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Institute of Performance Nutrition

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We train and develop sport & exercise nutritionists
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Big announcement 📣

Our NEW 🎉 MSc in Sports Nutrition is launching in September 2025 (subject to validation)

We are offering 2 pathways:

(1) Full MSc programme
(2) MSc top-up for IOPN Diploma grads (CFI, OfQual version)

Study part-time, 100% online

Link in bio 💪 by @theiopn

Food-first is a principle. It is not a prohibition.

An elite Paralympic swimmer. Training indoors year-round. Clinically insufficient vitamin D. Borderline iron. Two respiratory infections in 8 weeks. Declining split times her coach couldn’t explain.

Her practitioner’s response: eat more oily fish and dairy.

A 2024 systematic review found that 43% of elite Para-athletes are vitamin D insufficient — with indoor sport and limited sun exposure as primary risk factors. Dietary management of vitamin D status in this population is not physiologically realistic. That is not a philosophical position. It is a matter of basic physiology.

Food-first means food is the foundation. It does not mean supplementation is never warranted. Knowing the difference is what individualised practice actually looks like.

This week’s IOPN newsletter has the full case study.

Subscribe via the link in bio. by @theiopn

His daily protein and carbohydrate intake were both adequate. He just never ate after games — and it was quietly destroying his recovery across an entire fixture block.

Glycogen-synthesising enzymes are most active in the 30 minutes following exercise. Delay feeding by two hours and resynthesis rates drop significantly. Enter the overnight period completely unfuelled — the primary window for muscle repair and hormonal recovery — and you are not simply missing a meal. You are missing the recovery.

Loss of appetite. Social habits. A belief that eating late is bad. Three reasons an elite basketball player was arriving to every second game still carrying the fatigue of the last one.

This week's IOPN newsletter breaks it down — including the science, the practical barriers, and the solutions that actually work in professional team sport environments.

Subscribe via the link in bio. by @theiopn

He was avoiding creatine to protect his weight cut. He was instead losing 9% of his body mass through dehydration in 48 hours — and wondering why his reaction time was declining in sparring.

Creatine water retention at maintenance doses is predominantly intracellular and modest. Losing more than 5% of body mass through acute dehydration is associated with impaired reaction time, reduced decision-making, and central nervous system dysfunction. In a combat sport athlete, that trade-off is not rational.

Add the emerging neuroprotection evidence — and the picture becomes even clearer.

This week's IOPN newsletter breaks it down through a professional MMA case study, covering the evidence on creatine and body water, the real costs of extreme dehydration on fight-night performance, and how to structure supplementation within a realistic weight-cut plan.

Subscribe via the link in bio. by @theiopn

We've another exciting cohort going live next week! 🚀

For the last minute applicants amongst you, get your applications in by the 25th August to stand a chance of enrolling on our August cohort!

Next week, we'll have students join our globally recognised, University of Portsmouth-validated, distance-learning postgraduate programmes, as well as our newest IOPN Short Course: Exercise Physiology for Sports Nutritionists.

Apply today via our website - link in bio @theiopn

Need help or want to speak with a member of the team?

Reach out to us directly!

#sportsnutritionist #performancenutritionist #sportscience #sportandexercisescience by @theiopn

For over a decade, we've been training and developing some of the best sports nutrition practitioners in the industry. They recognise that understanding the theory is just one part of the puzzle.

Impressive results are achieved through:
- The confident translation of relevant theory into practice
- Building trust
- Understanding what drives behaviour change
- Knowing what shapes the clients environment

These are just some of the factors students are tasked to explore throughout their joruney on the IOPN MSc in Sports Nutrition.

That's why some of the leading sports nutritionists in the industry study and learn with the IOPN.

Last chance to join our August 2026 intake.
Full-time and part-time options available.

Apply today - link in bio @theiopn

Need help or want to speak with a member of the team?
Reach out to us directly!

#sportsnutritionist #performancenutritionist #sportscience #sportandexercisescience by @theiopn

Applications close soon for the IOPN Short Course: Exercise Physiology for Sports Nutritionists

Created and delivered by the industry-leading Institute of Performance Nutrition - @theiopn

Build the exercise physiology foundations you need to design and deliver individualised sports nutrition strategies with confidence.

✅ 100% online - study anywhere, anytime
✅ Complete in just 3 months
✅ IOPN Certificate
✅ Direct pathway to our PGDip/MSc in Sports Nutrition

Apply today - link in comments below.

Need help or want to speak with a member of the team?

Reach out to us directly!

#sportsnutritionist #performancenutritionist #sportscience #sportandexercisescience by @theiopn

Recent graduate of a BSc in Sport and Exercise Science or Nutrition degree and considering your next steps?

There's still time to start your postgraduate training and education with the IOPN! Enrolments close 25th August for our industry-leading, practice-focused postgraduate programmes in sports nutrition.

Apply now, link in bio @theiopn

And if you need support or want to chat with the team, you can download our programme prospectus via our website, or contact the team directly via admin@theiopn.com with your questions! by @theiopn

The low-FODMAP diet has solid evidence behind it. Indefinite strict elimination without reintroduction does not.

The protocol has three phases: elimination, reintroduction, and personalisation. The elimination phase is designed to last 2–6 weeks. The goal is the least restrictive diet that manages symptoms — not the strictest one possible.

When elite marathon runners self-prescribe from general IBS blogs and never progress to reintroduction, the impact can be a problem: displaced carbohydrate intake, declining iron and calcium, reduced gut microbiome diversity, and an inability to practise race-day fuelling — 8 weeks before the most important race of their season.

This week's IOPN newsletter breaks it all down through a detailed elite athlete case study.

Subscribe via the link in bio. by @theiopn

At the IOPN, we've been training and educating some of the most successful sports nutritionists in the industry for over a decade!

Throughout that time, we've remained focused on bridging the gap between science and practice. Our graduates finish their studies with more than theoretical knowledge. They leave with the confidence to apply it in the real world, with real clients and athletes, across a range of sports and scenarios.

Don't just take our word for it!

Swipe to hear what some of our graduates have to say about studying with the IOPN, or head to our website where you'll find many inspiring student success stories.

Now's your chance.

Don't miss the deadline for our August intakes: 25th August.

Apply today - link in bio @theiopn by @theiopn

Start with the IOPN this month! Deadline approaching: 25th August 🚀
- PGDip in Sports Nutrition
- MSc in Sports Nutrition (Top-Up)
- MSc in Sports Nutrition

Why study with the IOPN?
✅ Globally recognised, industry leading
✅ University of Portsmouth validated programmes
✅ 100% online - study anywhere, anytime
✅ Study around work, family and training
✅ Taught by industry-leading practitioners and academics
✅ Supported by our impressive team

Apply today via the website - head to link in bio @theiopn by @theiopn

Late-evening caffeine, post-match screen time, and a recovery problem that no supplement could solve.

A 400 mg caffeine dose at 7:00 PM means 200 mg is still active at midnight. Add post-match screen use suppressing melatonin, and travel cutting sleep opportunity to 4–5 hours — and you have a contact sport athlete in chronic sleep debt at the most fixture-congested point of the season.

Declining sprint output in the final 20 minutes. A hamstring complaint that won't clear. HRV trending down for five straight weeks. The data pointed clearly to one thing.

This week's IOPN newsletter breaks it down through a professional rugby case study — covering caffeine timing, blue light exposure, the physiology of sleep restriction in contact sport athletes, and practical strategies that actually work in a professional team environment.

Subscribe via the link in bio. by @theiopn