Molecular Insights in Sports Nutrition: Synergistic Mechanisms for Performance Optimization

Dear Colleagues,

Nutrition is considered to have two main functions: maintaining and developing the body, and providing the energy needed for physical activity. In competitive sports, methods of nutritional intake to build an optimal physique for a particular sport and methods of supplying energy to enable full exertion of strength during training and matches are crucial.

With the growing importance of events such as the Olympic Games and various World Cups as platforms for demonstrating national prestige, as well as individual achievement, attention has focused on sports science in recent years. Consequently, sports nutrition, a key subfield within this discipline, is becoming increasingly prominent.

Research topics linking sports science and nutrition—such as carbohydrate loading for long-distance running, iron deficiency anaemia (a particular concern for female athletes), and food-derived organic compounds as safe nutrients that do not constitute doping—deserve significant attention at present. Furthermore, we will address critical contemporary challenges, including Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport (RED-S), a syndrome of physiological dysfunction caused by low energy availability that impairs metabolic rate, menstrual function, bone health, and immunity.

This Special Issue invites submissions of research findings, cutting-edge commentary, and exceptional proposals aimed at further improving our understanding of the role of nutrients in sport. 

Prof. Dr. Katsuhiko Hata
Prof. Dr. Susumu Ito
Guest Editors

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