The ALL ME® Podcast
S01 E15: Gatorade Sports Science Institute – Dr. James Carter
Have you ever wondered how a product like Gatorade is formulated? Where does this process start and is there a team of scientists who create these formulas? When we think of Gatorade, the first thing that comes to mind is a Sports Drink.
What we probably don’t realize is the extensive amount of research that goes into formulating these products along with the team of scientist they have on staff. With the ever evolving athletes today looking for an edge to get bigger, stronger, and faster, the Gatorade Sports Science team investigates how to fuel our bodies with proper nutrition and hydration to maximize performance and recovery.
In this episode, I will be speaking with Gatorade Sports Science Institute Senior Director Dr. James Carter. James and I will discuss what the GSSI does on a day to day basis, their testing locations, their current work in the field, and type of athletes they are testing. We’ll also discuss what the future of sports performance research looks like.
Dr. James Carter
James has 17 years experience in the application of exercise physiology in sporting and occupational settings. Following completion of a BS in Sport and Exercise Sciences at the University of Birmingham, he undertook a PhD at the same institution under the supervision of Prof. David Jones and Prof. Asker Jeukendrup. This body of work focused on endurance exercise and the relationship between carbohydrate supplementation, environmental heat stress and performance. During his PhD work, James carried out additional physiology consultancy projects with the Ministry of Defence (British Army) and Chelsea Football Club. He spent eight years working for the UK-based occupational physiology company Optimal Performance Limited (OPL). Initially this involved providing scientific support to the Ministry of Defence (Army, Navy and Air Force), Home Office (Police and Fire and Rescue) and Department of Health (Ambulance Service). Typical projects included development of physical selection standards, auditing the physical demands of training, fitness testing, investigating methods to monitor and prevent heat strain and improve hydration and identification of risk factors for injury. More recently, James spent four years in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), on behalf of OPL, setting up and helping to run a Health and Sports Medicine Centre for the UAE Armed Forces. During this time (2008-2012), he managed a team of health professionals, including: sport scientists; exercise therapists; physiotherapists; dieticians; nutritionists and health educators. James joined the GSSI team in April 2012, initially as Head of the GSSI International Team based in the UK. In 2014 he took on the responsibility of developing the GSSI Athlete Service Model and since joining the institute has worked with numerous professional team sport and endurance athletes. In 2015 James accepted the post of GSSI Director and is based out of the Institute’s headquarters in Barrington, Illinois. Throughout his career he has published numerous peer-reviewed journal articles, is a Fellow of the American College of Sports Medicine and has presented internationally at a range of sport science and occupational physiology conferences.
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Did You Know?
- The Taylor Hooton Foundation has an education program on Nutrition and Dietary Supplement Safety.
- Up to 25% of Dietary Supplements are contaminated with illegal drugs and banned substances.
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