HEAD COACH · UNIVERSITY OF DENVER

The Most Overlooked Performance Variable in Elite Sports Isn't the Players

The Most Overlooked Performance Variable in Elite Sports Isn't the Players. It's the Coaches.

If the quality of your decisions determines the quality of your team — and you're managing that cognitive load on suboptimal nutrition — you are not performing at the level you're capable of. Most coaches have no idea how much that gap costs them.

Professional sports has invested heavily in optimizing player performance: sleep labs, altitude training, blood panels, sports psychologists. Almost none of that investment flows to the coaches making real-time decisions that determine whether all of it matters.

Dave Carle is the head coach at the University of Denver, where his teams won NCAA national championships in 2022, 2024 and 2026. When he and his family came to Elevated Eats, here is what mattered:

• Healthy, high-quality, organic food, which mattered even more as they started a young family
• Something better than the meal kits they had tried, where you still prep and cook it yourself
• Grab-and-go meals he could take to the rink during the daily grind
• Meals without the bloated, heavy feeling that restaurant oils and butter leave behind

Elite coaches perform under pressure. The ones who sustain it across a full season are the ones who've addressed every variable — including the one most coaches overlook entirely.

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Nutrition Built for Cognitive and Leadership Demands

• Brain-first nutrition — DHA-rich foods, Lion's Mane mushroom, and strategic carbohydrate timing to sustain cognitive performance across 3+ hour game nights
• Stress-response support — adaptogens and magnesium-rich meals to regulate cortisol and protect the nervous system
• Sleep architecture engineering — evening meals built to deepen slow-wave sleep, even after late games with high adrenaline
• Blood sugar stability — preventing the mid-afternoon crash that compromises third-period sharpness
• Fully prepared, delivered — zero planning required; meals arrive ready to eat

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The Results: What Dave Noticed

• 🍽️ No more bloated feeling after meals, the difference he noticed most
• 😴 Better sleep, which he connects directly to the quality of his work the next day
• 🧠 More output and efficiency at work, which he credits to the food
• 🥡 Grab-and-go meals at the rink on long work days
• 🏠 A family that now shops and cooks differently at home, down to finding clean meat and fish providers
• 📋 Menus sent ahead to approve and adjust month to month, with freezer packs for flexibility

"If you're not eating good, you're probably not going to sleep great, and it's going to affect your work quality the next day. For me, it's helped with all those things. The food intake has certainly helped the output on the quality of work and the efficiency of time I've been able to squeeze out."

Dave Carle, Head Coach, University of Denver

Dave's All-Time Elevated Eats Favorites

• 🥩 Paleo Bison Lasagna — satisfying and easy after a late game. High-protein without the heaviness that disrupts sleep.
• 🍛 Slow Cooked Chicken Curry with Bone Broth Rice — deeply nourishing and gut-supporting. The recovery meal for high-pressure nights.
• 🫐 Berrytime Recovery Sorbet — antioxidant-rich and genuinely enjoyable.
• 🥗 Bison Taco Bowl with Spiced Roasted Veggies & Guac — anti-inflammatory, healthy fats. The pre-game lunch standard.

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The Nutritional Science of Coaching Performance

• Omega-3 DHA — structural component of brain cell membranes; the most evidence-backed nutrient for sustained cognitive performance
• Lion's Mane mushroom — nerve growth factor support; documented effect on focus and working memory under cognitive load
• Magnesium glycinate — sleep depth and nervous system recovery after sustained high-stress environments
• Strategic complex carbohydrates — sustained glucose for a brain processing high-speed decisions across 60+ minutes of game action
• Reishi mushroom — cortisol regulation and stress adaptation; protecting the physiological cost of elite performance pressure

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Frequently Asked Questions