Dr Ellie Hayes

Assistant Professor

School: Sport Exercise and Rehabilitation

Dr Ellie Hayes completed a BSc in Exercise and Sport Sciences in 2018 at the University of Exeter, followed by an MRes (2019) and PhD (2023) in Musculoskeletal Ageing at Newcastle University. Her doctoral thesis explored recovery from exercise in later life, specifically the use of whole foods for minimising the magnitude of exercise-induced muscle damage and expediting recovery from muscle damaging activities. She has been an Associate Fellow of the Higher Education Academy since 2022.

After completing her PhD, Dr Hayes worked as a Research Associate at Newcastle University where she studied the inter-individual differences in the blood pressure lowering effects of dietary nitrate, the impact of meal timing and information on markers of health in young women, and the associations between plant-derived nitrate intake and frailty.

Currently, Dr Hayes is leading a research group seeking to assess the feasibility and acceptability of a nutrition education application for older adults in the North East of England for which she has received EPSRC NortHFutures Cross Sector Research Funding. Her other research interests include nutritional strategies to support thyroid function in populations with compromised or impaired metabolic health, such as individuals with Hashimoto's Thyroiditis and nutritional strategies to support the prevention and management of sarcopenia. She also sits of the editorial board for the Graduate Journal of Sport Sciences, Coaching, Management, and Rehabilitation.

Dr Hayes' teaching primarily focuses on nutrition for health and sporting performance, and contemporary issues in sport and exercise nutrition.

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Key Publications

Please visit the Pure Research Information Portal for further information
Inter-individual differences in the blood pressure lowering effects of dietary nitrate: a randomised double-blind placebo-controlled replicate crossover trial, Hayes, E., Alhulaefi, S., Siervo, M., Whyte, E., Kimble, R., Matu, J., Griffiths, A., Sim, M., Burleigh, M., Easton, C., Lolli, L., Atkinson, G., Mathers, J., Shannon, O. 1 Mar 2025, In: European Journal of Nutrition
Knowledge and beliefs about dietary inorganic nitrate in a representative sample of adults from the United Kingdom, Griffiths, A., Grainger, E., Matu, J., Alhulaefi, S., Whyte, E., Hayes, E., Brandt, K., Mathers, J., Siervo, M., Shannon, O. 1 Jan 2025, In: Public Health Nutrition
Challenges in Conducting Exercise Recovery Studies in Older Adults and Considerations for Future Research: Findings from a Nutritional Intervention Study, Hayes, E., Hurst, C., Granic, A., Sayer, A., Stevenson, E. 10 Sep 2024, In: Geriatrics
Higher plant-derived nitrate intake is associated with lower odds of frailty in a cross-sectional study of community-dwelling older women, Hayes, E., Dent, E., Shannon, O., Zhong, L., Bozanich, T., Blekkenhorst, L., Zhu, K., Bondonno, C., Siervo, M., Hoogendijk, E., Hodgson, J., Prince, R., Lewis, J., Sim, M. 2024, In: European Journal of Nutrition
Exploring the Advantages and Disadvantages of a Whole Foods Approach for Elevating Dietary Nitrate Intake: Have Researchers Concentrated Too Much on Beetroot Juice?, Griffiths, A., Alhulaefi, S., Hayes, E., Matu, J., Brandt, K., Watson, A., Siervo, M., Shannon, O. 20 Jun 2023, In: Applied Sciences (Switzerland)
Recovery from Resistance Exercise in Older Adults: A Systematic Scoping Review, Hayes, E., Stevenson, E., Sayer, A., Granic, A., Hurst, C. 3 Jul 2023, In: Sports Medicine - Open
Recovery from resistance exercise in older adults: A protocol for a scoping review, Hayes, E., Stevenson, E., Sayer, A., Granic, A., Hurst, C. Jan 2022, In: BMJ Open Sport and Exercise Medicine
Older Adults’ Knowledge and Perceptions of Whole Foods as an Exercise Recovery Strategy, Hayes, E., Granic, A., Hurst, C., Dismore, L., Sayer, A., Stevenson, E. 4 Oct 2021, In: Frontiers in Nutrition
The effects of a high-protein diet on markers of muscle damage following exercise in active older adults: A randomized, controlled trial, Clifford, T., Hayes, E., Scragg, J., Taylor, G., Smith, K., Bowden Davies, K., Stevenson, E. 1 Sep 2020, In: International Journal of Sport Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism