The fourth edition of Clinical Sports Nutrition is written by Louise Burke, the head of the department of Sports Nutrition for the Australian Institute of Sport, and by Vicki Deakin, senior lecturer and head of Nutrition and Dietetics at the University of Canberra. Contributions have also been made by leading sports dieticians, physicians, and academics. The text is written for students interested in a career in sports nutrition, as well as professionals in sports nutrition and medicine.
New additions to the fourth edition include chapters on exercise and the immune system, antioxidants and the athlete, food services for athletes and nutrition for travel. Updated position statements by the ACSM and IOC have been included. No information on nutrition and athletic injuries is provided.
The text is written in language that is very readable for anyone with a background in the subject matter and does an excellent job of summarizing the raw science without burdening the reader with too much detail. Where further detail may be warranted, references are provided for the reader to guide them to appropriate literature to delve deeper into a given topic.
The main strengths of this text are its readability and the wide range of topics within sports nutrition that it covers. Future editions should include information regarding nutrition for the injured athlete and more visually appealing images.