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Female endurance runners exhibit a healthier dietary profile than male endurance runners, characterized by significantly higher intake of plant-based foods, water, and dairy alternatives, and significantly lower intake of processed foods, alcohol, and animal proteins.

If you are an endurance runner, note that female runners in this study tended to eat more plant-based foods, fruits, vegetables, and water, while male runners consumed more meat, processed foods, and alcohol. This suggests that focusing on whole, plant-based foods and hydration may be a beneficial dietary pattern for endurance athletes, particularly women, while men might benefit from reducing processed foods and alcohol intake.

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Compared to male runners, female runners had a significantly greater intake in four food clusters, including 'beans and seeds', 'fruit and vegetables', 'dairy alternatives', and 'water'. Males reported higher intakes of seven food clusters, including 'meat', 'fish', 'eggs', 'oils', 'grains', 'alcohol', and 'processed foods'.
Mohamad Motevalli et al. · Nutrients · 2022

Why this rating

Observational cross-sectional study with self-reported data (FFQ), which is subject to recall bias, but uses a large sample size (n=211) and rigorous statistical controls.

Source

Female Endurance Runners Have a Healthier Diet than Males—Results from the NURMI Study (Step 2)

Mohamad Motevalli et al. · Nutrients · 2022

DOI 10.3390/nu14132590

cross_sectional · n=211Cited 17×
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DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10

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