Skill, training, and dedication got you here. Now maintaining a long-lasting professional career is all about partnering with the best sports nutritionists to personalize your nutrition and lifestyle foundations.
We are pro sports nutrition specialists—creating personalized performance plans for elite and pro athletes.
Since 1993, our goal has been to move nutrition to its rightful place as the athlete's #1 performance tool.
We educate, assess, and personalize nutrition to help people be fully energized for sport and life.
We have had the honor of fueling athletes throughout the NHL, NBA, NFL, MLB, and Olympics. We served as the team nutritionists for the Chicago Blackhawks and Rockford IceHogs for 35 years (3 Stanley Cups!).
After I retired, my eating habits headed in the wrong direction. Without the advice and inspiration from Julie and SportFuel, who knows where I would be now. Thank you!
Troy Murray Former Chicago Blackhawk
We are a team of professional sports nutritionists and facilitators who help elite athletes reach their professional performance goals in sport and life.
Founder, Lead Integrative Sports Nutritionist + Nutrigenomics Consultant
Julie Burns is the Founder of SportFuel, Inc., an integrative sports nutrition and wellness consulting firm. She has provided team nutrition services to the Chicago Blackhawks for 35 years, and works individually with athletes who compete in the NFL, MLB, NBA, Olympics, and other elite sports teams.
After seeing firsthand that a one-size-fits-all approach is ineffective, Julie developed a highly personalized program that blends integrative nutrition with lifestyle medicine to help clients discover their maximum potential.
Julie is a member of the American Nutrition Association (ANA); the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (AND); the AND practice groups, Dietitians in Functional Medicine (DIFM) and Sports Cardiovascular and Wellness Nutrition (SCAN); and the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM). She served three terms on SCAN’s Executive Board, was the Cardiovascular Editor for SCAN’s Pulse quarterly publication for 5 years, and served on the Gatorade Sport Science Institute’s Sports Nutrition Advisory Board from 1995-2003. Julie was in the first graduating class of the Kresser Institute’s ADAPT program in December of 2016. Additionally, Julie is the Managing Member of Eat Like the Pros®, which acts as a highly effective resource hub designed to help you integrate the SportFuel, Inc. philosophy into your life.
To balance her passion for continued learning, Julie enjoys golfing, gardening, cooking, yoga, meditating, volunteering for charities and causes close to her heart, walking her sweet dog, and watching and attending all sporting events with her husband and adult triplets! Julie is an active member of the Misericordia Heart of Mercy Women’s League, a group that works to support the mission of the important work of the Misericordia community, and volunteers at Beds Plus, an organization determined to help vulnerable individuals stabilize their lives through housing and supportive services. Most recently, Julie was inducted into the Mother McAuley Hall of Honor.
Senior Integrative Sports Nutritionist
Alex Cotie is a registered dietitian, with a degree in Dietetic Science from the University of Illinois in Chicago. Having trained with Julie Burns for 10 years, Alex is SportFuel’s top performance nutritionist. She is dedicated to finding integrative and individualized methods to help clients reach their fullest potential.
Whether you’re an athlete or on the sidelines, Alex encourages you to start with one thing that speaks to you to begin nourishing your health.
Along with supporting the Chicago Blackhawks, Rockford IceHogs and SportFuel private clients, Alex is often asked to give presentations to groups such as Nike, Jordan, elite hockey camps, athletic trainers, and youth and high school teams. She has also participated in various panels discussing real-food nutrition and performance.
Alex believes, and science supports, that great nutrition can have an astounding impact on strength, speed, mental clarity, and digestion, while it can also reduce injury and improve overall health and wellness. In her free time, Alex enjoys spending time in nature, all forms of activity, and volunteering.
Integrative Nurse + Metabolic Specialist
Margaret Nicholson is an Integrative Health Coach and registered nurse, and nutrigenomics consultant. Margaret plays an active role in supporting SportFuel’s VIP clients and private clients.
At SportFuel, she focuses on setting her clients up for success through simple, manageable lifestyle changes, including food and supplements. Additionally, Margaret develops programs to encourage athletes’ nutrition and supports them with specialized meal plans.
Margaret arrived in the nutrition field out of interest and necessity. When health issues also began to appear for Margaret and her family, she decided to dive deeper into understanding how nutritional changes can majorly influence one’s ability to achieve optimal health and wellness. Her science background and natural intuition for cooking real food has become of vital importance as she works to help clients discover what works best for them.
Integrative Sports Nutritionist
Alicia Kalinich has been a licensed and registered dietitian nutritionist for 25 years. With a Masters in Exercise Physiology, Alicia is an integrative fitness nutrition specialist, supporting clients with aging optimization.
As a SportFuel Integrative Nutritionist, Alicia believes in the power of food as an important piece in managing health conditions such as weight struggles, digestive disorders, and inflammatory conditions, including joint pain and autoimmunity.
Healthy living from both a nutritional and functional perspective is her primary focus in helping clients achieve success. Alicia is an active member of the Academy of Dietetics, along with the Practitioner Speciality Group-Dietitians in Integrative and Functional Medicine.
To balance her work life, Alicia loves nature and any activity that allows her to indulge, including biking, kayaking, hiking, and skiing.
Youth + Family Fueling Strategist
Chloe Dwyer is a licensed registered dietitian nutritionist specializing in youth and family nutrition. With a “food first” approach, she collaborates with young athletes (12 to 22 years old) and their families to support their success.
Chloe has gained valuable experience working with the Chicago Blackhawks over the past 2 years.
Chloe holds a B.S. in Psychology from Loyola University Chicago and an M.S. in Nutrition from the University of Illinois at Chicago. She is a strong advocate for SportFuel’s personalized nutrition approach and seamlessly integrates this philosophy into her work with private clients.
Beyond her individual clientele, Chloe also works closely with youth sport teams, leveraging her diverse nutritional expertise to help teams achieve optimal health and performance. Her passion for empowering others through nutrition is evident in her commitment to delivering personalized guidance and support.
Integrative Sports Nutritionist
Daniel Dittmer is a registered dietitian with a Master’s in Nutrition from the University of Illinois Chicago. He believes in an individualized approach to nutrition to address the needs and goals of his clients.
He received his Bachelor’s in Exercise Science from the University of Iowa. Daniel is a member of the Academy of Nutrition & Dietetics (AND) and the practice group, Dietitians in Functional Medicine (DIFM).
In order to best serve the client, he utilizes information such as a client’s health & food intake history, metabolic requirements of their sport/activity, and biochemical data. A nutrition strategy that is client specific can help support digestion, immunity, recovery, performance, sleep, and injury prevention.
In his free time, Daniel enjoys playing soccer, spending time with his dog Onyx, and cooking because he believes food should taste as good as it makes you feel!
Office Operations + Creative Manager
Kathleen has worked as SportFuel’s bookkeeper, editor, and primary customer service representative for the last 7 years. She also illustrates graphics for SportFuel’s website and marketing.
She studied anthropology, writing, and design and loves seeing how these interests are interconnected in the nutrition world and the world at large. Having dealt with her own set of chronic health issues, she knows how important SportFuel’s integrative approach to health and wellness can be.
In her free time, Kathleen likes painting, sewing (fashion design), and watching TV and movies, preferably by candlelight.
Our sport and fitness nutritionists collaborate with you to create a personalized performance plan, so you can get back to doing what you do best: performing.
SportFuel is an integrative nutrition consulting firm based in Chicago, Illinois. SportFuel works with a wide range of clients, including professional sporting teams and competing elite and youth athletes. We provide personalized nutrition to clients so that they can achieve their goals and maintain peak performance throughout their long-lasting careers. SportFuel also work with non-competing athletes looking to improve their body composition, feel more rested and focused throughout the day, and eat in a way that promotes their health and longevity.
Integrative sports nutrition is a subsect of the nutrition field which examines health and athletic performance from a holistic approach. Nutritionists help clients to eat and life in a way that reduces stress, manages inflammation, and promotes more robust sleep. Through a real food diet that is personalized to the client's unique needs and goals, our clients are able to look, feel, and play their best without negatively impacting their well-being and long-term health.
A solid nutritional foundation complements your training and athletic performance by allowing your body to recover more optimally, repair muscles, and prevent injury. A proper fueling plan is imperative to achieving mental clarity for sharper focus, as well as efficient and full digestion. Nutrition allows athletes to feel nourished, light, and ready to conquer their competition.
After all, training only gets you so far. Nutrition is the missing key to unlock your greatest potential.
While we are most known for our work as Team Nutritionists for the Chicago Blackhawks and Rockford IceHogs, as well as other professional athletes and elite athlete prospects, we have a wide range of clients from aspiring youth athletes to fitness fanatics.
For more than 30 years, SportFuel’s expertise has helped shape the application of sports nutrition. When founder Julie Burns debuted her individualized, real-food approach to sports nutrition in Chicago in the ‘90s, it was met with doubt and disapproval from her peers. Today, personalized performance nutrition is the gold standard upon which the sports industry rests. SportFuel has paved the way for athletes everywhere to stay on top of their game––and competition––while reaching their unique goals through a scientific and customized nutritional approach.
The SportFuel Team cannot make specific product recommendations to non-clients, however we do believe that people can benefit from real food products, such as The Sportfuel Bar and Sportfuel Greens, as well as micronutrient supplementation. You can find SportFuel®-recommended daily supplements for competing athletes and non-competing athletes at the SportFuel® Store.
All pro athlete supplements and products can be found on the SportFuel Store. Active SportFuel® clients receive 15% discount on all products at the SportFuel Store and gain access to SportFuel’s health dispensaries.
After viewing our pro athlete performance program offerings, book an exploratory call with one of our team members so that we can figure out together which service is best for you.
Yes, all nutrition and health coaching consultation sessions are facilitated remotely via Zoom.
In order to serve a greater population, we have service programs starting at 149 USD. In order to appropriately match you with the best program, please book an exploratory call for a one-on-one discussion with a SportFuel team member. This way we can help you choose a program that fits your desired goals and objectives.
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SportFuel® is an integrative nutrition consulting firm based in the Chicagoland area in Illinois. | Copyright © 2022 SportFuel, Inc. All rights reserved.
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"When I found SportFuel, I was very impressed with their targeted approach to applying nutrition, and when Tennis Canada was looking for a place to send some of their top juniors and top professionals it was a very easy choice on where to send them. Not only did SportFuel take a very scientific and specific approach, their results were tangible and impressive. We continually refer all of our clients to SportFuel when they are in need of nutrition consultation because they are simply the best."
Carmine Filice Former Director of Sports Science Tennis Canada