The Under-fueling Problem in Professional Sport with Dr Nessan Costello

Sports nutrition in elite football is often misunderstood, even by the players doing it for a living. In this episode, Richard Graves sits down with Dr. Nessan Costello, 1st Team Sports Nutritionist at Al-Ahli in the Saudi Arabia Pro League, to cut through the noise and get practical about what performance nutrition actually looks like at the highest level.
Nessan has worked across the Premier League with clubs including Chelsea, Newcastle United and Leeds United, and brings a rare combination of academic rigour and real-world experience to the conversation. From fuelling strategies across a congested fixture schedule to navigating Ramadan with Muslim players, and from debunking carbohydrate myths to calling out the damage done by overly controlling nutrition environments, this is a frank and refreshingly honest look at what it takes to keep elite footballers performing at their best, week in, week out.
Whether you're a practitioner working at the sharp end of elite sport, a coach trying to get more out of your athletes, or simply someone who wants to understand the science behind peak performance, there is plenty here for you.

In This Episode You Will Learn

• Why the majority of elite footballers are chronically underfuelled — and why that matters more than their body fat percentage
• The real science behind carbohydrate loading: why you should start 24 hours before kick-off, not the night before, and what foods actually work
• How to structure post-match nutrition across a 72-hour recovery window, including the specific gram-per-kilogram targets Nessan uses with his players
• Why ultra-lean body composition as a performance goal is actively harming players, and how disordered eating behaviours are more common in elite football than most environments will admit
• How Nessan adapted his approach during Ramadan — including training sessions at 10pm and cup semi-finals kicking off at 1:30am
• The practical hydration framework he uses: why 500ml of fluid with every meal beats carrying a big bottle around all day
• How nutrition changes across a full season, from pre-season heat acclimatisation through to the demands of a congested run-in
• Why supplements are largely irrelevant until you've nailed sleep, three meals a day, two snacks and consistent hydration
• What working in the Saudi Pro League has taught him about personalised nutrition across diverse nationalities and food cultures
• His advice for coaches and practitioners working without a dedicated nutritionist — and when it becomes worth bringing one in

About Nessan Costello
Dr. Nessan Costello is a sports nutritionist with over a decade of experience working at the highest levels of professional football. He has held roles at Premier League clubs including Chelsea, Newcastle United and Leeds United, before taking on his current position as 1st Team Sports Nutritionist at Al-Ahli in the Saudi Arabia Pro League.
Nessan specialises in helping elite athletes optimise their health and performance through practical, evidence-based nutrition strategies — with a particular focus on fuelling, recovery and body composition in high-demand environments. He is known for his ability to simplify complex nutritional science and make it actionable for players, coaches and multidisciplinary teams alike.
You can follow Nessan on LinkedIn and Instagram at @DrNessanCostello.

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