This weeks issue is powered by The Performance Nutrition Network
Dear Performance Nutrition Leaders,
This week: behind the scenes at the World Cup, a new product for elite athletes only, and the latest industry news.
💡 ON THE GROUND
What's in a national team nutritionist's room?
Pedro Meirinhos posted a photo from his hotel room during the World Cup.
Meirinhos is the nutritionist for the Ghana national team. His tournament-environment logistics: supplements, snacks, shakers, and electrolytes covering every surface.
The product list is worth a closer look.
On hydration, he's running Soccer Supplement's Hydrate90. Alongside it, Red Bull and KickStart gum for acute caffeine delivery and CarbShot for convenient carbohydrate provision.
For recovery, Recover90 from Soccer Supplement sits alongside Optimum Nutrition Gold Standard Whey. Creatine is also in the stack, alongside a nitrate supplement for pre-match loading.
Gels and bars round out the acute fuelling strategy. Powerbar Powergel Shots, Clif Bars, Kind Bars, and organic fruit bars give him a range of palatability options. There’s even some pickle juice.
Every shaker cup is white and labelled with a player's name in marker pen. It's a small operational decision with a real hygiene rationale — white hardware makes spotting mould, residue, and contamination significantly easier than opaque or coloured bottles.
At tournament level, where you're managing 25-plus players across multiple sessions a day, that visibility matters.
📈NEWS
Hexis Closes €1.85M Seed Round
San Diego FC hiring Head of Nutrition
Arizona Fall League hiring Team Dietitian (x2)
UCONN hiring Assistant Director of Sports Nutrition
University of Minnesota hiring Team Sports Dietitian
WSU hiring Football Director of Performance Nutrition
Scottish Rugby hiring Senior Nutritionist (Academies)
Michigan State hiring Head Football Performance Dietitian
Reese Benadon appointed at the University of Oregon as Sports Nutrition Fellow
Megan Willis appointed as Manchester United Women’s Academy Performance Nutritionist
The Performance Nutrition Network introduce “The Coalface” a new space to share stuff you deal with week to week in elite sport that you can't talk about publicly
Have an industry update you’d like to share? Drop us an email → [email protected]
💡PERFORMANCE TECH
Heat is the opponent this summer.
That's the premise behind Lucozade Elite. According to Lucozade, England aren't using a single product but a bespoke fuelling and hydration system, refined over years, with a new high-carbohydrate pouch at its centre.
The squeezable pouch nods to the Lucozade Sport sachet that lived on 1990s touchlines — old format, new build.
Beyond "high-carbohydrate electrolyte solution" in a 350ml serve, Lucozade has kept the formulation under wraps.
The use case fits the conditions. In the heat, matches get cooling breaks — and those stoppages turn into fuelling windows. Lucozade cites sweat losses of 2–2.5 litres in hot conditions, up to 4 litres in some athletes. A squeezable pouch is a fast way to get concentrated carbohydrate and fluid in when the clock stops.
At present, you can’t buy it. As far as we can tell, Lucozade Elite was built for the national teams only.
So treat this as a signal. Heat-specific, individualised fuelling, designed inside closed performance environments.
