The majority of cycling nutrition advice was developed by men, tested on men, and written for men. That is not an opinion — it is the state of the research until very recently. Women have different hormonal environments, different substrate metabolism, different iron demands, and different risks when it comes to under-fuelling. Pretending one-size-fits-all does not cut it.
The menstrual cycle is the obvious starting point. Oestrogen and progesterone fluctuate across a roughly 28-day cycle, and those hormones influence how your body uses carbohydrate and fat during exercise, how you regulate temperature, and how you recover. In the high-hormone luteal phase, some women find they burn more fat and less carbohydrate at a given intensity. That might mean topping up carb intake around hard sessions to compensate. Others feel no difference at all. The answer is personal, and the only way to find it is to track and experiment.
RED-S — Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport — is the bigger concern and the one too many riders learn about too late. When energy intake consistently falls short of what training demands, the body starts shutting down non-essential functions. Periods stop. Bone density drops. Immunity weakens. Mental health suffers. And performance, ironically, gets worse despite the athlete working harder. Cycling culture has a complicated relationship with weight, and women bear the brunt of the "lighter is faster" myth.
Iron is another area that deserves attention. Menstrual losses, foot-strike haemolysis from cleat pressure, and the demands of endurance training all drain iron stores. Low ferritin levels leave you tired, breathless, and unable to absorb training — and the symptoms often get blamed on overtraining.
The bottom line is simple: eat enough, prioritise protein and iron, and treat your hormonal cycle as information rather than an obstacle.
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