Principles of Dance Medicine

As I'm again gearing up for my annual trip to teach in Saratoga Springs next week, I am preparing my Dance Conditioning curriculum for this year's students.  I've decided to include more resources regarding nutrition and what should be included in an appropriate diet for dancers.  You'll be seeing more posts about this coming up, as well as daily posting throughout the rest of the summer! 

I was fortunate to attend a day of the Principles of Dance Medicine conference, by The Harkness Center for Dance Injuries of the Hospital for Joint Diseases at NYU's Langone Medical Center last Thursday in Manhattan.  The continuing education course brought physicians, trainers, and educators together from around the world to discuss topics of nutrition, injury prevention and the needs for specific dancer populations (adolescents, women, men, etc.)  I was pleasantly pleased with the level of dance knowledge by the presenting practitioners -- what an asset to our field!

With my new interest in nutrition for dancers, I was intrigued by Beth Glace, sports nutritionist at Lenox Hill Hospital.  She shared lots of information that is applicable to dancers:

• high intensity exercise cannot be maintained when glycogen levels are low, therefore carbohydrates in the diet are essential!
• you may burn up to 20x the amount of calories while doing high levels of activity -- food is truly fuel for the body
• cognitive and physical performance increase with carbohydrate intake and new studies show that there are receptors on the tongue that can instantly sense when carbs are being eaten and immediately increase drive to continue through moments of fatigue 
• a great post activity snack: salty pretzels -- the sodium and carbs will help to increase glycogen and fluid levels 
• studies show there is a high prevalence of dancers with low vitamin D levels, which is essential for bone and muscle health 
• skipping meals has been shown to increase body fat in gymnasts and runners (Deutz) 

And the list goes on..... I am excited to bring this new perspective to my students next week and to help guide them during meal times at our month long intensive.  Food is fuel and it's essential to give our bodies the proper amount of nutrients to get through each movement activity and to promote muscle repair, healing and cell growth.