Healthy Mind, Healthy Life

Most of us who exercise are doing it because we want to feel better. So why does the sports nutrition industry keep handing us products that look like they belong in a laboratory? If you have ever mid-run reached for a neon gel and thought, "Is this actually good for me?" — this episode is for you.

In this conversation on Healthy Mind, Healthy Life, guest host Sana sits down with Anouck Grau and Christopher Bellamy, co-founders of Yanaa — a French real-food sports nutrition startup challenging the ultra-processed status quo. They explore why the industry got it so wrong, why a healthy gut matters more than any single supplement, and why the food you eat during sport should taste like a human made it.

 

About the Guests:

Anouck Grau is a former professional snowboarder, certified holistic nutritionist, and chef based in Annecy, France. She co-founded Yanaa after years of watching elite athletes fuel themselves with products she refused to touch.

Christopher Bellamy is a biodesigner, engineer, and former elite triathlete who previously worked on electric cars and recyclable shoes. His systems-thinking background shapes how Yanaa approaches both product science and sustainability.

Together, they lead Yanaa (yanaa.food) — a real-food endurance nutrition brand making chef-cooked savory purees from organic legumes, cooked in Provence, and tested by professional athletes.

Key Takeaways:

• A survey of 592 athletes found that 78% believe existing sports nutrition is unhealthy, 77% find it unpleasant to eat, and 75% want savory options. The industry knows, and still has not moved — because ultra-processed products are cheap to make, easy to market, and profitable to sell.
• Food legislation in Europe is largely based on studies validated in 2006. This means real, whole foods like vegetables and legumes — which offer broad nutritional diversity rather than high concentrations of one nutrient — legally cannot be marketed the same way processed products can. The system inadvertently favors junk.
• Real food genuinely performs. Studies comparing energy gels to raisins, mashed potato, and bananas found no difference in athlete performance — and in some cases, real food produced lower inflammation and better flavour tolerance.
• Your body only burns significant carbohydrates at high intensity (roughly 65-75% VO2 max sustained for hours). Most recreational athletes are not there most of the time. Eating like an Olympic champion on a Sunday jog is unnecessary and potentially harmful.
• Gut health is the foundation of athletic performance. If your digestive system is compromised, you cannot absorb the nutrition you are consuming — no matter how well-designed the product is. A healthy athlete absorbs better, performs better, and recovers better.
• Blindly copying what professional athletes eat is a mistake. They have private chefs, gut analysis, and medical support. Without that infrastructure, consuming their fuelling strategy can do more harm than good.

Connect With the Guests:

Anouck Grau

• LinkedIn: https://fr.linkedin.com/in/anouckgrau
• Instagram (Yanaa): https://www.instagram.com/youarenotanastronaut/

Christopher Bellamy

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christopherbellamy/

Yanaa

• Website: https://yanaa.food/en

Episode Chapters:

[00:00] Welcome to the Conversation — Sana sets the scene: why do athletes who exercise for health keep fueling with products that undermine it?

[07:30] The Gap Nobody Talks About — Anouck reflects on growing up with real food and training as a professional snowboarder, and why she never once touched a gel.

[13:00] Why the System Stayed Broken — Sugar is cheap, sterilization is easy, and legislation from 2006 still governs what can be marketed. Chris maps the structural problem.

[19:30] The Business of Simplification — Why humans are wired to want convenience and a simple input-output model for nutrition — and how the industry exploits that.

[26:00] What Science Actually Says — Studies on raisins vs. gels, mashed potato vs. energy packs, and banana vs. recovery drinks. The results will surprise you.

[34:00] Building Yanaa — The goat cheese disaster, the prototype that made Chris's brother think he'd been handed vomit, and why following their gut (literally) led to something real.

[41:30] Brand as Values, Not Just Marketing — Why Yanaa chose warmth over aggression, fun over performance metrics, and sustainability over short-term margins.

 

Want to be a guest on Healthy Mind, Healthy Life? DM on PM - Send me a message on PodMatch DM Me Here: https://www.podmatch.com/hostdetailpreview/avik

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