Eating for Maximum Performance and Growth with Dr. Charlotte Alabaster

Summary

Dr. Charlotte Alabaster — UK-born family practice physician based in Calgary, partner of tennis coach Umberto Ortega — addresses the specific nutritional vulnerabilities of teen tennis players. Her core clinical finding: iron deficiency is endemic among teen female athletes and is a primary, underdiagnosed performance limiter. She also addresses eating disorders, vitamin D, and the persistent myths around “iron-fortified” foods.

Guest Background

Born and trained in the UK. Family practice physician in Calgary, Alberta. Partner is Umberto Ortega, a tennis coach — this dual-household perspective (medical + coaching) shapes her approach. She began focusing on teen athlete nutrition after observing patterns in her practice that were being missed or misattributed by other providers.

Key Findings

Iron Deficiency in Teen Female Athletes

Iron deficiency is the primary nutritional concern Alabaster raises for teen girls in tennis. The combination of growth demands, menstruation, heavy training loads, and poor dietary education creates a high-risk environment. Symptoms — fatigue, poor recovery, declining performance — are often attributed to overtraining or mental weakness when the cause is physiological and correctable.

Iron-rich food sources she specifies: red meat, bison, venison, eggs, beans, lentils, nuts, raisins, curry powder, hummus.

Iron Absorption Blockers

Phytates (found in wheat) block iron absorption. This is a clinically significant detail: a family feeding a teen athlete whole wheat bread alongside an iron-rich meal is partially blocking the iron absorption from that meal. Timing and food pairing matter, not just total iron intake.

”Iron Fortified” Cereals Are Clinically Meaningless

A specific debunking: “iron fortified” cereals typically deliver 2% of daily iron requirement at approximately 10% absorption rate — yielding negligible actual iron for the athlete. Parents relying on iron-fortified breakfast cereals as a nutritional strategy are operating under a false assumption.

Vegan Athlete Case Study

Alabaster describes a teen vegan athlete whose performance declined significantly. After nutrition review and supplementation, performance recovered. She is not anti-vegan but uses the case to illustrate that vegan teen athletes require active nutritional management — the default vegan diet is often iron-deficient for high-output athletes.

Eating Disorders in Teen Athletes

She flags eating disorders as common in teen athletes and underreported. The performance pressure of competitive tennis creates specific risk factors: weight consciousness, body image scrutiny from coaches and peers, and the discipline-performance narrative that can mask disordered eating. Early, normalized conversation about food and performance is protective.

Practical Breakfast Guidance

Her reframe for breakfast: replenish overnight glycogen depletion with carbs AND protein. Practical examples: Greek yogurt, eggs, whole grain plus fruit. Her most direct quote: “There is nothing wrong with giving a child leftover stew from dinner the night before for breakfast.” The goal is nutrient density at the right timing, not breakfast convention.

Vitamin D for Bone Health

Secondary concern: vitamin D deficiency in northern climates (Calgary specifically). Bone density development during adolescence is a once-in-a-lifetime window — inadequate vitamin D during this period has lasting skeletal consequences. She recommends supplementation for northern-latitude athletes, especially in winter months.

Actionable Advice

• Test teen female athletes for iron deficiency proactively — do not wait for symptoms.
• Build iron-rich foods (red meat, eggs, beans, lentils, nuts) into daily meals; avoid pairing with phytate-heavy foods (wheat) when iron absorption is the goal.
• Discard “iron fortified” cereals as a meaningful nutritional strategy.
• Supplement vitamin D for athletes training in low-sunlight environments.
• Normalize conversations about food, body, and performance from a young age to reduce eating disorder risk.
• Vegan teen athletes require active nutritional monitoring — do not assume plant-based diets are nutritionally complete for high-output sport.

INTENNSE Relevance

INTENNSE’s player welfare and performance support framework should include baseline nutritional guidance. Iron deficiency is a correctable performance limiter that is frequently missed — integrating a nutrition screening protocol into player onboarding aligns with the league’s human performance infrastructure goals. Alabaster’s evidence-based framing (not “eat right,” but specific mechanisms and food interactions) is the level of specificity INTENNSE should target.

Notable Quotes

“There is nothing wrong with giving a child leftover stew from dinner the night before for breakfast.”

“Iron-fortified cereal delivers about 2% of daily iron at 10% absorption. It’s essentially nothing.”