June is National Dairy Month, so it’s the perfect time to pay homage to a glass of milk, and all the nutritional benefits it provides.

In particular, in this video I explain how its benefits deserve a second look for building muscle and improving performance.

Dairy tends to get a bad rap due to allergies and lactose intolerance, and this is a legitimate reason to avoid it for people who have these issues. For those of you without this sensitivity however, and if you’re an athlete trying to gain muscle and boost your training or performance, dairy should have a place in your diet!

As an excellent source of calcium, protein and carbohydrates, dairy has a full amino acid profile of the 9 essential branch chain amino acids. These are needed for building muscle, in particular leucine, and can only

Similar to dairy, sugar has gotten a bad rap, and many people now avoid it like the plague. See my blog which raises a glass to The Benefits of Milk for Building Muscle.

Yes, there’s good reason to avoid too much refined white sugar, for all the health reasons we’re familiar with. However, there are different types of sugar that actually provide nutritional benefits.

Nature provides us with other delicious options to choose from and less need for artificial sweeteners.

Do you know the two natural sweeteners that contain antioxidants, vitamins and minerals? And which one also has anti-cancer properties?

Watch to learn more about these better options to white sugar, and which option has a lower glycemic index.

Want to improve your diet to support your performance goals in your sport? Reach out to me by scheduling a free

Every summer I work with young athletes to help them understand their hydration needs, and to establish a hydration protocol for parents to help their athlete implement.

It’s a “hot” topic every summer (pun intended!), because it’s such a critical component of their health and performance, and the consequences of dehydration are so serious. Just a 1% body weight loss from dehydration is enough for a young athlete to feel the effects, and any other medical condition they might have can increase their fluid loss even more.

You might be surprised to learn that young athletes don’t cool down the same as adults do. Rather than by sweating and evaporation, they cool down more by radiation (transferring their heat to something else such as a cool towel). Tip – take a cooler with cold towels and cloths!

Radiation aside, drinking enough fluids

Great things come with age, but when it comes to maintaining your muscles, you need to up your game to avoid age-related muscle loss.

Sarcopenia is muscle loss that occurs with aging and/or immobility, and sadly after 30, we start to lose muscle mass by 3% to 5% each decade.

But – it doesn’t have to be this way! What’s the answer?

We can do a lot to delay this effect of aging with the one-two punch of:

1. getting in enough protein coupled with,
2. lifting weights.

In this video, I reveal plenty of sources of protein you can easily get into your diet that contain the essential amino acids your muscles need. Plus – I also break down the effects of Intermittent Fasting on your muscles that might surprise you.

Be sure to also check out my other videos: The Benefits

I hear from parents at the start of every school year looking for a nutrition plan to support their athlete.

Pre-fueling for practices and games after school is especially important to help them perform at their best, so it’s one of the top questions I get asked about.

After school events can be tricky if they’re not going home before practice, and what’s needed is energizing food that is portable, quick and easy. For the optimal time-release of energy, they also need a snack that’s high in carbohydrates, with a little bit of protein or fat. Too much protein or fat will slow down their digestion, which can lower their energy.

So what should they eat?

Watch this video for my examples of what food your young athlete can take to school with them to eat before practice.

What do you feed them?

You don’t want them going to bed on an uncomfortably full stomach, but not an empty one either. It’s important to feed them after a long evening of competition, to support training adaptation. By not feeding them, you’re doing their body a disservice.

But rather than just grabbing a bag of chips, you want to choose nourishing food that helps build and repair their muscles.

Luckily, it’s simpler than you think to quickly feed your athlete with healthy food late at night before bed. You can easily prepare it ahead of time for either the ride home in the car, or soon after returning home.

Watch my video to first learn the 3 things you need to focus on when feeding your young athlete at night after performing –

Hint….Don’t throw away that chicken carcass.

Collagen is all the rave right now in the world of nutrition, and for good reason. Be sure to see my video, Is Collagen Protein Good For You? to learn more about the different types of collagen protein, and the many benefits for your overall health, aesthetics and healing from injuries.

One thing I love about my work is helping clients not only improve their diet to support their health and performance, but to do so in a way that’s simple, affordable, and totally doable! Similar to making your own sports drink, sure you could purchase the many expensive collagen powders on the market, and there are plenty that will empty your wallet. OR… you can obtain natural collagen from real food, and one of the best ways is from bone broth.

But what are the signs to look for?

What do you do, and more importantly, what don’t you do?

? Do learn more about the topic and seek professional help.

? Do not wait.

This topic is near and dear to my heart, and you can learn why in my 3-part series, My Personal Struggle With an Eating Disorder.

I have parents who contact me all the time that are concerned about their child, teen, or young athlete. It’s the best first step they can take to set in motion a plan of action. To get effective support, parents need to work with a professional such as a sports dietitian whose work focuses on disordered eating, otherwise the real issue might be overlooked. And the longer disordered eating continues, the greater chance of it developing into a