SNI: What is the difference between being a ‘dietitian’ and ‘sports nutritionist?’
Dr. Kalman: Good question! A dietitian typically is someone trained to work in a wide variety of populations or settings. For example, Registered Dietitians (RD) work doing nutrition assessments and care plans in nursing homes, hospitals and specialized care centers. In addition, a RD might also work in food service or in the food industry, either crafting menus, doing menu analysis, or with chef’s in related areas. Typically, the general education of a RD allows for broad opportunities in the work force (i.e., from medical nutrition therapy to wellness to corporate to nursing home) and thus the person typically either through academia or self-study, advances their education in the area of interest. A Sports Nutritionist will typically work with the healthy population, the athlete, the aspiring athlete, the collegiate, Olympic or Pro athlete and may have a broader education in specialized areas (not a dichotomy!) that includes exercise physiology, sport physiology, metabolism and nutrition. Aspects of nutrition will include also meal planning, nutrient analysis, metabolic and nutrition assessments and much more. The Sports Nutritionist can be a RD or may be a person with a background in the physiological and fitness sciences who has training in nutrition as it relates to sport. Typically, outside of an athlete who may develop a medical problem, the sports nutritionist stays with the healthy population and will refer out when appropriate.
SNI: What are the most common myths regarding protein, creatine, and caffeine?
Dr. Kalman: The most common MYTH regarding protein is that high protein diets are bad for the kidneys, this is “age-old” myth is a killer and emanated out of a study done in the early 1970’s on patients with KIDNEY DISEASE!. In that study, high protein diets had a deleterious effect on kidney function. Hello, the majority of us do not have kidney disease and thus this is not true. In fact, research shows, a healthy person on a high protein diet will have an adaptation of how their kidneys function, much like a muscle reacts to exercise (it adapts to the “stress”). Another myth on protein is that one can only digest 30 grams at a time, anything more somehow is “non-digestible”. I believe this actually comes from a line in Pumping Iron where the esteemed Lou Ferrigno says this as he is taking his supplements.
Creatine is a favorite of many athletes, the biggest myth is two-fold, one that weight you gain when using it is solely water weight and the second myth is that creatine is a steroid. Seems the non-informed media and medical doctors of this world like to perpetuate this myth.
Caffeine, the favorite natural drug of the world, the myth is that it is a diuretic. You know, drink coffee and you have to pee, so somehow, someone thought and printed that if you urinate after drinking a liquid, that liquid must be a diuretic. Caffeine does not inhibit anti-diuretic hormone (ADH) and modern, well-done studies actually show that over a 24-hour period, fluid balance is no different with or without caffeine. Drinks containing a reasonable amount of caffeine do not dehydrate you.
SNI: Who is the single most influential scientist in the field of sports nutrition and why?
Dr. Kalman: Wow, this question is a toughie for sure! From a scientific perspective, one might argue that Roger Harris, PhD and his associates (from Eric Hultman PhD to you!) have had the greatest influence on sports nutrition over the past 30 years. Their lab first determined how to carbohydrate load and how exercise effected and was affected by carbohydrates, next they worked with creatine (first in animals, race horses and than humans) and opened up a whole new avenue in sports nutrition, after creatine, they delved into beta-alanine and yet again discovered another avenue to naturally augment athletic performance, recovery and potential. Dr. Harris has been most influential over a long-period of time.
Believe it or not, from a non-scientific point of view, what first got me interested in sports nutrition (well, beyond reading Muscle and Fitness as a kid or watching Pumping iron) was Robert Haas, MS and his “Eat to Win” book, first published in the mid-1980’s. Robert wrote this “popular press” book and as a wrestler, it caught my eye and greatly was an early influence to me. Some say that Robert and this book was amongst the first widely popular sports nutrition books. I believe it has sold well over 2 million copies.
SNI: Would you listen to exercise/diet advice from a trainer/nutritionist who is not in shape or maybe even fat?!
Dr. Kalman: In short, yes. Simply because I do not like to be judged and many times, how one looks does not always indicate what a person knows. I recall working at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in NYC and when covering Gynecology-Oncology came across this Fellow (advanced training for physicians) who just looked like the biggest goof. You know, he was over six-feet tall, nearly 275 pounds (not in shape pounds, just pounds) and always had this look on his face that appeared to be out of the Three Stooges (“I am trying to think, but nothing happens”) – well anyway, after I got to know him, I quickly saw that he was a diverse, well-rounded, smart (astute) person that knew a lot more than his appearance transmitted. Funny thing was, that before he went to medical school, he was a professional wrestler! So, in short, we all have our biases and hopefully we look at a person for what they can offer and not only or solely in how they look.
SNI: What’s the dumbest thing you’ve ever heard regarding fitness, nutrition or supplementation?
Dr. Kalman: Amongst the dumbest things we all hear are that supplements produce nothing more than expensive urine. Heck, they help urine glow in the dark too! (kidding) To me, dietary supplements are an adjunct to how one eats and have a place in the diet for when attempting to obtain specific goals. Thank you for these awesome and though provoking questions!
SNI: If you could be a superhero, who would it be and why?
Dr. Kalman: Great question! I have to think that perhaps it would have been fun to be Batman, the classic Batman (Adam West) from the original TV series (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k7_7semtxI0&feature=related). Anytime that you can be a super hero and have your own captions of “”Bam” “Pow”, “Kaboom”, all is right in the universe. I adored this TV series and having met Adam West at a party in NYC years ago, he was nice and did nothing to ruin the image he crafted as the Caped Crusader.
Douglas S. Kalman, PhD, RD, FACN, FISSN is a Director at Miami Research Associates in the Nutrition and Endocrinology Division. Miami Research Associates is a clinical service organization involved for over 10 years in Phase II through Post Market Trials for the pharmaceutical and nutraceutical industries. Dr. Kalman is a Fellow of the American College of Nutrition, a Spokesperson for the American College of Sports Medicine (since 1999), a Spokesperson for the National Strength and Conditioning Association (2004) and on the Faculty of Healthology.com. He is an active member of the American College of Sports Medicine, American College of Nutrition, the American Dietetic Association, the National Strength and Conditioning Association and the Association of Clinical Research Professionals. He is also the Sports Nutritionist for NIKEs Elite Distance Running Team. His undergraduate degree is from Florida State University (Food & Nutrition), Graduate degree from Hunter College (Nutrition) and earned his Doctorate at Touro University International (Health Sciences/Research). He has or is currently working with the number one selling artist in Motown history, executives from RCA Records, members of the N.Y. Yankees, members of United States Olympic Snow-Boarding team (medalist), members of the N.Y. Giants, national champion ballet dancers, various executives from CitiCorp and other Fortune 100 companies, top level Pride fighters, competitive bodybuilders and Nike sponsored distance athletes. Dr. Kalman has also provided continuing education and nutritional guidance for the Metropolitan Athletic Congress (MAC) and the USA Track and Field team (USATF). Additionally, he has contributed chapters to Nutrients as Ergogenic Aids (CRC Press 2004), Sports Supplements (Lippincott Williams & Wilkins 2001), The Force Program (Ballantyne Books 2001) as well as other texts. Dr. Kalman is currently the Co-Editor-in-Chief of the JISSN was one of the original founders of the ISSN (www.theissn.org).
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