Each week in my Research Update, I distill the latest sports science research into practical insights to help you improve your training, performance, and recovery.

In this week's update:

• Eating fruits and vegetables may positively improve your mood
  
• Post-training heat therapy may help improve muscle growth
  
• Why nutrition could play a bigger role in injury recovery than athletes think
  

Increasing Fruit and Vegetable Intake May Improve Your Mood

This randomized controlled trial tested whether allowing people to count fruit juice and smoothies toward their recommended daily five servings of fruits and vegetables would improve overall intake and influence health markers. Researchers tracked changes in vitamin C levels, blood pressure, body composition, mood, and depression scores across groups consuming different amounts of fruits and vegetables over several weeks. The group with higher intake showed improved vitamin C status and reported lower depressive symptoms, pointing to a possible link between increased fruit and vegetable intake and better mental wellbeing.

My thoughts: At face value this study suggests eating more fruit and vegetables may improve mood and depression symptoms. But, there’s a good chance participants simply felt better because they knew they were making healthier choices. The real challenge here is the placebo, because how do you trick someone into thinking they're drinking a fruit smoothie when they aren't?

Post-Training Heat Therapy Could Help You Build More Muscle

This review looked at how post-resistance training heat exposure affects muscular adaptation over time, drawing on studies using hot water immersion, sauna, and local heating protocols performed after strength training sessions. Researchers analyzed changes in muscle hypertrophy, strength development, and markers of muscular adaptation, and found that heat exposure after training appeared to support greater muscle growth. Elevated tissue temperature is thought to increase blood flow, cellular stress signaling, and anabolic pathways involved in muscle remodeling.

My thoughts: So, taking a dip in the hot tub after training may actually help your muscles grow. Personally, I still prefer alternating between hot and cold treatments because of how I feel afterwards, but it's interesting to see more research suggesting heat itself may have a positive influence on adaptation.

Does a Better Diet Speed Up Muscle and Tendon Recovery?

This pilot study investigated whether adding nutritional counseling to standard exercise rehabilitation could improve recovery outcomes in people with chronic Achilles tendinopathy. Sixteen participants completed high-load Achilles strengthening exercises, with half also receiving individualized dietary guidance aimed at improving overall diet quality and reducing inflammatory load. Researchers tracked pain scores, tendon function using VISA-A scoring, inflammatory markers including IL-6 and CRP, cholesterol, body composition, and blood pressure. Both groups improved, but the nutritional counselling group showed larger improvements in tendon function scores, though the small sample size meant the researchers couldn't confirm superiority with confidence.

My thoughts: Recovering from injury is frustrating, and nutrition is still a massively overlooked  piece of the puzzle. We’re still learning more about how inflammation, metabolic health, and overall diet can influence recovery, but the fastest path back to training is often thinking about the whole system, not just the specific injured muscle or joint.

— That's all for now, train hard!

If you learned something new and are curious to know more, check out more articles and my growing list of weekly Blonyx Research Updates where I help you further improve your athletic performance by keeping you up to date on the latest findings from the world of sports science.

Looking for more ways to keep up with Blonyx?

Now, you can join the Blonyx Strava Club to track your progress, share training tips, and connect with athletes who share your athletic ambition.

You can also follow us on Instagram and Facebook for additional sports science information, announcements, exciting giveaways, and more!