The Athlete's Gut

Ultrarunners drop out of 100-mile races due to gut distress more than any other reason. The Athlete's Gut is a godsend. It presents practical, efficacious, and immediately applicable advice that any ultrarunner can benefit from. It's a resource I will use with every single one of my athletes as well as with our entire coaching staff. It's that valuable. -Jason Koop, Head Coach of Ultrarunning at CTS and author of Training Essentials for Ultrarunning The Athlete's Gut is a great resource for any endurance athlete who has ever felt limited by some gut-related issue . . . and, really, who hasn't? -Matt Fitzgerald, author of The Endurance Diet and Racing Weight The path to a happy gut is nuanced and context specific. Dr. Wilson lays out the causes and possible solutions for a long list of symptoms. -Alex Hutchinson, The Globe and Mail Races aren't won at the dinner table, but they can be lost there, and nutrition science is becoming increasingly important to athletes. We're unique beings, however, and the science is not always one-size-fits-all. With The Athlete's Gut, Wilson addresses the workings (and malfunctions) of our guts to better understand how to make nutrition science work for us, as individuals with peculiar innards. -Chad Haga, WorldTour cyclist, stage winner in the 2019 Giro d'Italia I found The Athlete's Gut extremely useful on three fronts. One, it deals with a topic that's immensely important to endurance athletes, but not covered or discussed enough. Two, it's deeply evidence-based; Wilson is a true expert in the field, and he backs up all his major points with the best and newest research. Three, and most surprisingly, he writes with a sense of humor. The topic seems like one that wouldn't be much fun to read about, but Wilson keeps it entertaining. -Amby Burfoot, 1968 Boston Marathon winner The Athlete's Gut combines the latest research on gut health with relatable stories from athletes. -Runner's World UK Dr. Wilson uses anecdotes and humor to explain and simplify complex anatomy and physiology in a way that any athlete will be able to relate to. Causes of, and prevention strategies for, gut issues are at your fingertips, as well as a plethora of 'fun facts' and well researched scientific insight. -Dr. Martyn Beaven, The University of Waikato Adams Centre for High Performance For athletes, coaches, and practitioners interested in learning more about the athlete's gut, Dr. Wilson has created a go-to, science-based resource. It is comprehensive, funny, and packed with useful information glued together with easy-to-understand stories and analogies! -Jeff Rothschild, MS, RD, sports dietitian Dr. Wilson marries his brains about the gut with his witty humor to produce The Athlete's Gut. You will eat this book up fast! It is an easily digestible, science-backed read that will educate and entertain at the same time. If you are a weekend warrior or a professional athlete that has some crappy issues to deal with, this is a must-read. Be ready to laugh out loud a few times while learning something new along the way. -Tommy Jensen, MS, RD, Director of Sports Nutrition at University of Minnesota Dr. Wilson takes a well-thought-out approach to explaining the intricacies of the athlete's gut-specifically, expanding on topics such as how stress and anxiety influence gut symptoms in relation to performance. His use of wit and humor, blended through relevant anecdotes and peer-reviewed research, make the concepts interesting and enjoyable. The summaries at the end of each chapter were a great way to wrap up essential material in an easy-to-understand format that may be useful to students, athletes, and practitioners. -Dr. Leilani Madrigal, PhD, CMPC, Assistant Professor at California State University, Long Beach Patrick Wilson is one of a handful of people in the world qualified to write this book. Writing in an accessible but still highly informative style, he takes us from the biological 'desert' that is the stomach to the jungle of the colon and everything in between. Referencing everything from Wayne's World to the classical 19th century research of William Beaumont, this book is a must-read for any athlete, coach, or medical professional who wants to optimize performance without compromising wellness. -Dr. Robert Fearn, Medical Director and gastroenterologist The Athlete's Gut has the information that coaches and athletes have been waiting for about performance fueling, GI distress, and its impact on sports performance. Dr. Wilson has meticulously researched the topics that plague all athletes at some point in their careers. This book provides the latest research-no fads-in an informative and entertaining read. -Jason Kask, Head Coach and President, Superior Performance Endurance Coaching The Athlete's Gut takes us along a fascinating journey from the moment we put something in our mouth to the moment it exits stage right and everything in between. In the first chapter alone I learned things that, as an athlete, I've been doing wrong for years, and as I coach, I can use to improve my clients' performance. We often overlook the importance of understanding the digestive system in our performance and life, but The Athlete's Gut helps us realize just how vital it is! -J.P. Caudill, running coach and ultrarunner The Athlete's Gut is a comprehensive yet easy-to-read guide to the endurance athlete's engine. Coaches and athletes: Here are the fundamentals for developing the nutrition plan that will fuel your best performance ever. -Dan Netzer, National Champion Masters cyclist A remarkable compendium in a still-overlooked topic in sports nutrition. Dr. Wilson does an outstanding job using funny, everyday analogies to present solid, scientific data with excellent graphical support, making it easy to read and quite comprehensible. The research experience and nutrition background from Dr. Wilson makes this a reliable source of information and possibly the most complete go-to book to date when looking to understand and minimize gut distress in endurance athletes. -Gabriel Baltazar-Martins, cycling nutritionist and founder of Fuel the Pedal podcast Digestion isn't the sexiest topic in our sport-we'd rather discuss springy shoes and training hacks. Yet The Athlete's Gut will convince you to prioritize gut health for performance gains. All the weird GI questions you're afraid to ask your doctor-and endurance athletes have so many weird GI questions-are answered in this clear and complete guide from a bona fide expert. -Susan Lacke, author of Life's Too Short to Go So F*cking Slow The Athlete's Gut is an excellent primer for any athlete wanting to optimize nutrition and better digestive health. -In The Flow nutrition podcast