Female Athlete Nutrition: Myths, Truths, and What Science Actually Says
- Apr 23
- 4 min read
Are Carbs the Problem or the Solution? Do Female Athletes Lose Muscle Faster? Do Protein Needs Change with a woman's Cycle?
Uncover Everything You Need to Know about Female Athlete Nutrition
Ever since I started training when I was 13 years old, I've heard so many different things about female athlete nutrition that it was actually overwhelming, and I often felt like taking care of my food intake was an impossible task.
I worked with dietitians and nutritionists to help me eat properly for my performance, which definitely helped a lot, but I still struggled to be consistent and to know exactly what my body needed each week.
It wasn't until my late 20s that I started actually planning my diet with different phases and adjusting it to my cycle, as well as to the training periodization.
In this post I'd like to share with you some of the most common Myths that I've come across during my career, and what we can actually do to improve our diet to perform better.
Myth #1: “Carbs are the problem—female athletes should eat less of them”
The Truth: Carbohydrates are not the problem—they are the primary fuel source for performance, especially in endurance and high-intensity training. Restricting carbs often leads to fatigue, poor recovery, and decreased performance.
What Science Says: Research consistently shows that glycogen (stored carbohydrates) is essential for sustaining performance.
Low carbohydrate intake can impair training intensity and increase fatigue, particularly in female athletes who may already be at risk of low energy availability.
The American College of Sports Medicine recommends carbohydrate intake as a key component for athletic performance, especially for moderate to high training loads.
Studies on endurance athletes demonstrate that inadequate carbohydrate intake reduces time to exhaustion and overall output.
The type of carbohydrate, timing, and total amount of calories matter most when it comes to weight management for performance. So if you're cutting carbs randomly to get lean, beware that it might cost a great deal and slow your progress.
What This Means for You:
You don’t need to fear carbs—you need to use them strategically. Focus on fueling your harder training days instead of cutting them blindly.
Myth #2: “Female athletes lose muscle faster than men”
The Truth: Women do not inherently lose muscle faster than men.
In fact, research suggests that women may be more resistant to muscle fatigue and can maintain muscle mass effectively when properly fueled and trained.
What Science Says: Muscle loss is primarily influenced by factors like energy intake, protein consumption, and training—not gender alone. When these are adequate, female athletes maintain and build muscle efficiently.
Research published in the Journal of Applied Physiology shows that women have similar relative strength gains and muscle adaptations compared to men when following resistance training programs.
Some studies suggest women may rely more on fat metabolism during exercise, potentially preserving glycogen and delaying fatigue.
The reason a lot of us lose muscle quickly is because of not eating enough total calories, and especially not eating enough protein.
What This Means for You:
If you're losing muscle, look first at your total calories and protein—not your gender. Small adjustments can make a big difference.
Myth #3: “Protein goals stay the same throughout the menstrual cycle”
The Truth: Protein needs can fluctuate slightly across the menstrual cycle due to hormonal changes that affect muscle protein breakdown and recovery.
What Science Says: During the luteal phase (post-ovulation), progesterone levels rise, which may increase protein breakdown. This suggests that slightly higher protein intake during this phase may support recovery and adaptation.
Research in Sports Nutrition indicates that hormonal fluctuations can influence metabolism and recovery needs in female athletes.
A study published in Nutrients (2021) highlights that protein metabolism may be elevated in the luteal phase, suggesting increased dietary protein could be beneficial.
Learning how to adapt your nutrition to your cycle can make a huge difference in how we endure hard workouts. It can even have an impact on our mood and PMS symptoms.
What This Means for You:
You don’t need to overhaul your diet each week, but being slightly more intentional with protein during certain phases can improve recovery and how you feel.
This type of knowledge would have made all the difference in my early career, especially in preventing some major injuries - which I will talk more about on a future post - and in my overall experience throughout my cycles.
I will continue to bring more science and in-depth posts about each of these topics, but hopefully this was helpful at least in reframing some of the major sayings that we hear growing up in female sports.
If you enjoyed reading this post, and want to better understand how to balance training, nutrition, and life as a female athlete, start here:
You can also sign up to my Newsletter at the bottom of this page to receive new content and exclusive guides to help you!
📌 Quick Summary
Carbs = fuel, not the enemy
Muscle loss = usually underfueling
Protein needs = slightly dynamic across the cycle
References:
Thomas, D. T., Erdman, K. A., & Burke, L. M. (2016). Position of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, Dietitians of Canada, and the American College of Sports Medicine: Nutrition and Athletic Performance.
Mountjoy, M. et al. (2018). Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport (RED-S): Update.
Phillips, S. M. (2014). A brief review of higher dietary protein diets in weight loss.
McNulty, K. L. et al. (2020). The Effects of Menstrual Cycle Phase on Exercise Performance in Eumenorrheic Women: A Systematic Review.
Oosthuyse, T., & Bosch, A. N. (2010). The effect of the menstrual cycle on exercise metabolism.
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