Impact of Nutrition-Based Interventions on Athletic Performance during Menstrual Cycle Phases: A Review

Macy M. Helm, Graham R. McGinnis and Arpita Basu
Additional contact information
Macy M. Helm: Department of Kinesiology and Nutrition Sciences, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, NV 89154, USA
Graham R. McGinnis: Department of Kinesiology and Nutrition Sciences, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, NV 89154, USA
Arpita Basu: Department of Kinesiology and Nutrition Sciences, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, NV 89154, USA

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 12, 1-21

Abstract: Despite the steady increase in female participation in sport over the last two decades, comprehensive research on interventions attenuating the influence of female menstrual physiology on performance remains scarce. Studies involving eumenorrheic women often only test in one menstrual phase to limit sex hormone variance, which may restrict the application of these findings to the rest of the menstrual cycle. The impacts of nutrition-based interventions on athletic performance throughout the menstrual cycle have not been fully elucidated. We addressed this gap by conducting a focused critical review of clinical studies that reported athletic outcomes as well as menstrual status for healthy eumenorrheic female participants. In total, 1443 articles were identified, and 23 articles were included. These articles were published between 2011 and 2021, and were retrieved from Google Scholar, Medline, and PubMed. Our literature search revealed that hydration-, micronutrient-, and phytochemical-based interventions can improve athletic performance (measured by aerobic capacity, anaerobic power, and strength performance) or attenuate exercise-induced damage (measured by dehydration biomarkers, muscle soreness, and bone resorption biomarkers). Most performance trials, however, only assessed these interventions in one menstrual phase, limiting the application throughout the entire menstrual cycle. Improvements in athletic performance through nutrition-based interventions may be contingent upon female sex hormone variation in eumenorrheic women.

Keywords: menstrual cycle; female athlete; exercise performance; rehydration; electrolytes; vitamins; minerals; phytochemicals (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/12/6294/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/12/6294/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:12:p:6294-:d:572627

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().