Aidan Muir | Ideal Nutrition

06 Oct 2021

RPAH Elimination Diet: A Low-Food Chemical Approach

Food chemicals can play a role in a lot of conditions. Avoiding or limiting certain food chemicals could dramatically improve symptoms in some cases. In other cases, it might just be a frustrating and complex process undertaken for no reason. We often think of food chemicals as things that are artificial or added to foods. But some relevant chemicals are naturally found in food as well. Just because something is “natural” does not mean it cannot cause symptoms. As a generalisation, the stronger the flavour of the food, the higher its chemical content is likely to be. It is also…

15 Sep 2021

By Aidan Muir

Does Salt Intake Affect Gut Health: Early Interpretations of the Research

Dietary salt intake is typically linked with the impact that it has on blood pressure. Really, that has long been the only major concern I have had with higher salt/sodium diets. Even that point is not relevant for everybody. Somebody who is quite far away from having issues with hypertension can typically have higher amounts of added salt without it really being an issue from a blood pressure perspective. Some people also seem more sensitive to sodium than others. An interesting area of research that has developed recently is the effect of salt intake on gut health. It is very…

01 Sep 2021

By Aidan Muir

Resistant Starch – The Things You Need to Know

Resistant starch has gained a lot of recognition over the last few years for the potential health benefits associated with it. Theoretically, it can be an easy way to improve overall gut health while resulting in a lot of other health outcomes too. What Is It? Starches are long chains of glucose found in carbohydrate-rich foods. Resistant starch is a form of starch that is resistant to digestion. Basically, resistant starch is a unique form of fibre. It passes through the small intestine to the large intestine mostly undigested. Types of Resistant Starch Type 1: Physically inaccessibleType 2: Resistant granulesCannot…

11 Aug 2021

By Aidan Muir

What Is Taurine and What Does It Do? Everything You Need to Know

Have you ever looked on the back of an energy drink, seen taurine as an ingredient and wondered what it does? That was the first thing that made me curious enough to start looking into it a few years ago. Firstly, I wanted to check the safety of it and if there were any downsides. And I was also curious about WHY it would be included. Outside of energy drinks, taurine does have quite a few potential benefits. And even though it has been studied for decades, it looks as though we are only really scratching the surface when it…

09 Aug 2021

By Aidan Muir

Pre-Workout Nutrition: Everything You Need to Know

What you eat before a training session can help you get the most out of your session. Having consistently great training sessions can also potentially carry over to having better long-term outcomes. Main Meal 2-3 Hours Before Your Session On average, most people seem to perform best if they have a meal 2-3 hours before training. This meal typically should be high in carbohydrates and relatively easy to digest. Aiming for lower fibre and lower fat choices can also help a lot of people since doing this will make it digest more quickly. Additionally, it can also be beneficial to…

06 Aug 2021

By Aidan Muir

Nutrition for Bloating: Everything You Need to Know

Bloating is typically defined as when your abdomen feels full and expanded. It is a transient experience that is usually caused by an excess of gas build-up or some kind of disturbance of the muscle of the digestive system. Often there is a level of discomfort that occurs alongside this. In some cases, people experience this discomfort due to sensitivity even without the physical symptoms of bloating like expansion. Narrowing it down further though, bloating is not necessarily the same as water retention, although the terms are often used interchangeably. And it also has nothing to do with levels of…

04 Aug 2021

By Aidan Muir

Why Do Sports Drinks Have Fructose in Them?

A question you might wonder if you read the label on sports drinks is “why do they contain fructose?” Is it because of taste? Partly, in some cases. But the main reason is there are legitimately performance-related reasons for this addition. This post discusses what those are and why sports drinks contain fructose. Carbohydrates as a Fuel Source Fat and carbohydrate are our two major fuel sources during exercise. The energy we can obtain from fat is pretty much endless during exercise, even for lean individuals. Carbohydrates on the other hand are relatively limited. We store far less glycogen in…

04 Aug 2021

By Aidan Muir

Benefits of Tart Cherry Juice for Athletes: Everything You Need to KNow

Tart cherry juice is not exactly a front-line option athletes think of when it comes to improving their recovery and performance, but it does have some potential benefits that should not be overlooked. At a minimum, it is a nutrient-rich option, which is always a good thing. But it can actually provide meaningful benefits that could be relevant and worth considering. Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness (DOMs) The most clear-cut benefit of tart cherry juice is that it seems to reduce muscle soreness after exercise. If you train/compete hard, this improved recovery can be pretty appealing. The mechanism for this appears…

03 Aug 2021

By Aidan Muir

What to Do if the Low Fodmap Diet Does Not Work for You?

The low-FODMAP diet is one of the main options for managing irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). But what is the next step if it does not work for you? This is a very relevant point. Because the research we have on FODMAPs indicates that the low FODMAP diet seems to significantly improve symptoms in 50-86% of people. Which brings up the obvious point – what about the people 14-50% of people it does not help? Or what other options could you explore if it did help, but you still have symptoms you want to address? This post is designed to comprehensively…

02 Aug 2021

By Aidan Muir

How to Convert Salt to Sodium and Vice Versa

Have you ever wondered how to convert salt to sodium? Some countries list salt on their nutritional information panels. Other countries like Australia list sodium instead. And while there is a bit of overlap between the two, they are actually a little bit different. What Is the Difference Between Salt and Sodium? Salt is technically 40% sodium and 60% chloride. This is why salt is referred to as sodium chloride (NaCl). To be overly specific, it has a 1:1 ratio of sodium and chloride ions, but the molar masses are 22.99g/mol and 35.45g/mol respectively which explains why salt is 40%…