Nutrition for Dance and Performance

This textbook covers nutrition for the scenarios dancers face, including day to day training and rehearsals, peak performance, injuries, immunonutrition, nutrition and stress management. This book guides the reader through the macronutrients making up the diet, their chemical structure and their role in health and optimal performance.

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Nutrition for Dance and Performance is the first complete textbook written by an experienced dietitian specialising in the field of dance nutrition. It seeks to provide both dancers-in-training and instructors with practical advice on dance nutrition for health and performance. It is also highly relevant for dance professionals. With an in-depth and extensive coverage on all nutrition topics relevant to dancers, this book covers nutrition for the scenarios dancers face, including day-to-day training and rehearsals, peak performance, injuries, immunonutrition, nutrition and stress management. Information is included on topics applicable to individual dancers including advice for dancers with Type 1 diabetes and clinical conditions relating to gut health.

The book guides the reader through the macronutrients making up the diet, their chemical structure and their role in health and optimal performance. Readers are shown how to estimate energy and nutrient needs based on their schedule, type of dance undertaken and personal goals before considering the practical aspects of dance nutrition; from nutrition planning to dietary supplements, strategies for assessing the need to alter body composition and guidance on undertaking health-focused changes.

Nutrition for Dance and Performance combines and condenses the author’s knowledge and many years of experience working in the dance industry to translate nutrition science into a practical guide. Bringing together the latest research in dance science and nutrition, this book aims to be a trusted reference and practical textbook for students of Dance, Dance Nutrition, Dance Performance, Sport Nutrition and Sport Science more generally as well as for those training in the dance industry, dance teachers and professionals.

Jasmine Challis is a freelance Registered Nutritionist (UK Association for Nutrition) and Dietitian registered with the Health Care Professions Council, and is on the UK Sport and Exercise Nutrition Register (SENR) focusing on dance. She completed an MRes in Sport and Exercise Science in 2018. She is on the Dance Medicine and Science Expert Panel for One Dance UK and is on the board of The Bridge Dance Project. She has worked across the dance field for over 30 years giving talks, running workshops and providing 1:1 sessions for dancers and dance students.