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68. Fueling the Mind-Body Connection with Registered Sports Dietitian Lisa Rivera
76 Plays12 hours ago
In this episode, I’m joined by registered sports dietitian Lisa Rivera, who brings her unique background in both dance and nutrition to the conversation. Lisa shares her personal journey of healing her relationship with food, how proper fueling transformed her dance career, and why she’s passionate about helping dancers thrive physically, mentally, and emotionally.
From understanding the mind-body connection to diving into gut health, brain function, stress management, and supplements, this episode is packed with practical insights to help dancers improve performance, resilience, and well-being.
Key Points in this Episode:
- Lisa’s journey from struggling with body image as a dancer to becoming a sports dietitian.
- How nutrition impacts not just physical performance, but also focus, mood, and emotional health.
- The role of the gut microbiome and how it connects to brain function.
- Foods and habits that support gut health and mental clarity.
- Fueling strategies to manage performance anxiety and stressful rehearsal weeks.
- Supplements dancers should consider (like omega-3s and magnesium) and how to choose quality brands.
- Tips for traveling dancers to maintain digestion and energy on tour.
- One small step dancers can take this week to better fuel their body and brain.
Connect with Lisa:
WEBSITE: https://performancenutritioncompany.com/p/home
Register for Lisa’s course ‘Nutrition for Dancers’ and receive 50% off with code BrainyBallerina50
INSTAGRAM: instagram.com/nutritionco_for_dancers
Links and Resources:
Get your copy of The Ultimate Audition Guide
Set up ticketing for your next event with DRT (Make sure to mention that The Brainy Ballerina sent you!)
Let’s connect!
My WEBSITE: thebrainyballerina.com
INSTAGRAM: instagram.com/thebrainyballerina
1-1 CAREER MENTORING: book your complimentary career call
Questions/comments? Email me at caitlin@thebrainyballerina.com
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Transcript
Fueling the Brain for Performance
00:00:00
Speaker
Our brain is such an important part of our body, right? We want to fuel our brain for its optimal performance, for it to be able to think clearly and to focus and to be able to regulate hormones and help us to regulate our emotions. And so we want to make sure that we're fueling our brain.
Introduction to Caitlin's Podcast
00:00:20
Speaker
I'm Caitlin, a former professional ballerina turned dance educator and career mentor. And this is the Brand New Ballerina podcast. I am here for the aspiring professional ballerina who wants to learn what it really takes to build a smart and sustainable career in the dance industry.
00:00:36
Speaker
I'm peeling back the curtain of professional dance world with open and honest conversations about the realities of becoming a professional dancer. Come along to gain the knowledge and inspiration you need to succeed in a dance career on your terms.
Meet Lisa Rivera: Dance and Nutrition
00:00:55
Speaker
Hello and welcome to the Brainy Ballerina Podcast. I'm your host, Caitlin Sloan, and I am joined today by Lisa Rivera. Lisa is a registered sports dietitian with a unique background, holding degrees in both dance and nutrition.
00:01:09
Speaker
She currently works with collegiate dancers and athletes as a full-time sports dietitian at Brigham Young University.
Lisa's Journey with Nutrition in Dance
00:01:16
Speaker
In our conversation today, we're going to really dive into the mind-body connection how nutrition impacts focus and emotional well-being, and talk all about gut health, stress management, management and improving our relationship with food.
00:01:31
Speaker
Lisa, I'm so thrilled to chat with you today. Before we get into all the nitty-gritty, I would really love to hear what inspired your path to merge your passions for both dance and nutrition together.
00:01:44
Speaker
Yes. Well, first of all, thank you so much for having me on today's podcast. I am just so excited for this discussion. For as long as I can remember, i have loved dancing. I really was born a dancer. And with that and growing up dancing and taking classes,
00:02:00
Speaker
and being a part of the dance world, I also began to struggle with body image and struggle with food. And this began probably around age 11 or 12, the struggle with food and with body.
00:02:13
Speaker
And that continued through my teen years.
College: Fueling and Performance Enhancement
00:02:15
Speaker
I then went on to study dance in college and it was there in college where I began to have this transformation and began to heal my relationship with food and learning that you know I have to eat to be able to perform, um which was really beneficial, but I i still struggled.
00:02:32
Speaker
And in my junior year of college, I found myself just fatigued. I was exhausted. My muscles were not recovering. I was just like, something is wrong and I don't know what it is.
00:02:45
Speaker
And I was spending all of this time in technique classes and rehearsals and you cross training and, you know, trying to do all of these things. And I just wasn't seeing the results in my performance. I wasn't seeing the results in my body.
00:02:59
Speaker
And I just was, the best way to explain it is I was just exhausted. So I approached one of my professors and I now tell my dancers, it's best not to approach one of your dance professors about nutrition.
00:03:13
Speaker
But at that time, this is the early 2000s, sports nutrition hadn't even been born yet, right? It wasn't even a field of study. And so thankfully, I approached a professor that said,
00:03:24
Speaker
had a really healthy relationship with food and really understood that food was fuel for dancing. And so he was like, you know what, let's take a look at what you're eating. And so I shared with him what I was eating and I felt that I was eating ah healthy diet.
00:03:39
Speaker
Like I said, I had begun to heal that relationship with food and I was eating regular meals. So when he said to me, Lisa, you are not eating enough. I was like, what? Like, look what I'm eating.
00:03:51
Speaker
I've got a lot of fruits and vegetables and salads. But he said, you're not eating enough. And he proposed that we do a little experiment. So he recommended that I go on campus somewhere and get this little body fat testing, right? A little skin fold test.
00:04:06
Speaker
And then for two or three weeks, he said, i should double what I was eating. And because I was ah calorie counter and I knew, you know, exactly what was going in my body, which I do not recommend calorie counting at all for
Educating Dancers on Nutrition
00:04:20
Speaker
my dancers and athletes. But at that time, you know, I knew exactly what I was putting in my body.
00:04:24
Speaker
So I proceeded to double what I was eating. And i didn't really understand if I needed carbohydrates or fats or proteins or things like that, but I just knew I needed to eat more food. And so I started creating these really energy dense snack mixes and I would use grape nuts.
00:04:42
Speaker
I don't know why grape nuts. I didn't even like grape nuts, but I knew that they were really high in calories and I knew that they were also had a lot of nutrients and like good nutrients. So I would make these snack mixes out of grape nuts.
00:04:56
Speaker
And so I did this for the next three weeks. And then I went back on campus and did the body fat skin fold testing. And I had lost 3% body fat in three weeks. And and It was because I was fueling my body.
00:05:12
Speaker
i suddenly was giving my body the energy that it needed to do what I was asking it to do. And it no longer felt like it needed to store excess energy because it wasn't being starved anymore.
00:05:24
Speaker
and now it said, okay, I can burn the fuel you're giving me. I can burn a little excess fuel and I can build the muscle that you're asking me to build. And that was transformational for me. That not only transformed my relationship with food and my understanding of the role and the partner that food is in my dance and my performance and in my life as a human being.
00:05:46
Speaker
But it gave me confidence in with food and in fueling myself. That confidence then rippled out into all areas of my life and specifically into my performance. And it was from there that my performance just improved so much that I was then able to perform with a touring company and had that opportunity to travel internationally and nationally.
00:06:12
Speaker
And I attribute it 100%
Nutrition and Mental Health
00:06:15
Speaker
to the confidence that I gained through gaining confidence in the way that I was fueling my body. And that was transformational. So fast forward many years, I taught dance for almost two decades.
00:06:28
Speaker
I'm also a mother of four children. and so when my youngest child was going to be going to kindergarten, i just started reflecting on what I wanted to spend my time doing.
00:06:39
Speaker
I was no longer gonna have any children at home. And i knew that I wanted to go back to school and get more education. and so as I just started thinking about, you know, what do I wanna do? What am I passionate about?
00:06:51
Speaker
I knew that I wanted to help dancers know how to fuel their bodies because it changed my life. It changed my relationship with food. And we know that a poor relationship with food and body directly impacts how we show up in life and how we interact with the world and the people that we love. And I wanted dancers to have that knowledge and that confidence. And so I went back to school and I did two different master's degrees, one in nutrition and human performance with an emphasis in sports nutrition, and then the other one in applied nutrition and dietetics so that I could become a registered dietitian because that really is a key for me to be able to work in an environment with
00:07:30
Speaker
elite dancers and collegiate dancers and athletes. And so I just feel so grateful for this path that I've been on and for the place that I'm at now to be able to work with these young adults, these young dancers, these just amazing individuals to be able to help them.
00:07:45
Speaker
Amazing. Today, we're really focusing our conversation on the mind-body connection. So I'm curious if you can explain how nutrition influences not just our physical performance, but also our mental health, our focus, and our emotional well-being.
00:08:00
Speaker
Yeah, I love this so much because, you know, nutrition definitely plays a role in our performance, the energy that we have and in our ability to recover and reduce our injury risk. But we don't always talk about it in its relationship to our emotional well-being and to our mental health. And I want to start first with talking about how nutrition impacts our brain because our brain is such an important part of our body, right? We want to fuel our brain. for its optimal performance, for it to be able to to think clearly and to focus and to be able to regulate hormones and help us to regulate our emotions. And so we want to make sure that we're fueling our brain.
00:08:40
Speaker
And we're going to dive into the nitty gritties of this, but we fuel our brain with carbohydrates. Our brain's main fuel source is glucose. And we get glucose from the carbohydrates that we eat.
00:08:51
Speaker
And so we have to consume those carbohydrates to be able to fuel our brain. We also need to think about how are we supporting our brain. And we support our brain
The Gut Microbiome's Role
00:09:03
Speaker
with specific nutrients. One of the most important is omega-3s and how we incorporate those omega-3s into our diet.
00:09:11
Speaker
And then how do we protect our brain? It's such a high functioning organ. So we want to protect it. And we do that through consuming antioxidant rich foods, polyphenol foods, which we'll dive deeper into as well. We really just want to make sure that we're fueling it, protecting it and supporting it.
00:09:28
Speaker
And then finally, we want to make sure that we're freeing our brain. And that's where we let go of food restriction. And we let go of this hyper fixation on food and body so that we allow our brain to be able to focus on the things that are really important in that matter the most, right? And so really helping those dancers to gain that food confidence so they can let go of that food restriction. Disordered eating and eating disorders take a huge mental toll, right?
00:09:56
Speaker
We're going to see increased anxiety and depression. We need to figure out and receive the help and the guidance that we need to be able to let go of that food restriction and that disordered eating so that we can focus on improving that mental health.
00:10:10
Speaker
With nutrition also, there is this direct relationship between our blood sugar control and our mood and our mental well-being and our emotional well-being, right? Hangriness is a real thing, right? we've We've all experienced it, whether we're a dancer or not.
00:10:26
Speaker
To be hangry is our blood sugar is too low and our brain cannot function properly. And so we're irritable and we have mood swings and we're not able to focus.
00:10:37
Speaker
And so when we learn how to fuel our bodies in a way that supports our blood sugar, not only is that going to support sustained energy, but that's going to really help us to be able to regulate our moods and be in a mental state.
00:10:51
Speaker
that is gonna help us with our performance and those long rehearsals and all of that. Probably the last thing that we don't always think about is that the nutrients that we eat are the building blocks to our emotional wellbeing.
00:11:03
Speaker
So these nutrients that we consume in food are literally used to build our neurotransmitters, like our serotonin and our dopamine and GABA and all these other things. And so serotonin is the hormone that makes us feel happy.
00:11:19
Speaker
It makes us feel content. It also is directly related to our sleep quality and to our digestion. It helps to promote food to move through our gut. And if food isn't moving through our gut, we don't have just regular digestion.
00:11:34
Speaker
That doesn't make any of us happy. We want to make sure that we have enough serotonin and dopamine. Dopamine is a hormone that makes us feel motivated. And that is a huge part of our mental well-being is feeling motivated and excited about life. Dopamine also it's needed specifically for the coordination of movement.
00:11:54
Speaker
So we want to make sure we're taking in those nutrients into our body so that we have enough of all these amino acids, but we have enough of those building blocks to prevent create enough dopamine, create enough serotonin. And GABA, this is a hormone that helps to regulate our nervous system and helps us to deal with stress and anxiety through a calming effect.
00:12:14
Speaker
Okay. Lately, I feel like we've been hearing a lot about the gut microbiome and the gut brain access. i feel like I'm always hearing about this. For listeners who are unfamiliar with this concept, can you explain what this is and why is it particularly so important for dancers?
Maintaining Gut Health
00:12:30
Speaker
The gut microbiome really is at a super exciting area of research that has exploded within the last 10 years. And really that's just because technology now allows us to be able to see the gut microbiome and to be actually able to study it.
00:12:47
Speaker
So the gut microbiome is this complex organization of little microbes, these communities of microbes that live within our gut. They reside within our gut.
00:12:58
Speaker
We have microbiomes all over our body. We have skin microbiomes and nose microbiomes and eyes and Throughout our entire body, microorganisms reside, but the majority of them do reside in the gut and specifically in the large intestines.
00:13:14
Speaker
And we have a lot of different microorganisms that live there. Oftentimes we think of bacteria, which do make up a large portion of it. And that's what we're going to focus on a little bit more today specifically is the bacteria. But there's also fungi and archaea and viruses and just a large range of little microorganisms.
00:13:34
Speaker
So the microbiome specifically is these microorganisms and their genetic material, their genetic component, and how that relates to our function in our body.
00:13:46
Speaker
The genetic material of the gut microbiome is about 100 times greater than our actual own genetic material in the human genetics, which is pretty crazy. Like it impacts our health and our function tremendously.
00:14:03
Speaker
So as dancers, we really need to understand this because it impacts so much of our health. It impacts our energy production and metabolism. by influencing our thyroid.
00:14:15
Speaker
It impacts our brain. So that's gonna impact our mental health and our mood. It impacts the production of our hormones, our estrogen, our progesterone. mean, just all the hormones. The gut microbiome directly impacts these things.
00:14:29
Speaker
It impacts our immune system. and inflammation in our body, which as dancers, we are in a chronic state of inflammation often because of all the recovery that's happening, right? All the training, and then there's a lot of recovery. And so we just need to understand just what an integral role this gut microbiome plays. and And we wanna make sure that it's healthy and that it's providing us with beneficial functions and not harming us.
00:14:58
Speaker
So the gut-brain access is this communication that happens between the gut and the brain. And it's bidirectional. So it goes both ways. And that's really important for us to understand because we want to make sure we're supporting both the gut and the brain to make sure that both receivers and communicators are optimally functioning.
00:15:17
Speaker
So this gut-brain axis, lots of different signaling pathways that happen within that, but to understand that they're linked. So our gut health directly is impacting our mental health, our emotional well-being.
00:15:31
Speaker
Does the mere thought of a audition season make your palms start to sweat? Do you feel completely overwhelmed with getting everything together on top of your regular dancing schedule? I've been there, and I totally get it.
00:15:43
Speaker
As dancers, we spend hundreds of hours honing our technique and artistry. But when it comes to figuring out how to put together a resume or what to expect in a professional audition, we're often left to figure it out ourselves.
00:15:56
Speaker
That's why I put together the ultimate audition guide. This is your one-stop shop for everything you need to tackle professional company auditions with ease. No more spending hours Googling and trying to piece together a somewhat coherent audition package.
00:16:10
Speaker
With this guide, you'll be ready to conquer audition season like a true professional. We're talking resumes, headshots, dance photos, dance reels, plus info on how to find auditions, what to wear, what to expect, how to budget, mindset tips, you name it.
00:16:27
Speaker
It is in this guide. You are ready for this moment. Head to the show notes, grab your copy of the Ultima Audition Guide, and empower yourself with the knowledge to approach audition season like a true professional.
00:16:39
Speaker
Okay, so what are some of the foods or just overall habits that are going to best support this gut health and in turn our mental clarity, all these things you just talked about?
00:16:51
Speaker
So food is definitely going to play a significant role in our gut health. Just a few other things too to think about is our sleep. That plays a role in our gut's health, our microbiome's health, our ability to manage stress.
00:17:05
Speaker
A lot of us, we feel stress in our gut. We feel it there. And if we're feeling it there, then the microorganisms are feeling it as well. Also, environmental toxins can influence our gut, microbiome's health, and our movement.
Brain Fuel: Carbs and Omega-3s
00:17:22
Speaker
So there's a lot of research exercising at different intensities and durations and how that impacts the health of the gut microbiome. But we're going to specifically focus on food today and how that impacts our gut health specifically.
00:17:38
Speaker
I'd like to just take a moment to explain what gut health is because oftentimes we might think of it as just like digestion, which digestion is a part of it because if our gut microbiome isn't thriving in the way that we want it to, we will feel more bloated. We may not have regular bowel movements.
00:17:55
Speaker
We could have stomach cramping and and things like that. So it does play a role in it, but it's it' so much more than that. So with gut health, we're actually referring to the integrity of the gut lining, of the actual large intestine tube, right?
00:18:11
Speaker
And so our gut lining is made up of just one little layer of cells, just a tiny single layer of cells. And these cells are held together with little tight junctions. So if there is an insult to those cells and those tight junctions, then it creates a gap. Many of us have heard the term leaky gut before.
00:18:32
Speaker
And so it creates a little gap there in that tight junction. And then molecules from inside the gut, whether those are bacteria or food particles, proteins, whatever it might be that's inside of our gut, can get into our bloodstream.
00:18:46
Speaker
Our bloodstream is right there on the opposite side of the gut lining. And in our blood is our immune system. So the immune system is right there and ready to attack. And so if that gut lining is compromised and we have things leaking into the bloodstream, our immune system is activated.
00:19:08
Speaker
And that chronic activation of our immune system leads to inflammation and can lead to a lot of problems. So gut health is how do we maintain the integrity of that gut lining? How do we maintain those tight junctions? And on top of that little layer of cells, there is a mucus layer. And on top of that is where all of the bacteria and the gut microbiome resides.
00:19:32
Speaker
And so we want to make sure that all those microorganisms are thriving, the beneficial ones are thriving and in balance so that that mucus layer stays intact. and that nothing gets down to that single layer of cells.
00:19:46
Speaker
So if we keep that, the integrity of the gut lining, then we are supporting gut health. That is what gut health is. So what we want to think about is how do we support the beneficial bacteria?
00:19:59
Speaker
They're living organisms, and so they have to be fed. And so the most important thing that we can do is feed the beneficial bacteria and limit food sources to the not-so-beneficial bacteria.
00:20:12
Speaker
So when we understand that beneficial bacteria, they eat fiber. They feed on fiber. Specifically, they feed on soluble fiber, but we're not going get into the nitty gritties of, well, this one's soluble and this one's and like, that can become a little too much hyper focus.
00:20:30
Speaker
If we are just having a diet that's rich in a variety of different fibrous, rich plant foods, we are going to be supporting the healthy bacteria that then in turn really help our health.
00:20:46
Speaker
So I love the term a plant-forward diet. I don't think that we need to have only a plant-based diet, but we want to make sure that we're consuming a lot of plants, whether that is fruits and vegetables, legumes, nuts and seeds,
00:21:03
Speaker
whole grains. And the more variety we can get, the more variety of fibers and of nutrients that we are going to get to help to support and feed those beneficial bacteria.
00:21:15
Speaker
The next thing that we can think about is increasing fermented foods in our diet. So for some people, this comes really naturally. Honestly, I'm not one of those people that eats a lot of fermented foods.
00:21:27
Speaker
So fermented foods have live microorganisms that are in the food, right? And so when we consume those live microorganisms, they can exert some really awesome properties and do some really great work in our body as they pass through.
00:21:44
Speaker
It's still really unsure about how many of them like take up residence and start to actually live and thrive in our gut. But while they're passing through, they can help reduce inflammation. They can help to produce neurotransmitters.
00:22:00
Speaker
There's a lot of things that they can do in our body. So these fermented foods, my favorite one and one that I do, eat it every day, is yogurt. And so choosing a yogurt that has live microorganisms in it.
00:22:13
Speaker
But other ones to consider are kefir and kamucha, kimchi, sauerkraut. If you purchase it in the refrigerated section, it will have the live microorganisms.
00:22:24
Speaker
So really just finding ways to integrate these into your diet really is a habit that can help support the gut specifically. So if you purchase sauerkraut and it's not refrigerated, there are not live microorganisms in it?
00:22:37
Speaker
Yeah, that's right. Interesting. Okay, well, I've been doing that wrong. It's the same thing with pickles. So you could purchase pickles the refrigerated section and those would have some live microorganisms, but pickles just in the regular aisle won't have them.
00:22:54
Speaker
Interesting. Okay. My other question is, I'm lactose intolerant, so I used to eat a lot of yogurt and now I don't eat it. But if I have like a dairy-free version of yogurt, is that still giving me the benefits or does it have to be your standard yogurt?
00:23:08
Speaker
Yeah, that's such a great question. So look at the label of all of the different yogurts to identify if there are live microorganisms. And that can just vary product to product.
00:23:20
Speaker
And really just depends on what that company is choosing to do because some yogurts won't have live microorganisms in them as well. What will the label say? It'll say typically live probiotics. It will actually list typically which ones like lactobacillus and, you know really long words. So it'll usually have those listed.
00:23:39
Speaker
Okay. So we talked about like how we support that gut health, but I'd love to just talk about some food specifics for the brain as well. And they actually, they correlate together. Like they, they crossover, of course.
00:23:51
Speaker
Like we talked about is how we fuel the brain is with those carbohydrates. We can eat carbohydrates that are going to provide us with glucose and they can be not so beneficial carbohydrates and they can be whole food nutrient-rich carbohydrates. Both of them are going to provide us with glucose, but when we really have this plant forward and looking for those whole food carbohydrates, that's not only going to support the gut, but it will support the brain as well, being just really efficient fuel that doesn't increase inflammation.
00:24:22
Speaker
which our brain can become inflamed. It's called neural inflammation. And so just being a little more selective and looking at what type of carbohydrates am i fueling my brain with, my gut with, my body with, right?
00:24:34
Speaker
I really love to look at whole foods, but also there are going to be some minimally processed foods, bread and pastas and things like that, some crackers.
Supplements for Gut Health
00:24:45
Speaker
But how can I find ones that are whole grain based? What does it look like if I do a whole grain pasta? or if I do a cracker that has limited ingredients with the first ingredient being listed as whole grain.
00:24:56
Speaker
As dancers, we need some of those convenient foods. Time is definitely a challenge with dancers. So just looking for which carbohydrates are going to provide me with fiber and going to help support that. Also with the brain, we want to look at those omega-3s. Like I talked about, how do we support the brain is omega-3 fatty acids, which are directly found in our fatty fish.
00:25:20
Speaker
So salmon, fantastic source of omega-3s. I don't know about you, but I don't eat salmon two or three times a week. I wish I did. Yeah. There's other fish like mackerel and anchovies, sardines, herring that are also fantastic sources of omega-3s.
00:25:37
Speaker
Specifically, we're looking for DHA and EPA. Those are the omega-3s that are going to be beneficial for reducing inflammation and supporting our brain specifically.
00:25:48
Speaker
There are plant sources omega-3s like walnuts and flaxseed and chia seed, which are fantastic choices. It's just important to know that the omega-3s found in those sources is a different type. but It's ALA.
00:26:01
Speaker
which is still beneficial for our body, but it's not easily converted into d and EPA. So we don't want to have those be our dominant source of omega-3s in our diet.
00:26:13
Speaker
And then we will talk a little bit about supplements, I hope, because an omega-3 supplement is typically where we're going to get a lot of our omega-3 fatty acids. Yeah, let's talk more about that because that can be such a confusing topic for dancers to know how much should I be supplementing? How do you even know what your body needs? What's worth considering for… gut and mental health and what are some things we should be more cautious about?
00:26:37
Speaker
yeah definitely. Well, let's start specifically with omega-3s. There's so much research on the safety and on the benefits of omega-3s. And the reason is, is because it's a food nutrient that we should be eating a lot of.
00:26:52
Speaker
It's not just an added extra thing, right? So my number one supplement that I recommend all dancers is to take omega-3 fatty acid supplement daily.
00:27:04
Speaker
and and just incorporate that into life. We're specifically looking at one that when we flip it around and we look at the DHA and the EPA is predominantly made up of DHA and EPA.
00:27:15
Speaker
Oftentimes the label will say DHA and EPA and then will say other omega-3s. And if it's an inexpensive supplement, that other omega-3s will be a really big number and the DHA and the EPA will be really small numbers.
00:27:28
Speaker
But we want that to be flip-flopped. So minimal, we're looking for our EPA and DHA to be a minimum of 1,000 milligrams. But you can climb upward from that. It's one of those nutrients that more is better.
00:27:44
Speaker
The research really shows up to a significant amount. And so personally, I recommend 2000 milligrams of EPA and DHA for all of my dancers and athletes to help to support gut health, brain health, reduce inflammation in the body. And it's really going to be supportive of recovery processes.
00:28:03
Speaker
2,000 total or 2,000 of each? 2,000 total. Okay. 2,000 total. Yeah. And different supplements will have the ratio different. Very rarely are you going to find one that's 1,000 and 1,000 or 500 and 500.
00:28:17
Speaker
So it's okay if the ratio is not specific, you know, not equal, not a one-to-one ratio. Other supplements for us to consider is looking at what things specifically impact our nervous system.
00:28:29
Speaker
And one of those to consider is magnesium. So magnesium can have a real calming effect to the body. It's used in a lot of different reactions in the body.
00:28:40
Speaker
As dancers, we have a need for a lot of magnesium, and we don't always consume foods that are really rich in magnesium. So I do think that it can be advantageous to take a magnesium supplement.
00:28:53
Speaker
Foods that are rich in magnesium can include nuts and seeds, Dark chocolate is a fantastic one. It can be really rich in magnesium. Consuming a variety of vegetables and plants is going to help as well. But I do recommend a supplement, especially if I have a dancer that is struggling with anxiety and struggling with the ability to just relax Calm down and relax and you know sleep. If there's a struggle with sleep, I recommend magnesium.
00:29:22
Speaker
With magnesium, there's a variety of different forms. And so if you go to the aisle and you look and you're like, which form do I get? It can be really overwhelming. The different forms, some of them are not really that helpful. They're not really bioavailable. Other forms, maybe they actually can cause diarrhea.
00:29:41
Speaker
And so I keep it simple and recommend one form, and that's magnesium glycinate. has been shown to be the form that helps the most with rest and relaxation, enhancing sleep.
00:29:54
Speaker
And so that's the form that I would recommend specifically if I have a dancer that is struggling with anxiety, for sure. Okay. We probably, if we're talking about supplements, we should probably talk about probiotics since that's A big one that people ask about. and So I'd love to just talk a little bit about that. Do you have any experience with probiotics? I mean, I guess I always thought if I'm eating my yogurt, like we said before, all those fermented foods, I was like, I'm getting my probiotics that way. But I don't know that I've taken them as supplement form.
00:30:22
Speaker
Yeah, I actually love that response. So probiotics, the research is just really back and forth. And so there's really no verdict on it. I do have a lot of dancers that tell me, I take this probiotic.
00:30:35
Speaker
I feel really good when I take it. My digestion just seems to just be a lot better. And then I have other people that say, I took this probiotic and it really messed things up.
00:30:47
Speaker
And so it's one of those things that can be really hard to understand. i just don't think we have enough clarity, but also it's so complex because there's trillions of different microorganisms. And so how do we know that if we supplement with this specific complex of microorganisms, that that's what our gut needs?
00:31:08
Speaker
And there are tests that you can do that can analyze your gut microbiome and you can get this breakdown of, you know, where you're following in the different families of microorganisms.
00:31:20
Speaker
And that can then maybe inform some more specific supplementation. You know, if we're really low in the lactobacillus families, like maybe we supplement with some of those. But a lot of us aren't going out and getting those tests done. They're expensive, time consuming. have to find, you know, the right expert to be able to help guide you. And so I don't think that that's a path that we need
Foods for Brain Health
00:31:40
Speaker
to take.
00:31:40
Speaker
I think that if somebody wants to explore with a probiotic, that they could look at um finding one that is from a reputable brand. And third-party testing is a really key to choosing a supplement.
00:31:53
Speaker
And then they could do trial and error if they wanted to. Let me take this for a little bit and see if I notice anything. If I don't notice any benefits, it may be providing some, but...
00:32:04
Speaker
It may not. Like it just might, they just might be passing straight through you and not really doing anything. And and sounds like more of like a waste of money. If you notice some specific benefits, reduction in bloating or more regular bowel movements, then maybe that's something to continue to explore. And if you are having some symptoms that are, you know, adverse symptoms, I would recommend stopping it right away actually, because our gut microbiome is very sensitive and,
00:32:31
Speaker
We don't need to disrupt it. Probiotics are not a necessary thing. I really do promote a fermented food approach. If we are wanting to take a probiotic, let me first start to integrate some fermented foods into the diet.
00:32:46
Speaker
Are there supplement brands that you recommend? You said look for reputable brand. Are there some of those that we should be aware of or some that we should avoid? Yeah. That is such a great question.
00:32:58
Speaker
So I think one of the first things that we can do is actually look for third-party testing on our supplements. And this is – just for supplements across the board. The supplement industry isn't regulated as tightly as the food and drug industry.
00:33:14
Speaker
And so first understanding that can help us to know we need to be a little bit more intentional with understanding what we're putting into our body, right? And so third-party testing is giving us a little bit more assurance that what is on the label is actually in the supplement and what is in the supplement is actually on the label.
00:33:34
Speaker
We can know if a brand is third-party tested by a few things. Number one, oftentimes they'll have a stamp of approval actually on the supplement. That's the number one thing that I look for specifically. If I'm buying a supplement for myself or recommending somebody to go buy one, it's just looking for that stamp.
00:33:53
Speaker
That gives me assurance because I tend to be one of those people that just starts to worry like, I don't know for sure, but you know what? I'm to trust to that this third party, you know, did their proper testing. Sometimes those supplements won't have that listed on their label.
00:34:06
Speaker
And this is where i as a dietitian, I start to look on their website, do a little research. I call companies, I email companies and ask specific questions.
00:34:17
Speaker
I just ask them, like are you third party tested? If so, tell me about what company you use. And they come forth with the information. They want people to know that they're third-party tested.
00:34:28
Speaker
The reason why there's not always a stamp is those stamps, they're kind of like a label on our clothing, right? So some labels on our clothing are more expensive than other labels, but but the clothing, the less expensive clothing may still have the same quality. It just doesn't have that expensive label on it.
00:34:46
Speaker
So if there's a supplement that you want to use, it doesn't have that stamp on it, look up on their website. See what information you can find. Shoot them a little email on their contact us or give them a phone call.
00:34:59
Speaker
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00:35:10
Speaker
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00:35:24
Speaker
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00:35:37
Speaker
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00:35:49
Speaker
Tap the link in the show notes to learn more, and be sure to mention that the Brainy Ballerina referred you. I'd like to talk a little bit more about some other foods that we can eat. This is what I get excited about is the food part, right? Because I want listeners to be able to walk away with some specific things that they're like, oh, I'm going to start incorporating that into my daily schedule or finding confidence in those foods that they're already eating.
00:36:14
Speaker
Like they're like, oh, I'm already eating that. Yes, when I eat that, I am feeding my gut microbiome and I am supporting my brain. And just that confidence alone just up levels our mental health, right? And our our sense of well-being.
00:36:28
Speaker
I want to talk about dark chocolate, actually. it is just a power food. It is so rich in something called polyphenols. And polyphenols are really potent antioxidants.
00:36:41
Speaker
And our brain just produces energy like crazy. It's just metabolically high-functioning organ. And with all of that production of energy, there's a lot of waste products that just naturally happen.
00:36:54
Speaker
And that waste product, if it's not taken care of by antioxidants, it creates something called oxidative damage, basically just damage to cells and to tissues, which can lead to reduced brain function, to brain fog, to an inability to concentrate, you know, just that lack of mental clarity. and If we eat foods that are really high in these polyphenols, these great sources of antioxidants, we're really helping to support our brain so that it can clean up those waste products that could create damage.
00:37:24
Speaker
So dark chocolate is super rich in polyphenols, as well as just really colorful fruits and vegetables. The more of those rich colors that we get, we have to talk about eating the rainbow, but really it's because when eat the rainbow, we're eating really good nutrients.
00:37:38
Speaker
So really just increasing those colorful, just powerful foods. Dark chocolate, I love to throw that in my yogurt. I think... It tastes just, it just is exciting, right?
00:37:51
Speaker
But also it can take away a little bit of guilt that somebody might feel about having some dark chocolate daily or however often they choose to have it. But to know like, you know what? This is actually supporting my mood. This is supporting, actually there's research to show that it reduces cortisol levels, which is one of our stress hormones.
00:38:10
Speaker
When we eat it and we just feel like, oh yeah, it really is doing that for us and it's beneficial for us. Also, other foods that can support our brain is eggs. We don't always think about that, but eggs are really rich in nutrients that our brain needs.
00:38:25
Speaker
And specifically, eating the whole egg. I have a lot of my dancers that just eat the egg white. And we're missing out on some really, really amazing nutrients that are found in the egg yolk.
00:38:37
Speaker
I encourage my dancers to incorporate those egg yolks into their diet and really take advantage of those nutrients that are going to help to support their brain and and help provide them with some beneficial fats that are going to help with hormone production and so many other things in their bodies.
Handling Anxiety as a Dancer
00:38:54
Speaker
But really, when we just start to look at food and get that variety and eat those whole foods, there's just nutrients spread throughout all of our whole foods that are going to help to support our brain and our gut.
00:39:05
Speaker
So many dancers, we face stress in our daily life. It's a stressful situation. You're in front of a lot of people. You're constantly being critiqued. you know You're performing. There's a lot of performance anxiety.
00:39:16
Speaker
I feel like we've touched on this a bit, but are there any fueling strategies specifically that you would use to help dancers who do feel a lot of anxiety, a lot of stress? Maybe like what should they do on the day of a show or something like that to help them be able to perform their best?
00:39:31
Speaker
Yes. So that performance anxiety is a real thing, right? Some dancers experience it for days leading up, others maybe just hours. For others, you know just a few minutes. But it's directly going to impact how we perform on the stage or at least how we feel about our performance, which then adds to more stress and anxiety.
00:39:52
Speaker
Really, if our dancers can be confident that they know how to fuel their bodies, that's just one less thing that they need to worry about. So really establishing what I call a performance fueling strategy or plan can help to alleviate so much of that stress. I just love plans. I feel like With a plan, we can pivot, right? But without a plan, I just feel like a flying kite out there and a flying kite without like a string.
00:40:20
Speaker
That creates a lot of anxiety within myself just in my daily life. And so having a clear plan that I know works, that I know I've tried, that i know will produce the right amount of energy, sustained energy and clarity through a performance, that's just golden for a dancer.
00:40:40
Speaker
And so to establish that plan, that fueling strategy for the dancers, they need to have an understanding of when do I consume meals and snacks? What does that look like? So timing, right?
00:40:51
Speaker
With timing of food, that is going to play a really important part of that sustained energy. Meals and snacks, meals we're going to try to consume about two to four hours before a performance.
00:41:04
Speaker
That's going to vary. Some dancers need it that two hours before, otherwise they feel starving one hour into the performance. Others need it four hours. They need their stomach to feel a little bit more empty and kind of work through that food.
00:41:17
Speaker
In order for a dancer to determine that, they have to practice this with technique classes. They have to trial and air this with rehearsals, right, to understand when do I need to consume a meal, right?
00:41:29
Speaker
Not just a snack, but actually a meal that consists of ah ah good source of protein, adequate carbohydrates, a blend of different carbohydrates, and some color, some really good fat sources, right?
00:41:41
Speaker
And then we need to establish when are we going to have our pre-performance snack? Because if we've eaten two to four hours before a performance... It's really beneficial to have something within 30 to 60 minutes before going out to help settle the stomach, to just bring peace to the mind, right? Those carbohydrates are fuel for the brain.
00:42:01
Speaker
And so having that pre-performance snack, just 30 to 60 minutes, is a really important part of that plan. but you have to figure out what you can have, right? For some people, it might be a liquid something. Other people, they do really well with a piece of fruit or, you know, it just it just varies. I have a hard time telling people, this is what you should eat because they have to figure it out for themselves.
00:42:26
Speaker
So that plan, it's bigger than that too. It's what do I eat the day before? When do I eat breakfast the morning of? And really, I always say that the day before, really starts our performance plan.
00:42:38
Speaker
What am I eating the day before? How am I hydrating the day before? What am I eating the night before I go to bed? And then the next morning, when do I eat first? This is where education about nutrition really is important, right?
00:42:53
Speaker
We have to understand how to pair foods together, how to build a dancer's plate, what composition of macronutrients do I need to sustain my energy and to support my muscles and things.
00:43:09
Speaker
When dancers have that education and that knowledge, that in and of itself takes away so much of the stress and anxiety around the food. And then they can build that plan and feel confident in it. And that food
Digestive Health Tips for Travel
00:43:20
Speaker
confidence, again, leads to performance confidence.
00:43:25
Speaker
That's so funny you talk about the night before too because when I was dancing professionally, my husband would always say to me like, okay, what do you want to eat the night before the show? going to make sure I get you you know a full meal and it make sure I had breakfast some more enough because he just knows me and knows that when I get busy and hyper-focused on something, I just forget to eat. I'm just so go, go, go and Then all of a sudden, I am hangry. love that you're talking about being aware of the whole week because you'd always say, okay, tech week, I know I'm responsible for you.
00:43:53
Speaker
Not everyone has that. So having that plan in place ahead of time so that when you do get busy and it is a stressful tech weekend, you're in rehearsals without a lot of breaks, You have plans. So huge.
00:44:04
Speaker
It is. And I love that you brought that up because we can't always just fully rely on our body to tell us. Because when we're in a hyper state of stress, our hunger cues just get pushed to the back, right? And so we can't fully rely on that and that intuitive part of fueling our body.
00:44:24
Speaker
And so we have to have these fueling plans in place. And I love that your husband can be a part of that plan, right? Yeah. I call it intuitive fueling. So we do definitely listen to our body and take our preferences into consideration and and listen to our hunger and fullness cues.
00:44:40
Speaker
But we also understand that we can't always rely solely on that. And so we have a plan in place so that we can double check ourselves and saying, goodness, I'm not hungry right now. But I actually have to eat because I'm four hours out and I know I have to have fuel and that I can't eat all of this one hour out from the performance that won't work. And so when we have that intuitive fueling, so we have that fueling plan and the intuition together, that really gives us that confidence.
00:45:10
Speaker
Mm-hmm. A lot of dancers are on tour and traveling a lot and I don't know about you, but I always experience issues of digestion when I'm traveling. So I'm curious if there are any extra tips you have for dancers when they're traveling and have to perform and they're – to put it frankly, you can't poop. You're constipated, right?
00:45:30
Speaker
Yes. Oh my goodness. This is such a great question because it's such a real thing, right? There's a few things that are definitely going to impact that digestion and the inability to have that regular bowel movement.
00:45:41
Speaker
Our bodies are very cyclical. We have these very exact circadian rhythms and that controls our sleep, but every tissue and organ in our body has a circadian rhythm as does our digestive system.
00:45:56
Speaker
And so when we are traveling, oftentimes it's across time zones or our sleep is off. And so that's part of why our digestion is just struggling and we are very irregular. So if we can build in regular consistent meals and try to keep them as consistent in terms of timing and in terms of quantity of food and types of food, that can be really helpful for regularity.
00:46:26
Speaker
Another thing for us to consider that I highly and strongly recommend is to pack food. I know it's just really precious space in our luggage, but if there are things that we can pack, you know, for traveling internationally, just making sure that they can go through customs, but typically like packaged food can go through customs.
00:46:47
Speaker
that that can really help to just keep our digestive system on, you know, a little bit more of its regularity. But also, it can be difficult in other countries to find the food that works for us. I know that when I was touring, sometimes we'd just get this, like...
00:47:03
Speaker
big fish put in front of us, you know, eyeballs and all. And I was like, that's just a dance in three hours? Like, what am I eating? Right.
00:47:14
Speaker
So you can just look for the things that feel very familiar to you in a meal that's, you know, available to you wherever you're traveling to. But also if you can take foods that are very familiar and things that you have you know that's tried and true you have practiced and use those things for rehearsals and technique classes and things it is good i am definitely a whole food i love just how many whole foods can we get in our diets and trying to limit highly processed foods but there are a lot of packaged more convenient foods that are made with quality ingredients that are still really rich with fiber and using quality carbohydrate sources
00:47:57
Speaker
And so finding those, exploring what types of products work well for you and exploring those while you're at home and then taking those in your suitcase, figuring out how much you need to take will be really helpful.
00:48:09
Speaker
This has been so helpful. i have one last question for you. if a dancer wanted to take one small practical step this week to support their performance and their mental well-being in terms of nutrition, what would you suggest?
00:48:25
Speaker
This is such a challenging question because nutrition is so individualized, right? Yeah. So many different things to think about. I know for me when I was dancer, what I needed, eat more.
00:48:36
Speaker
right? But that's not, that's not the answer for every dancer is just eat more and it'll all be better. But for me, that's what I needed to hear. And so I think that the dancers, after they listen to our conversation, if they can just take a moment of quiet and just reflection to figure out what do I need to do? Where am I struggling?
00:48:57
Speaker
Am I struggling to just get in my meals because I don't have the time to meal prep or to pack the food that I need? Or am I struggling with food restriction? Is that keeping me from fueling my body, my brain, and my gut microbiome?
00:49:11
Speaker
If they just take that time to figure out where they're at, that's going to help them to figure out a small thing to be able to do. I have dancers that come in and we've got a lot of things dialed in, but maybe they don't really like meat. And so they're not really eating any protein.
00:49:27
Speaker
And we just add that little bit in of protein to each meal and snack and we figure out what protein sources they do like. That's a game changer. All of a sudden they're like, oh my gosh, I don't have these sore muscles anymore because now they're providing the nutrients for that recovery.
00:49:42
Speaker
My small step really is to take some time and just do a little personal self-reflection to figure out where do I need to put a little bit of focus specifically. I will say that One dominant theme that I do experience with my dancers that I see is that very often it's eating regular and consistent meals.
00:50:03
Speaker
That with the logistical challenges of back-to-back rehearsals and long technique classes and cross-training and all that, that very often they're not fitting in nutrients when their body needs it.
00:50:19
Speaker
There's this long day that's happening and it's just, I had an apple, I had and little bit of this, I had a little bit of this, and now it's four o'clock and I go home and now I eat the bulk of my nutrition from four o'clock till nine o'clock at night.
00:50:34
Speaker
And that's not really supportive because your body needed all of the energy and nutrition in the first part of the day. So very often, i think the small step is I need to make a plan so that I have food to eat during the day and have a regular and consistent meal and snack plan throughout the day.
00:50:56
Speaker
I will say that that's very often the one simple thing. And also just a call to action for directors or teachers, whoever's managing the schedule to work into the dancer's day, realizing that they do need time to eat. You're not going to get the results you want if you just keep pushing, and pushing, and pushing.
00:51:14
Speaker
Yes. I think that's a huge part of it is how do we integrate nutrition into dance training, into these programs and companies? It's such an integral part and yet it kind of just sits off to the side.
00:51:28
Speaker
And that's one thing that I have been promoting significantly and i work with some really amazing dancers and dance programs that are stepping forward and saying nutrition's a part
Final Thoughts and Resources
00:51:40
Speaker
of our program and nutrition education and timing and opening up space for not only the dancers to eat it, but to digest a little bit. Because it's really difficult to digest food when we're in the fight or flight state.
00:51:52
Speaker
That is not the rest and digest state. And so to be able to allow them to come down from that high energy state and high stress state into eat and digest and reset, that is a reset not only for the body, but for the brain to be able to go and focus and remember choreography and Pay attention to those fine details that the choreographers want to see.
00:52:18
Speaker
Yes. Okay, amazing. If anybody else are listening here wants to learn more about you and your work or they want to reach out for some support in figuring out these steps, where can they go to find you?
00:52:29
Speaker
Thank you so much for asking. i am a real proponent of nutrition education, and I've created two online courses specifically for dancers. I have an adolescent course, and i have a collegiate and elite dancer course.
00:52:42
Speaker
You can find information about these at performancenutritioncompany.com. I'm really excited about making this nutrition education available today. available just worldwide, right? So that dancers have access to curated information specifically to support their athletic performance, but without sacrificing their artistic expression. And and so having this information just available in an online course so they can do it at home in these bite-sized nuggets. And so they can find me there. I also am on Instagram at nutritionco4dancers.
00:53:19
Speaker
Amazing. Okay. Well, we'll put that on the show notes. And thank you so much for all this day, Lisa. I have so many thoughts swirling in my head of things that I want to check out. So I really appreciate all of your advice today. And thank you for taking the time. Thank you so much. This has been wonderful.
00:53:37
Speaker
Thank you for tuning into the Brainy Ballerina podcast. If you found this episode insightful, entertaining, or maybe a bit of both, I would so appreciate you taking a moment to leave a rating and hit subscribe.
00:53:49
Speaker
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00:54:03
Speaker
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