Women’s sports is on the rise – BIG TIME! All you have to do is turn on your TV. Stadiums and arenas are sold out. TV ratings are through the roof. With rock star women athletes like WNBA basketball star Caitlin Clark and Olympic Gold medalist sprinter Sha’Carri Richardson, among others, leading the way, the future is bright for women participating in sports.

Additionally, according to Yahoo Finance, the sports nutrition market has experienced remarkable growth in recent years and continues to expand at a robust pace. The sports nutrition market size was valued at $45.24 billion in 2023 and is expected to expand at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 7.5 percent from 2024 to 2030. This growth can be largely attributed to women’s consumption of sports nutrition products.

Differing Nutritional Needs

Optimal nutrition is an important aspect of an athlete’s preparation to achieve optimal health and performance. While general concepts about micro- and macronutrients and timing of food and fluids are addressed in sports science, rarely are the specific effects of women’s physiology on energy and fluid needs highly considered in research or clinical practice. Women differ from men not only in size, but in body composition and hormonally, and also differ from one another.

Women athletes make up nearly 50 percent of sports participants. Unfortunately, research into optimizing nutrition for health and performance specific to female physiology is lacking. Men and women have been taking supplements in the quest to be stronger and faster. And that’s exactly why people take them today. The big question is do women need them? And if so, which ones?

These are hard questions to answer, especially for women. The dietary supplement industry is a multibillion-dollar industry where the research that has been done has been done mostly on men.

However, there is growing research on sports nutrition and its impact on women.

That said, amino acids play a critical role in women’s overall health. The body needs 20 different amino acids to maintain good health and normal functioning. Amino acids are grouped into three categories: essential, nonessential and conditional.

Amino acids are compounds that combine to make proteins. When a person eats a food that contains protein, their digestive system breaks the protein down into amino acids. The body then utilizes the amino acids in various ways to carry out bodily functions.

Amino acids build muscles, cause chemical reactions in the body, transport nutrients, prevent illness and carry out other functions. Amino acid deficiency can result in decreased immunity, digestive problems, depression, fertility issues, lower mental alertness, slowed growth in children, as well as many other health issues.

A balanced diet and strategic supplementation will help to ensure that you get a healthy intake of essential and nonessential amino acids throughout the day. Without an adequate intake of amino acids, the body will not be able to produce proteins as effectively. In some cases, the proteins in muscle and tissues will start to weaken or degrade.

Amino acids play a critical role in almost every system in the woman’s body, including (among others):

• Providing the body with energy: Isoleucine and valine, in particular, are good sources of energy to fuel the body.

• Enhancing the musculoskeletal system: Isoleucine and valine assists with healthy muscle function, while leucine works to repair muscles. Lysine promotes calcium absorption needed for bone growth. These Amino acids are good for healthy, toned muscles and strong bones. Isoleucine and valine are common ingredients in workout supplements because they target the muscles and boost energy.

• Regulating digestion: The body produces histamine, which positively impacts the digestive system. You need histidine to help generate histamine.

• Creating healthy sleep/wake cycles: Erratic sleep habits caused by insomnia, sleep apnea and stress, can take a toll on overall health. Histidine and tryptophan help to maintain normal circadian rhythms for impactful sleep.

• Supporting the immune system: Histidine, lysine and threonine help to boost immunity, so important in today’s COVID world.

• Producing neurotransmitters: These chemicals are the nervous system’s way of communicating with the body, regulating everything from appetite to mood. Phenylalanine not only produces some neurotransmitters, but other types of amino acids, as well.

• Stimulating the growth of healthy hair, skin and nails: Collagen and elastin significantly benefit skin health. These two proteins also promote hair and nail growth. Lysine assists with collagen production, while threonine helps generate collagen and elastin.

• Producing hormones: Amino acids, such as lysine, help to maintain healthy hormone levels. Amino acid hormones include epinephrine and norepinephrine, which oversee the body’s stress response, and thyroxine, which plays a role in metabolism.

• Maintaining a healthy weight: Methionine impacts metabolic rate and can also help with detoxification. Threonine is key for metabolizing fat.

• Impacting mood: Tryptophan produces serotonin, a hormone that’s essential for that “happy” feeling.

Protein consumption is also vital for women athletes. Whey protein isolate, the purest form available, is unsurpassed as a source of the essential amino acids required in the daily diet.

Women athletes need more protein in their diet, often as much as twice the recommended daily allowance for optimal performance. Whey protein makes a difference for the following reasons:

• Whey protein is a naturally complete protein, meaning that it contains all of the essential amino acids required in the daily diet. It has the ideal combination of amino acids to help improve bone density, body composition and enhance athletic performance.

• Whey protein is a rich source of branched chain amino acids (BCAAs), containing the highest known levels of any natural food source. BCAAs are important for women athletes since unlike the other essential amino acids, they are metabolized directly into muscle tissue and are the first ones used during periods of exercise and resistance training. Whey protein provides the body with BCAAs to replenish depleted levels and start repairing and rebuilding lean muscle tissue.

• Whey protein is an excellent source of the essential amino acid, leucine. Leucine is important for athletes as it plays a key role in promoting muscle protein synthesis and muscle growth. Research has shown that women who exercise benefit from diets high in leucine and have more lean muscle tissue and less body fat compared to individuals whose diet contains lower levels of leucine.

• Whey protein is a soluble, easy to digest protein and is efficiently absorbed into the body. It is often referred to as a “fast” protein for its ability to quickly provide nourishment to muscles.

• Whey protein helps women athletes maintain a healthy immune system by increasing the levels of glutathione in the body. Glutathione is an antioxidant required for a healthy immune system. Exercise and resistance training may reduce glutathione levels.

Additional clinically validated supplements that are increasingly being used by women are as follows:

• Beta alanine often flies under women’s radar, but if you train hard and/or are competitive, it’s one to include in the regimen. Beta alanine is a non-essential amino acid (meaning your body produces it so you don’t have to get it from food) that helps form carnosine, which your body stores in your muscles and other tissues. Carnosine acts like a buffer in the body, helping to reduce acid accumulation in the muscles during exercise, which reduces fatigue and improves athletic performance. It also improves muscle firing rates and recovery, which especially good during interval workouts.

• Citrulline malate was originally marketed as an “anti-fatigue” supplement. In fact, decades ago, citrulline malate was prescribed to treat both mental and physical fatigue in post-surgery patients. More recently, citrulline malate has become popular for its performance-boosting effects. The benefits are attributed to the synergistic combination of both L-citrulline and malate, which helps to increase rates of ATP during exercise, followed by increased rates of PCr (phosphocreatine) recovery after exercise.

The natural products industry continues to innovate and bring compelling women’s sports products to the market. I will continue to sing the praises of the product development innovators, retailers and e-tailers that offer products that contain these ingredients. All of the aforementioned ingredients are clinically validated showing efficacy and truly deliver for women.VR

Mark Becker is a senior account executive for Vivion LLC, a raw materials distributor, based in Gardena, CA. He has worked as a natural products sales and marketing executive for 30 years. Becker has written more than 300 articles and has hosted or been a guest on more than 500 radio shows. He obtained a bachelor’s in journalism from Long Beach State University and did his Master’s work in communications at Cal State Fullerton. For more than 40 years he has participated in numerous endurance events, including more than 150 triathlons of Olympic distance or longer, 103 marathons and numerous other events including ultramarathons and rough water swims from Alcatraz to the mainland. He has relied on a comprehensive dietary supplement regimen to support his athletic, professional and personal endeavors. For more information, access www.Vivion.com or www.AlliedBionutrition.com.