Student testimonial
Student Evi van Ekris - MSc Nutrition and Health
Evi van Ekris has chosen the specialisation Nutritional Physiology and Health Status, which also focuses on nutrition and sports. During her MSc thesis research Evi looked at dietary recommendations for athletes in order to develop a number of checkpoints for detecting nutritional problems in athletes in an early stage.
My research showed men who do endurance sports often have an iron overload
Study choice
“I started at Wageningen University with the BSc Food Technology. It seemed very nice to use my creativity to develop new products. Halfway through the first year I found my interest to be more with health and the human body, so I switched to the BSc Nutrition and Health. Fortunately this switch is relatively easy at Wageningen University.
After the BSc Nutrition and Health I continued with the MSc Nutrition and Health and chose the specialisation Nutritional Physiology and Health Status, which focuses on the combination of food and the optimal functioning of the human body."
MSc Thesis
"During my MSc thesis research I looked at the dietary recommendations for athletes and which athletes are at risk of inadequate nutrition and health problems. This resulted in a number of checkpoints that can be used to develop a screening tool, to detect nutritional problems in athletes. Such a screening tool exists for the elderly, but not for athletes yet, while sports physicians ask for such a screening tool.. I love sports myself, that’s why the subject appealed to me very much and I liked doing the research.
In summary, the main conclusion of my research is that the intake of vitamins, minerals, carbohydrates, proteins and fats is generally sufficient for athletes, provided that the total energy intake is adequate as well. Most athletes even have a better vitamin and mineral status, than those who do not exercise. Because athletes require more energy than non-athletes, they automatically consume more nutrients and thus can compensate their greater need for these substances.
The energy availability for athletes is especially important, this is the amount of energy from food left for important body functions, after the consumed energy during exercise is subtracted from the energy intake. If the energy availability is too low, an athlete will develop health problems at some point. An athlete will often develop weak bones, and for women the menstruation might stop.
Athletes who are at higher risk of nutritional deficiencies are the ones who eat unhealthy or restrict their energy intake, for example when a low body weight is very important for their sport, if they want to lose weight, or because they have an eating disorder. However, some athletes are not even aware of their too low energy intake! Athletes who leave out a food group from their diet, for example vegetarians, are also at increased risk for nutritional deficiencies, if they do not compensate with other products.
Deficits are not the only problem for athletes as some athletes use too much nutrition supplements, creating surpluses of nutrients, which can result in an adverse health effect: my Msc thesis research showed men who do endurance sports often have an iron overload.”