Brendan Egan is the head of the School of Health & Human Performance at Dublin City University. Brendan’s research investigates skeletal muscle function and adaptation across the life course, with special interest in the synergy between nutrition and exercise interventions ranging from athletes to older adults

Brendan received his BSc Sport and Exercise Science from the University of Limerick in 2003, MSc Sport and Exercise Nutrition from Loughborough University in 2004, and PhD from Dublin City University in 2008, before completing two years of post-doctoral training at the Karolinska Institute. 

His current projects include resisted sled sprinting, weight cutting in combat sports, and menstrual cycle and hormonal contraceptive use, as well as nutrition supplementation and performance such including exogenous ketones, beetroot juice and caffeinated chewing gum. 

Outside of this Brendan has significant experience as a performance nutritionist with emphasis on field-based team sports, and endurance athletes. And we have it on very good authority that he was an exceptional athlete through his inter-county Gaelic footballer with Sligo from 2003 to 2017.  

04:30 – Community shoutouts
07:44 – Updates from Xylon & Dave
Paper mentioned in the podcast:
Brady AJ, Egan B. Acute Ingestion of a Ketone Monoester without Co-Ingestion of Carbohydrate Improves Running Economy in Male Endurance Runners. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2023 Aug 11. doi: 10.1249/MSS.0000000000003278. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 37565450.
15:30 – Episode starts
18:12 – Where did Brendan’s academic journey start?
21:15 – Why did Brendan choose to go into nutrition?
22:50 – What has been Brendan’s favourite sport to work with?
28:40 – Favourite failures Brendan has had in his career
31:56 – Why should people focus on general trends not specific numbers?
34:49 – Endurance athletes and underfueling
36:00 – Endurance athletes undereating protein
38:08 – Why should you increase protein at breakfast
42:43 – increasing protein and vegetables at breakfast
46:40 – Molecular regulation of adaptation to exercise
50:25 – What has Brendan learned from working in sports with weight cutting?
56:03 – Are there learnings for endurance athletes from weight cutting sports?
60:47 – Low fibre diet and body mass lost
Article mentioned on morning defecation and cerebral blood flow:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10142319/
64:06 – Are exogenous ketones becoming more prevalent?
66:03 – Summary of exogenous ketones for endurance performance
70:03 – Blinding subjects in scientific studies
73:41 – Beta hydroxybutyrate as a molecule and why it is so powerful
76:14 – Exogenous ketones and running economy
80:20 – What’s Brendan’s experience with CGM?
86:11 – What does Brendan think about carbohydrate intakes above 120g/hr?
92:30 – What are low hanging fruit in the supplement space for endurance athletes?
98:47 – What is Brendan’s 1km time trial time?
100:43 – What are Brendan’s current sporting endeavours?
104:30 – OutroBrendan’s Article on Adaptations to Exercise:
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36395350/Blog on
weight:
https://blog.supersapiens.com/what-is-race-weight/Brendan’s Review
Article on Ketone Use:
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36214993/