Carbs are the enemy
If there is one nutrition myth that refuses to die, it is this one. The idea that carbohydrates make you fat, slow you down or need to be eliminated has been around in various forms since the low-carb craze of the early 2000s. Two decades later, it is still circulating in gym locker rooms and wellness podcasts alike.
Here is what the science actually tells us. Carbohydrates are the body ' s preferred fuel source, particularly for high-intensity exercise. Your muscles store carbohydrates as glycogen, and when you train hard, glycogen is what powers you. Depleting it without replenishing it does not make your body leaner by default. It makes your performance worse, your recovery slower, and your training less effective over time.
What has given carbs a bad reputation is largely context. Ultra-processed, high-sugar foods certainly contribute to poor metabolic health when consumed in excess. But lumping a bowl of oats, a banana or sweet potato into the same category as a bag of chips is nutritional malpractice. The source, the timing and the quantity of carbohydrate matter enormously.
For athletes and active individuals especially, carbohydrates are not optional extras. They are a performance essential. Research consistently shows that adequate carbohydrate intake supports training output, muscle preservation, immune function and recovery. If you are training hard, eating low-carb and wondering why you feel flat, fatigued and irritable, now you know why.
Do not fear carbs. Fear the misinformation.
Energy drinks: Yes or no?
Energy drinks occupy a polarising space in sports nutrition. On one side you have people who swear by them as a pre-workout necessity. On the other, parents, health professionals and media outlets warning of cardiac events and dependency. As with most things, the truth lives somewhere more nuanced.
The primary active ingredient in most energy drinks is caffeine, and caffeine is one of the most well-researched ergogenic aids in existence. At appropriate doses, typically between 3 and 6 milligrams per kilogram of body weight, caffeine has been shown to improve endurance, reduce perceived exertion, enhance focus and delay fatigue. The evidence here is robust. Caffeine works.
The problem with commercial energy drinks is rarely the caffeine itself. It is everything packaged around it. Many products contain excessive sugar, proprietary blends of compounds with limited safety data, and caffeine doses that, when combined with other dietary sources, tip well into problematic territory. For younger athletes in particular, high-caffeine beverages carry real risks including elevated heart rate, disrupted sleep and dependency.
There is also the issue of timing. An energy drink consumed 45 minutes before a session might genuinely improve your performance. The same drink at 9pm because you are tired will disrupt your sleep, blunt overnight recovery and leave you more fatigued the next day. That is not a winning strategy.
If you choose to use caffeine as a training aid, do so deliberately and with respect for the dose. A cup of black coffee, a pre-workout with transparent labelling or a low-sugar energy drink within appropriate limits can all be reasonable tools. But they are not a substitute for sleep, adequate nutrition and a sensible training load. Use with intention, not out of habit.
Intermittent fasting: Good or bad?
Few topics in nutrition have generated as much debate over the past few years as intermittent fasting. Depending on which corner of the internet you occupy, IF is either a metabolic miracle or a disorder in disguise. Reality is more layered than either of those positions.
Intermittent fasting refers to structured patterns of eating and fasting, with the most popular being the 16:8 model where eating is restricted to an eight-hour window. The proposed mechanisms vary, from improved insulin sensitivity and metabolic flexibility to caloric restriction by default. Some of the research is genuinely interesting. Studies have shown modest benefits for weight management, blood sugar regulation and certain inflammatory markers in specific populations.
However, the leap from promising research to universal recommendation is where things go wrong. Most intermittent fasting trials are short in duration, conducted in sedentary or overweight populations and do not account for individual differences in training load, hormonal status or history with food. For active individuals, particularly those training twice a day or doing high-volume strength work, compressing your eating window can make
NUTRITION
adequate caloric and protein intake genuinely difficult. Under-fuelling in the name of a trend is not performance nutrition.
There is also a meaningful conversation to be had about intermittent fasting and women ' s health specifically. Emerging evidence suggests that prolonged fasting windows may affect cortisol, thyroid function and menstrual regularity in some women, particularly those already under physiological stress. This does not mean IF is dangerous for women categorically, but it does mean the blanket recommendation to follow a 16:8 protocol regardless of sex, training age or health status is overly simplistic.
What I will say in its favour: if someone naturally gravitates toward eating later in the day, skips breakfast without feeling depleted and hits their nutritional targets within a compressed window, intermittent fasting may suit their lifestyle with no real downside. But if you are forcing yourself through two hours of training in a fasted state, feeling lightheaded, losing muscle mass or developing a difficult relationship with food to stick to a window, that is not health. That is compliance dressed up as wellness.
The bottom line
Nutrition should be a tool that works for you, not a rulebook that controls you. The most effective eating pattern is one that supports your training, suits your lifestyle, provides adequate fuel and micronutrients, and that you can actually sustain long term.
Before you cut out an entire macronutrient group, replace your meals with stimulants or restrict your eating window in the name of something you read in a caption, ask yourself one question. Does the evidence actually support this for someone like me, in my context, with my goals?
If the answer is uncertain, it might be worth speaking to a qualified sports dietitian or nutritionist before making the change. Evidencebased, individualised nutrition will always outperform generic trending advice.
The fitness industry will always have a new fad queued up for next month. Your job is not to follow every one of them. Your job is to cut through the noise, fuel well, train smart and keep moving forward.
Candice De Mendonca is a personal trainer and sports nutritionist and founder of The Fitness Hybrid.
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