive into what the research says about this vibrant supplement, its likely benefits, and what it might mean for your performance goals.

Links referred to in the podcast

• IOC consensus statement on dietary supplements and the high-performance athlete https://bjsm.bmj.com/content/52/7/439
• Review of beetroot juice and physical performance https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40573069
• Sports Dietitians Australia  www.sportsdietitians.com.au

Episode transcript
To access the full episode transcript, go to the following link and select the individual podcast episode and then click on the ‘Transcript’ tab https://thinkingnutrition.buzzsprout.com

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Cinnamon is a spice that has been used around the world for thousands of years. In addition to its use as a culinary ingredient, cinnamon contains bioactive compounds that have attracted attention for their potential health effects. One of these effects is how it can influence blood sugar levels which could have relevance for people with diabetes. In this podcast episode, I’ll look at what the clinical trials have to say on how cinnamon may help people with diabetes to keep their blood sugar levels under better control.

Links referred to in the podcast

• Review of cinnamon supplementation on metabolic markers in people with T2DM https://academic.oup.com/nutritionreviews/article-abstract/83/2/249/7699031

Episode transcript
To access the full episode transcript, go to the following link and select the individual podcast episode and then click on the ‘Transcript’ tab https://thinkingnutrition.buzzsprout.com

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Have you heard any of the buzz about NAD supplements? NAD is a molecule found in nearly every cell and sits at the heart of energy production and DNA repair. Our levels of NAD though can decline with age which has led to the idea that this could be one cause of many age-related diseases, chronic inflammation and cognitive decline. Enter the idea of boosting NAD levels by supplementing with NAD itself or its precursors called NMN and NR. A surface level reading of this topic will soon bring someone across all sorts of claims about benefits including extending lifespan, improving metabolic health and many more. In this podcast episode, I explain what these NAD family of molecules are and critique the clinical evidence to see how it stacks up in front of the health claims.

Links referred to in the podcast

• Review of effect of NR supplementation in humans https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.adi4862
• Review of NMN and NR supplementation on muscle mass and function https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12022230

Episode transcript
To access the full episode transcript, go to the following link and select the individual podcast episode and then click on the ‘Transcript’ tab https://thinkingnutrition.buzzsprout.com

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Creatine is one of the most well-researched and effective sports nutrition supplements for improving exercise performance. But that isn’t what I’m going to talk about in this podcast episode. Instead, I want to give the spotlight to creatine’s new moment in the sun thanks to evolving research linking it to improving brain and bone health. And then tying all this together, I’ll profile why it may just be one supplement that women could especially benefit from over men during their reproductive lifespan and beyond.

Links referred to in the podcast

• Systematic review of creatine supplementation and cognitive function 2018 https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6093191
• Systematic review of creatine supplementation and cognitive function 2022 https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9999677
• Systematic review of creatine supplementation and cognitive function 2024 https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11275561
• Clinical trial of creatine supplementation and CBT in the treatment of depression https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39488067
• Review of creatine supplementation and its applications for brain health https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10721691
• Dr Darren Candow on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/dr.darrencandow
• Clinical trial of creatine supplementation on bone health in post-menopausal women https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10487398
• Creatine supplementation in women’s health: A lifespan perspective https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7998865

Episode transcript
To access the full episode transcript, go to the following link and select the individual podcast episode and then click on the ‘Transcript’ tab https://thinkingnutrition.buzzsprout.com

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Adopting a plant-based diet is a trend that continues to grow in popularity. However, for people focused on muscle growth and strength due to their athletic pursuits, there may be concerns about whether their muscle development and sports performance are being compromised by eating predominantly protein from plant foods. In this podcast episode, I’ll explore the fundamental differences between animal and plant-based proteins, discuss the primary supplements available for each type, and review recent research on the effect of these different protein sources on muscle growth, strength and physical performance.

Links referred to in the podcast

• Systematic review of animal vs plant protein on muscle mass, strength and physical performance https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39813010

Episode transcript
To access the full episode transcript, go to the following link and select the individual podcast episode and then click on the ‘Transcript’ tab https://thinkingnutrition.buzzsprout.com

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