It's Fourth of July weekend. You know you're going to eat a hot dog or two. Just eat them this way, a sports nutrionist says

We'll concede that you're not ordering a hot dog on the golf course because of its nutritional value. In fact, in celebration of golf's long-standing partnership with dogs, Golf Digest even identified the 15 best spots for them on courses around the country.

>That said, a prominent sports nutritionist says the protein and fat in a hot dog can help athletic performance. The bun? Not so much.

>Matt Jones, who has advised athletes around the world including the 2024 NBA Champion Boston Celtics, the Premier League's West Hampton team and players on golf's DP World Tour, explains why simple carbs such as a hot-dog bun can lead to dumped shots, missed putts and a back-nine collapse.

To simplify the science behind how nutrition impacts athletic performance, focus on two well-known neurotransmitters—serotonin and dopamine, Jones says. When you eat processed foods loaded with simple carbohydrates, the concentration of an amino acid called tryptophan increases in the bloodstream. When tryptophan passes the blood-brain barrier, it's rapidly converted into serotonin.

>Serotonin has been linked in several studies to something called "central fatigue." In short, central fatigue is a condition where the brain progressively fails to send sufficient neural signals to recruit muscles, leading to decreased force and performance, even when muscles are not directly fatigued. You can imagine what that might mean for a golfer in the home stretch of an important round.

>"On the other hand, dopamine is associated with cognition, mood, memory, attention and learning," Jones says. "Following consumption of a meal low in carbohydrates but high in quality protein and fat, the concentration of dopamine increases."

>This occurs because protein/fat whole foods increase levels of the amino acid tyrosine into the blood. And this quickly accelerates the synthesis of dopamine the same way tryptophan impacts serotonin, Jones says.

>Jones did say "quality" in regard to protein, and you could argue that hot dogs aren't at the top of list when it comes to that. But again, we'll concede the popularity of them on golf courses means that if you're hungry and have no desire to grab a bag of nuts, then go with a bun-less dog.

>Jones has a better nutrition plan for golfers and you can read his hole-by-hole advice here.