Sports Nutrition

Rice Owls Sports Nutrition

The mission of Rice Performance Nutrition is to develop and educate student-athletes with evidenced-based nutrition to optimize performance both on the field of play and in the classroom. Using an athlete-centric approach, Performance Nutrition coordinates with Athletic Trainers, Team Physicians, Strength & Conditioning, and Applied Sports Science to provide unified plans for the individual student-athlete. The goal is to develop the total athlete and empower them to cultivate sustainable nutrition practices for their time as a Rice Athlete and beyond.

Christina King MS RD CSSD LD

Director of Performance Nutrition

Christina King (MS RD CSSD LD) is a registered and licensed dietitian and board-certified sports dietitian with over five years of experience in professional sports, and eight years of experience within collegiate athletics.

Previously, she was a sports dietitian with the Memorial Hermann Rockets Sports Medicine Institute, where she counseled clients of all ages and abilities in nutrition for health and performance. Through Memorial Hermann, she served as the Lead Dietitian for Houston Christian University Athletics and the Team Dietitian for the Houston Dash of the NWSL. She also worked as the nutrition consultant for the Savannah Bananas. She helped develop high school nutrition programming that has been used in high schools across the Houston area, as well as Post-Operative Nutrition Programming for individuals and athletes recovering from surgical repair of injury. She also taught as adjunct faculty in the Kinesiology department at Houston Christian University and in the Memorial Hermann Sports Physical Therapy Residency.

Prior to Memorial Hermann, Christina was a graduate student researcher in the Nutrition department at Texas A&M, working with both cellular and animal models. She was also a sports nutrition intern with the NFL Pre-Combine Program at St. Vincent Sports Performance in Indianapolis, IN, and served in a similar capacity with University of Houston Athletics.

Christina received her Bachelor of Science in Biology from Furman University, where she also competed as a varsity volleyball player. She then earned her Master of Science in Nutrition from Texas A&M University and completed a research thesis on The Chemoprotective Effects of Mammalian Lignans Enterodiol and Enterolactone in Non-Transformed Colonocytes.

Performance Nutrition Center

The purpose of the Performance Nutrition Center (PNC) is to provide additional fueling opportunities for athletes between meals and around training sessions. Under the supervision of the Director of Performance Nutrition, the PNC aims to supply a variety of products to support the dietary needs of the athletes, prevent performance deficits, and promote healthy fueling habits to enhance athletic capabilities.

The Performance Nutrition Center is located in Tudor Fieldhouse.

Rice Athletics Cookbook

The Rice Cookbook

Homemade recipes for Rice athletes, written by the Rice Performance Nutrition Center

Under the supervision of Roberta Anding, MS, RD/LD, CSSD, CDE, former RICE sports dietitian this cookbook was started by UTHealth Dietetic Interns, Ani Aroian and Hayley Bode.

The goal of the cookbook is to give Rice University athletes the basic tools and confidence to make deliciously simple meals at home.

Reformatted by Lanyia Jefferson and Rachel Flores, 2023-2024 TWU Dietetic Intern; supervised by Christina King MSRD CSSD LD Director of Performance Nutrition

To view the full Rice Cookbook, click on the book tab on the left.