Dan Benardot, PhD, DHC, RD, LD, FACSM

Sports Nutrition

Dan Benardot, PhD, DHC, RD, LD, FACSM, Head of the Division of Nutrition at Georgia State University, comes on the show to discuss Nutrition for Exercise, Athletics and the Elite athlete.

Dr. Dan Benardot is a tenured Full Professor and Head of the Division of Nutrition1, and is also a Professor of Biology2 and Professor of Kinesiology and Health3 at Georgia State University (GSU), where he is Director of the Laboratory for Elite Athlete Performance. He received his doctorate in human nutrition and health planning from Cornell University; is a Fellow of the American College of Sports Medicine; and is a Registered and Licensed Dietitian. Dr. Benardot was past Director of Research for the Center for Sports Medicine and Associate Dean for Research for the College of Health and Human Sciences at GSU. He was GSU’s founding Chair of the Intellectual Property Committee, and developed a successful plan for the creation of the new Institute for Public Health at GSU, which has been successfully operating for over 7 years. With numerous scientific refereed publications, 6 books, and 15 book chapters, his research focus on energy balance and related issues in competitive athletes has been funded by the United States Olympic Committee, the Gatorade Sports Science Institute, the Georgia Research Foundation, the American Cancer Society, and the California Horse Racing Commission. He was editor-in-chief of “Sports Nutrition: A Guide for the Professional Working with Active People, 2nd edition” (American Dietetic Association © 1993, 335 pgs), authored “Nutrition for Serious Athletes” (Human Kinetics © 2000, 336 pgs; also published in Spanish) and “Advanced Sports Nutrition” (Human Kinetics © 2006, 340 pgs; also published in multiple languages, including Spanish, Portuguese, Serbian, and Chinese), and co-authored “The ACSM Fitness Book – 3rd Edition” (Human Kinetics Publisher © 2003, 175 pgs). His most recent book “The Coaches’ Guide to Sports Nutrition” (Coaches Choice © 2007, 241 pgs) was co-authored with Dr. WR Thompson.

Dr. Benardot was in charge of the nutritional health and hydration strategy of the gold-medal winning United States Gymnastics Team at the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games, and the medal-winning USA marathoners at the 2004 Athens Olympic Games. He also helped to prepare the USA Marathoners for the Beijing Olympic Games. He currently is a member of the Sports Medicine and Sports Sciences Committees for USA Figure Skating, and serves on the Advisory Board of the National Center for Human Performance in Houston, Texas.

Melanie Cole, M.S.

4 / 12 / 2011