Fuelling Females is a new lecture series at Reykjavik University

On Thursday, August 20, Reykjavik University will host a seminar at which a new lecture series on nutrition and the physiology of women in sports and women who are physically active, Fuelling Females, will be officially introduced. The seminar is held in collaboration with the Icelandic Sports Fund and will take place in room V101 from 4:00 to 5:30 p.m.

The event celebrates the unique physiology of women and the powerful role that nutrition plays in performance, recovery, and overall wellbeing.

More information about the event can be found here, and registration is available here. Light refreshments will be provided after the seminar, so registration is required.

Dr. Christopher Curtis, a sports nutritionist and associate professor at the department of Sports Science at RU, will give a presentation on nutrition for female athletes.

Focus on the female experience

"My own research in female athletes started from my time working as a sports nutritionist with an international women's sports team back in the UK. We soon realised that a lot of the recommendations we see are based upon male cohorts, and so we started wanting to answer questions about what our athletes were actually doing and what we needed to know to improve their performance," Curtis says.

Silja Úlfarsdóttir, a former elite athlete and coach, will then moderate a panel discussion focusing on female experiences from elite sport, nutrition science, coaching, and general health and fitness.

The panel will include Sara Sigmundsdóttir, professional CrossFit athlete; Eygló Fanndal Sturludóttir, European champion in Olympic weightlifting and Icelandic Sportsperson of the Year 2025; Ágústa Edda Björnsdóttir, multiple cycling champion in Iceland; Agnes Þóra Árnadóttir, former footballer and nutritionist; and Erla Guðmundsdóttir, sports scientist, health coach, and host of the podcast Með lífið í lúkunum.

Increased risk of various consequences

Dr. Hafrún Kristjánsdóttir, professor and dean of the department of Sport Science at RU, says the available educational material does not paint a full picture: “There is a tremendous amount of ‘educational’ material about nutrition for women in sports and physical activity on the internet. The problem is that there are also many myths and claims that have little or no basis in science. There is, however, much less accessible educational material based on sound scientific knowledge.

Not fueling yourself adequately can have a variety of physical and psychological consequences. For example, it can increase the risk of injuries, affect hormonal function, and disrupt the menstrual cycle. We also know, among other things from research we have conducted here in Iceland, that far too many female athletes have an unhealthy relationship with food,” says Hafrún.

She hopes that as many people as possible will benefit from the lecture series.

“We would be absolutely delighted if this educational material were used by national sports federations, sports clubs, coaches, fitness centers, teachers, parents, and others involved in sports and physical activity to educate girls and women of all ages about nutrition and its importance.

The material is available free of charge to everyone, and people can trust that it is based on the best scientific knowledge available today. One of the roles of universities is to share knowledge with society, and this is our way of contributing.”