💡 Fuel For Thought

Supplements vs Food: What's Really Supporting Your Health?

A few weeks ago, NBC shared the story of Katie, a 57-year-old woman opening up about her experience with turmeric-induced liver injury. She’d been taking turmeric supplements believing she was doing something good for her health until she ended up in hospital with her liver enzyme levels at about 60 times the normal limit.

This story matters, not because turmeric is inherently dangerous, but because it highlights a bigger issue I see all the time: the growing overreliance on supplements, especially the ones labelled “natural” or “herbal”.

There’s no question turmeric has anti-inflammatory properties. Even I have shared a couple of research pieces supporting its benefits here. But we have to ask: does it belong in our daily supplement routine, or would we be better off adding it to our cooking, enjoying it as part of a well-rounded diet that supports health in many ways?

Here’s the thing most people forget:

Supplements, natural or not, still place a demand on your body.

Everything you ingest must be processed, and your liver is front and centre in that work. When you take isolated compounds in concentrated doses, you're asking your liver to work harder than it would with food-based sources.

Food is safer and smarter.

When you prioritise real food, you’re not just getting one nutrient, you’re getting fibre, antioxidants, enzymes, and compounds that work together to support your health and performance. It’s synergy you simply can’t bottle.

As an athlete, your body is already working overtime to train, recover, and adapt. The last thing it needs is unnecessary extra load from supplements that may offer marginal benefits, or worse, cause harm.

This is why I spend most of my time questioning supplements instead of endorsing them:

• Very few supplements have strong, consistent evidence behind them.
• Most performance and recovery needs can be met through smart nutrition.
• I believe in giving your body the support it needs, not more work.

Choose food first. Always.

Supplements can have a place, but they should be the exception, not the norm.

🚀 Endurance Highlights

1️⃣ The risks of short-term calorie restriction

The first sports nutrition book I ever bought was Racing Weight: How to Get Lean for Peak Performance by Matt Fitzgerald, back when I was in high school. The premise was simple: a lower body weight means a better power-to-weight ratio, and therefore better performance. The book is more than 15 years old, and while it was based more on numbers than solid research, the idea still heavily influences how many athletes approach nutrition today.

​This recent narrative review revisited that assumption by examining the effects of short-term low energy availability, in other words, eating too little to support your training, on endurance performance.

The authors highlight several studies showing that even just five days of calorie restriction can significantly reduce endurance capacity in trained female runners, without any change in body weight. In essence, the pursuit of leanness didn’t boost performance, it impaired it.

While the idea of optimising your power-to-weight ratio may sound logical, the evidence suggests the costs often outweigh the potential performance benefits, especially when approached through short-term restriction. Over time, consistent training supported by adequate fuelling is more likely to lead to positive body composition changes without compromising performance or health.

2️⃣ Probiotic supplementation and sport performance

Many things can impact the diversity of your gut microbiota, including your physical activity. While the research is still evolving, the authors of this review found that probiotic supplementation may reduce exercise-induced inflammation, oxidative stress, and respiratory tract infections, all factors that can impact training consistency and performance.

The most promising effects were observed in athletes training at high intensities or undergoing heavy loads, where immune function and gut barrier integrity can be compromised.

Not all studies showed direct improvements in endurance performance itself. The effects seem to depend on the specific strain, dose, duration, and individual athlete characteristics, which means a one-size-fits-all approach isn’t ideal. Still, for athletes with frequent illness or gut issues, targeted probiotic use may support better recovery, resilience, and training continuity, key ingredients for long-term progress.

🕵🏻‍♀️ Retail Finds*

This week's product review: Maple Movement SAP Fuel Energy Gel

I'm grateful to Kristina from Coast To Mountain Running and Wayne from Tribe & Trail, who both happened to give me samples of this product so I could share my thoughts with you.

Features & benefits

• Facts per gel: 110 calories, 27g carbohydrate, 0g protein, 0g fat, 0mg sodium and 90mg potassium.
• High in energy and compact presentation.
• Lightly sweet.
• Nice fluid consistency.
• Low FODMAP.

Things to keep in mind

• No sodium.
• It's just maple syrup.
• Package was hard to open while running (though they replied to my instagram story saying they have fixed that for the new batches).
• The primary sugar in maple syrup is sucrose, which makes it not suitable for high carb intake (over 60g of carb per hour).

Final take

This product offers an easy and convenient way to consume maple syrup, especially for those who struggle to tolerate maltodextrin or fructose (the main ingredients of many energy gels).

The mild sweetness and fluid consistency make it a good option for those who struggle with conventional energy gels and prefer a more "natural" alternative. ​​​​

👩🏻‍🍳 Kitchen Creations

​Download the recipe​​​

Banana & Date Kefir Smoothie Kefir is a type of fermented milk rich in probiotics. This smoothie is a quick way of increasing your probiotic intake while getting good energy from the banana and dates.

I'm committing to sending the most valuable endurance nutrition newsletter. I want to make sure that every piece of content you receive has information that is helpful for you and your journey to achieving your personal best.

Happy fuelling!

Gaby | Endurance Nutrition Specialist

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p.s. I personally read and answer your email replies.

PLUS whenever you’re ready, here are 3 ways I can help you optimise your performance:

1. ​Take the FREE Endurance Nutrition Audit. Not sure if your fuelling strategy is working? This quick 3-minute audit will reveal exactly where you stand and what adjustments could help you perform at your best.
2. ​Book a FREE strategy call. Need expert advice on your next best step? Let’s chat! In this commitment-free call, I’ll help you identify key areas to improve and map out a fueling approach tailored to your endurance goals.
3. ​Join the Fuel To Thrive Academy. Ready to take action? My signature program gives you the ultimate fuelling roadmap to unlock your full potential in sport and life, with proven strategies that have helped endurance athletes fuel smarter, perform better and break records.

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