20/12/2025
When Scott McTominay arrived in Italy, everyone told him the same thing:
“Here we have the best food in the world.”
He was sceptical.
Now he confirms it himself.
But this is not about flavour.
It’s about culture, responsibility and performance standards.
In elite sport, food is not a benefit.
It’s part of the infrastructure.
Nutrition shapes health first:
• inflammatory control
• gut and immune function
• hormonal balance
• sleep, mood and cognitive readiness
Only a healthy athlete can be a high-performing athlete.
There are no shortcuts, no technologies and no data models that can bypass this rule.
This is where many systems fail:
they chase performance outputs while silently eroding health.
Italian food culture—and the Mediterranean model—offers something rare in modern sport:
a daily, non-negotiable health standard.
Quality ingredients, simplicity, regularity and physiological coherence. Not tradition. Applied biology.
The fact that the Mediterranean diet is recognised as UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage is not symbolic.
It confirms that this model sustains human health over time—exactly what elite sport constantly puts at risk.
For clubs, this is identity.
For performance departments, this is strategy.
And for a sports nutritionist, this is responsibility.
Our role is not to please athletes or follow trends.
It’s to set standards, protect health and build environments where performance can actually emerge.
Because food sends a message every day.
And whether you like it or not, athletes always listen.
Health first.
Performance follows.
