{"id":183855,"date":"2025-08-29T04:11:12","date_gmt":"2025-08-29T04:11:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/183855\/"},"modified":"2025-08-29T04:11:12","modified_gmt":"2025-08-29T04:11:12","slug":"nutrition-needs-are-different-in-cooler-months-heres-how-tech-can-help","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/183855\/","title":{"rendered":"Nutrition needs are different in cooler months \u2013 here\u2019s how tech can help"},"content":{"rendered":"

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

To prepare for the cold-weather months, Montreal endurance athlete Emmanuelle-Salambo Deguara tracks her shifting nutrition needs, hydration and energy use with apps and wearables. \u201cFor the same run in the winter, I\u2019m going to spend more energy than in the summer,\u201d she says.Andrej Ivanov<\/p>\n

On misty mornings, over crisp lunch breaks and even during work meetings Emmanuelle-Salambo Deguara is out running. <\/p>\n

An endurance athlete and co-founder of the global running community The 6 AM Club<\/a>, the Montreal lawyer views the cold months ahead as a chance to sharpen her resilience and deepen her self-awareness. <\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I go for a run and it\u2019s dark, I feel like I\u2019m the only one outside,\u201d says Ms. Deguara, 29. \u201cI just have to dress well and enjoy the moment.\u201d <\/p>\n

Currently training for a 320-kilometre ultramarathon in the Canadian Rockies<\/a> on September 12 \u2013 an undertaking few can relate to \u2013 she\u2019s also part of a growing trend using technology to track and optimize her health.<\/p>\n

As the colder months approach, she pays close attention to shifting nutritional needs, water intake and energy expenditure, all tracked with the help of apps and wearable devices. <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m very, very into tech,\u201d says Ms. Deguara, who never goes anywhere without her smartwatch. \u201cIt\u2019s almost a part of my body now.\u201d <\/p>\n

Monitoring shifts in activity through wearables <\/p>\n

While many Canadians slow down as the weather cools, others become more active, having waited with anticipation to head out on autumn hikes or get back on the slopes.<\/p>\n

Wearable tech like Apple or Garmin watches, Fitbit, the Whoop Band or the Oura Ring helps users track calories burned, sleep quality and overall body strain. This data can guide adjustments to nutrition accordingly.<\/p>\n

Even without a change in activity, your fuel needs are likely to change during colder months.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor the same run in the winter, I\u2019m going to spend more energy than in the summer,\u201d says Ms. Deguara. \u201cYou\u2019re fighting the elements, your body needs to remain warm, so you\u2019re going to use more energy.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

Every time I feel like something is weird, I look at my stats.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Emmanuelle-Salambo Deguara, endurance athlete<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The extra exertion makes it even more important to pay attention to greater nutritional needs. Halifax-based registered dietitian Carol-Ann Robert recommends listening to your hunger cues first and foremost, although that adjustment isn\u2019t always easy. <\/p>\n

Wearables and other tech that track your activity in relation to your food intake can be a useful tool, she says. <\/p>\n

Like Ms. Robert, Ms. Deguara says she prioritizes listening to her body, using smartwatch data as a check if something feels off or when she gets an alert about a change. <\/p>\n

\u201cI adjust my nutrition daily based on how much I train,\u201d she says. \u201cI used to not adapt it much, but now I\u2019m very mindful about what I consume and what I expend and adjust it as much as possible.\u201d <\/p>\n

She also uses her smartwatch to monitor her sleep. \u201cDepending on my heart-rate variability, my level of stress and fatigue, I might adjust my next run accordingly,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

Sleep can also play a role in nutrition, particularly when it comes to digestion, says Ms. Robert.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen people are less active and less relaxed, they\u2019re more likely to have digestive issues,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

Sleep and digestion connection<\/p>\n

A decline in sleep quality reported by your wearable tracker may help explain digestive upset. For those experiencing digestive issues, Ms. Robert recommends Monash University\u2019s Low FODMAP Diet App<\/a>, which helps users identify whether foods are low or high in a group of short-chain carbohydrates the small intestine struggles to absorb. <\/p>\n

Not all seasonal nutrition changes show up on your smartwatch, says Ottawa-based naturopathic doctor Emma Pollon-MacLeod. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe most obvious change is poor vitamin D from less sun exposure,\u201d she says. <\/p>\n

Lower vitamin D levels can affect mood and cause brain fog, especially once stores are depleted later in the fall, Dr. Pollon-MacLeod notes.<\/p>\n

As the colder months roll in, she also sees more people affected by skin conditions or irritation. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe dryness in the air really impacts skin barriers,\u201d she says. To counteract this, she recommends increasing consumption of fish oils that contain omega-3 fatty acids, which are known to combat inflammation. Water intake is also key, she adds, and hydration should be maintained year-round. <\/p>\n

Some health apps, such as the Canadian app Cronometer<\/a>, allow users to set specific nutrient goals in addition to providing overall data. <\/p>\n

According to Cronometer\u2019s lead nutrition scientist, Karen Stark, the app\u2019s immunity score function can be particularly helpful in the lead-up to cold and flu season. <\/p>\n

\u201cThere are a lot of nutrients that support all the functions we need to prevent infections,\u201d says Ms. Stark. \u201cWe bundled them to make it easier to for users to understand.\u201d <\/p>\n

Other popular nutrition tracking apps include MyFitness Pal<\/a> or Yuka<\/a>, a mobile app for scanning food products for nutritional information. <\/p>\n

Cronometer and similar apps can sync with wearables to pair food tracking with physical activity and sleep stats \u2013 useful for spotting patterns behind energy dips or mood shifts.<\/p>\n

Motivation can dip as temperatures drop<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re looking for motivation in colder months, Ms. Robert says some people respond especially well to gamified app features. The popular water-consumption tracker Waterllama<\/a>, for example, motivates users by letting them \u201cfill up\u201d a cartoon llama as they hydrate throughout the day. <\/p>\n

When it comes to using tech to support health and nutrition, Dr. Pollon-Macleod reminds patients to check in with themselves first. <\/p>\n

\u201cWhat would you say if you couldn\u2019t see a score?\u201d she says. \u201cIt\u2019s a way to validate your connection to your body: Ask yourself first, and then check it.\u201d <\/p>\n

Ms. Deguara takes that approach. Whether tracking a run or monitoring her nutrition, she says she lets the data support but not dictate her choices. \u201cEvery time I feel like something is weird, I look at my stats,\u201d she says. \u201cI ask myself, \u2018Do I need to rest?\u2019 or \u2018Do I need to eat more?\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a tool that is part of my training,\u201d she adds. \u201cIf you do horseback riding, you need a horse, when I run, I need my shoes and my watch.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Open this photo in gallery: To prepare for the cold-weather months, Montreal endurance athlete Emmanuelle-Salambo Deguara tracks her…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":183856,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[103297,31731,239,8837,103299,37767,210,27816,103298,1182,103296,103018,20418,1079,158,67,132,68,20267],"class_list":{"0":"post-183855","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nutrition","8":"tag-6-am-club","9":"tag-adveditorial","10":"tag-apple","11":"tag-appwebview","12":"tag-dietitian","13":"tag-fitbit","14":"tag-health","15":"tag-marathon","16":"tag-naturopath","17":"tag-nutrition","18":"tag-ordid3720630132edit","19":"tag-oura-ring","20":"tag-rockies","21":"tag-sleep","22":"tag-technology","23":"tag-united-states","24":"tag-unitedstates","25":"tag-us","26":"tag-wearables"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115110103302354862","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/183855","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=183855"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/183855\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/183856"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=183855"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=183855"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=183855"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}