| NUTRITION |
THE I M P O R TA N C E OF GOOD NUTRITION AND ITS BEARING O N M E N TA L H E A LT H
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nique to the racing industry is the daily neeed fo or staffff to meeet reequireed maaximu um weights. Many in racing already believe they understand nutrition and the best methodss to make weight, using tried and tested practices that havve been in common use for decades. The perceived success of such practices leads to an attitude of ‘it works for me’ and a reluctance to change or adopt new suggestion ns, and few consider the future consequences on health in later years. Dehydrating and starvvation to make weight is commonplace, and long periods in saunas and salt baths,
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laxaativees and self-iinduced vo omiting are familiar practices. Thee heealtth imp pliccatio onss associaated wiitth theese incclu ude poor bone density tyy, hormonal issues and impaired mood proffile. i Despite increased awareness of these problems, they remain as common globaally as they were thirty ty years ago. To help address this, th he UK-based Racing Foundation awarded a grant of just over £200,000 to support a ground-breaking, nutritiional intervention programme developed over three yeaars by a specialist team at the Research Institute of Spo ort and Exercise Sciences at Liverpool John Moores University tyy. The team is led by former jockey, Dr Georgee Wilson, and includes the head