Athletic Nutrition 101 - Part I
I recently had a conversation on sports nutrition and supplementation for athletes with Jan Debenedetto of VitaQuest. Hear are some of the thoughts and recommendations on a supplemental nutritional regimen for athletes. Everything is safe, legal and has scientific support.
The BASICS
A good multivitamin mineral supplemental
If you live in the US you are not getting an adequate amount of vitamins and minerals; even if you are a couch potato. Folic acid and other B vitamins are critical for anyone consuming high protein diets since high protein also increases homocysteine and folic acid (along with other B vitamins) reduces homocysteine levels.
A good multi for an athlete should have about 3-5 x the RDA of most of the vitamins. Dr. Bruce Ames at Berkeley has strong rationale for this for the population as a whole, let alone the demands an athlete generates.
Antioxidants – a variety Lipoic acid (the R isomer is best and available through (www.geronova.com)
Polyphenols – green tea, grape seed, berries, quercetin, ginkgo (good stuff -EGB 761 extract), pine bark extract, cruciferous veggie extracts. Carotenoids lycopene, lutein, beta-carotene acetylcysteine – similar to lipoic acid in some respects.
Probiotics
- Healthy bugs – lactobacilli and bifidobacteria at least 5 billion per serving.
- These ferment carbo’s into high energy short chain fatty acids in the colon. Also help regulate bowel movements and enhance immunity.
- Recommended product is called Culturelle; good clinical studies, high potency and available at drug stores.
Omega 3 fatty acids (i.e. fish oils)
- 1-3 grams per day.
- Make sure they are high purity as contamination is important especially as respectable dosages. Great for blood sugar and anti-inflammatory.
Fiber
- At least 30 grams per day.
- This helps to control blood sugar, blood lipids and colonic health.
- Plus since our nearest animal kingdom pals – apes- eat so much fiber and pound for pound are so much stronger than us, I can’t help but think that there are other properties of high fiber diets that we have not touched upon, including the fact that gut bacteria ferments fiber to high energy short chain fatty acids.
