According to the food and beverage giant, women are largely underserved in terms of targeted, science-backed sports nutrition solutions because globally only some 6% of sports science research is focused on women, per data from the Gatorade Sports Science Institute.
“In general, many women athletes are constantly dehydrated and worse yet a lot of this research fails to take individual hormone cycles into consideration,” PepsiCo Life Sciences Associate Principal Scientist Teena Badshah told the floor at our recent Growth Asia Summit 2026 in Singapore.
“Menstrual cycles in particular deserve more focus in this space, because females have approximately 480 cycles taking up almost 40 years of their lifetime, and the fact is that this experience can vary widely even for the same individual — this in turn means there could be varying recommendations for hydration or nutrition based on their oestrogen or progesterone levels.”
Although at present there is no evidence suggesting female athletes should change their diets depending on their menstrual cycle phase, general nutritional advice can still be tailored to a degree.
Hydration, for instance, is one important consideration.
“On average, females have a lower overall percentage of body water at around 55% to 60%. When exercising, they tend to be seen to have lower sweating rates than males, but this is actually attributed to lower body mass and exercise intensity, [so] water and mineral intake still needs close attention,” she added.
“In addition, menstrual cycle phases may alter thirst perception for female athletes such as runners, as during the luteal phase there is a rise in oestrogen which can decrease the osmotic threshold for thirst, [increasing the probability that] the athlete is not hydrated enough.”
This risk is further compounded in women who are ‘high sodium sweaters’, where they lose a lot of sodium via perspiration and are more likely to face the negative effects of sodium insufficiency in the body, such as headaches, muscle cramps or nausea.
Identifying high sodium sweaters:
High sodium sweaters are those people that have high sodium concentrations of sodium in their sweat. They can be identified by:
• Noting the appearance of white salt stains on clothing during exercise
• Measuring sweat sodium concentration
The general advice for high sodium sweaters is to consume a sodium-containing beverage, such as a sports drink like Gatorade, to help replace the sodium lost in sweat and to stimulate drinking.
The carbohydrate conundrum
Beyond hydration, a surprisingly large percentage of female athletes are actually also susceptible to chronic ‘low energy availability’ and this is unfortunately very strongly driven by a fear of excess caloric intake.
“Low energy availability is defined as the energy leftover after exercising, that is enough to support other physiological functions and normal life — this means functions such as reproduction, cardiovascular, immunity and so on,” she said.
“According to our research, at least 47% of all female athletes suffer from low energy availability, and this is linked to a fear of excess carbohydrate consumption that would cause weight gain and lead to a negative body image such as looking fat.”
Carbohydrates are needed for many functions such as maintaining short energy bursts as well as attention and decision making, all of which are also crucial during the actual exercise activity.
“47% of all female athletes suffer from low energy availability.”
Teena Badshah, PepsiCo Life Sciences Associate Principal Scientist
“Currently guidelines do already exist in terms of the amount of carbohydrates female athletes should be eating based on their activity levels, but research shows that they are only eating at the very low-end of this guidance if they meet it,” Badshah added.
“For instance, female endurance runners are advised to eat 6g to 10g of carbohydrates per kilogramme of body mass daily — but the data shows that they are consuming just 6.1g daily when training and 6.0g during the actual competition.”
What would practical solutions look like?
Due to the body image concerns, solely relying on professional dietitian or nutritionist advice may not be enough to make a real change within the sector, but it is still necessary.
“There are no sex-specific carbohydrate or hydration recommendations based on current research, but we do note that women athletes appear to have a fear of consuming carbohydrates [so it is] important for practitioners to be aware of this,” she said.
“Some practical solutions that would likely be more acceptable to female athletes with these concerns could include consuming carbohydrates in liquid form, or including higher carbohydrate vegetables like potatoes, corn, or peas within existing meals.”
Historically and culturally, the menstrual cycle has often been perceived as a taboo subject that female athletes keep to themselves even when negative symptoms or issues arise.
Badshah argues that there is a strong need to normalise this topic so that women athletes feel empowered to talk to staff if menstrual cycle issues arise.
“All beverages, not just electrolytes or sports drinks, can be part of a hydration plan, but the key is to know the athlete’s needs and losses, which is impossible unless the practitioner has all the necessary data [including] the impacts of hormonal changes,” she said.
“According to our female athlete sweat data study conducted by the Gatorade Sports Science Institute, at present 43% of all female athletes are starting their workouts underhydrated; 50% ate zero carbs as part of their workout diets, and just 20% replaced their sodium losses post-workout. These are numbers that need to be improved.”