Is Underfueling A Load Of Rubbish?

In this episode of Fuelin Session, Scott sits down with Dr Alan McCubbin to work through the latest debate in endurance nutrition. Does REDS syndrome actually hold up? They cover Penny Slater's new paper on what athletes and coaches misunderstand about under-fueling, the Areta-led paper challenging the IOC's REDS model, and why the gap between energy availability and energy balance trips up so many athletes.

Studies

In this episode of Fuelin Session, Scott sits down with Dr Alan McCubbin to work through the latest debate in endurance nutrition. Does REDS syndrome actually hold up? They cover Penny Slater's new paper on what athletes and coaches misunderstand about under-fueling, the Areta-led paper challenging the IOC's REDS model, and why the gap between energy availability and energy balance trips up so many athletes.

Studies: An Exploratory Survey of Education Needs and Preferences Regarding Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport for Female Triathletes and Their Coacheshttps://journals.humankinetics.com/view/journals/wspaj/34/1/article-wspaj.2025-0029.xml

Mountjoy et al, 2023 International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) consensus statement on Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport (REDs) https://bjsm.bmj.com/content/57/17/1073

Does Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport (REDs) Syndrome Exist? https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11561064/

de Souza et al. 2025 Update to the Female Athlete Triad Coalition Consensus Statement Part 1: State of the Science and Introduction of a New Adolescent Model.** *Sports Med.* 56(2):327–373. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12982264/