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ForwardSymposium Session: Discerning Fact from Faux: Avoiding Misinformation and Overcomplication in the Nutrition and Exercise Space
In today’s crowded and often misleading media landscape, athletes and patients are exposed to nutrition and exercise advice from a wide range of voices, many without formal training. To effectively support performance and health, healthcare professionals must move beyond siloed performance expertise and strengthen effective communication and collaborative, team-based approaches to care.
This session brings together registered dietitians, physicians, surgeons, physician assistants, chiropractors, strength and conditioning specialists, certified athletic trainers, and physical therapists to examine common performance and nutrition controversies through an evidence-based lens. This session will emphasis interdisciplinary communication skills by leveraging expertise, championing integrity, and capitalizing on popularity through embracing science-based research. We need to help our athletes and patients develop strategies that successfully address the big picture rather than stressed by the minutia. To be effective, there needs to be more emphasis on the collaborative approach. The registered dietitian/nutritionist has a unique skill set, as does the exercise physiologist and those who do the research. Where can the lanes merge so that we engage in conversations over confrontations?
Leslie Bonci, MPH, RDN, CSSD, LDN, FAND, and Lauren Colenso-Semple, PhD, will take a deep dive into some of the overly popular, yet polarizing topics including fasting vs fed, Zone 2 training, cortisol concerns, weighted vests, women’s training considerations, collagen and peptides, supplementation, and body composition goals. Science is not a weapon but a source of knowledge to substantiate shared recommendations along with practical applications. The skill comes in identifying strategies that are actionable, focused, and attainable with rationale and resources. None of us are the experts of all instead, we need to leverage each discipline's strengths, reducing conflicting recommendations, and fostering respectful, outcome-driven collaborations to help our athlete and patient population strive and thrive.
This is not a webinar or course for purchase - this is a module for credit claiming for our 2026 Spring Symposium attendees and cannot be purchased or taken by non-attendees. These sessions are exclusive to our Symposium; however, the topics may be revisited in the future in the form of a webinar or self-study course.
Learning Objectives
After completing this continuing education activity, health care professionals will be better able to:
- Analyze the detrimental health and performance consequences of inappropriate, non-evidence-based nutrition and exercise recommendations.
- Critically appraise exercise-science research to identify misinformation, and focus on positive, achievable implementation across the healthcare team for improved performance, safety, and long-term patient health outcomes
- Develop confidence and competence in effective communication and collaboration skills with other healthcare professionals.
- Clarify professional roles, identify areas of overlapping and complementary expertise, and explore strategies for coordinated messaging that supports patient-centered outcomes.
Additional Information
Leslie Bonci, MPH, RDN, CSSD, LDN, FAND, is a registered dietitian, board certified specialist in sports dietetics and is the owner of Active Eating Advice - Be Fit, Fed, Fearless - a nutrition consulting company. She is also the co-founder of Performance365, a sports nutrition consulting company. She had a 31-year tenure in the NFL with the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Kansas City Chiefs. Her company, Performance 365, provides sports nutrition services for high school, professional, and masters athletes and performance artists. She also works with industry as a spokesperson in an advisory capacity.
Leslie is the author of “Sport Nutrition for Coaches” and the American Dietetic Association’s “Guide to Better Digestion.” She’s the co-author of “Run Your Butt Off,” “Walk Your Butt Off,” the “Active Calorie Diet,” and “Bike Your Butt Off.” She has authored numerous chapters for sports medicine and sports nutrition manuals. Leslie participates in many podcasts and provides nutrition expertise for television, radio, and print outlets. She is an adjunct instructor at the University of Pittsburgh and Duquesne University and received her undergraduate degree in biopsychology from Vassar College, her master’s in public health from the University of Pittsburgh, and she completed her dietetic internship at Mercy Hospital in Pittsburgh. She was the director of sports nutrition at the UPMC Center for Sports Medicine for 16 years.
Lauren Colenso-Semple, PhD is a science communicator with expertise in female physiology and exercise. She holds a Ph.D. in Integrative Physiology from McMaster University and a Master’s in Exercise Science from the University of South Florida. Lauren is known for making complex topics accessible—and for calling out the myths that hold women back from reaching their full potential. In addition to her academic work, Lauren is a seasoned fitness professional with extensive hands-on experience and a co-owner of the MASS Research Review, where she helps bridge the gap between cutting-edge research and practical fitness strategies.
Disclosures:
Leslie J. Bonci, MPH, RD, CSSD, LDN, FAND, faculty for this educational event, has the following relevant financial relationships with ineligible companies to disclose: she is on the Nutrition Expert Panel for Bayer USA. All relevant financial relationships listed for this individual have been mitigated.
Lauren Colenso-Semple, PhD, and the faculty of this educational activity have no relevant financial relationships with ineligible companies to disclose.
An “ineligible company” includes any entity whose primary business is producing, marketing, selling, re-selling, or distributing healthcare products used by or on patients.
In support of improving patient care, Great Valley Publishing Company is jointly accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME), the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE), and the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC), to provide continuing education for the healthcare team.
This activity will also award credit for dietetics (CDR CPEU).
Dietitians: RDs and DTRs are to select activity type 102 in their Activity Log. Sphere and Competency selection is at the learner’s discretion.
Physicians:
Great Valley Publishing designates this live material for a maximum of 1.0 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit (s)™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.
Interprofessional:
This activity was planned by and for the healthcare team, and learners will receive 1.5 IPCE credits for learning and change.
Available Credit
- 1.00 Interprofessional Continuing Education (IPCE)This activity was planned by and for the healthcare team, and learners will receive Interprofessional Continuing Education (IPCE) credits for learning and change.