Vitimums and minerals.
Friday, April 3rd, 2009What is the importance of proper vitamin and mineral supplementation?
Vitamins and minerals are essential to athletes of all types and creeds. They are important in all biological processes, and keep the body functioning properly. Some are of particular importance to athletes, more so than to sedentary people.
Vitamin A: Besides being important for health reasons, vitamin A has an isomer (different form) called beta carotene. Beta carotene is an antioxidant, which prevents oxygen damage to the cells of the body. Despite being necessary for life, oxygen is very dangerous for the body, and can form radicals and peroxides which can damage cell structures, including DNA. Cardio pumps the body full of oxygen, and increases the likelihood of dangerous oxygen species forming. Increased antioxidants can form a barrier to protect the body from harm.
Vitamins B: The suite of vitamins that composes this category of chemicals are all similar, and all have important roles to athletes. They help with cell division, especially of red blood cells. They speed up metabolism, and help maintain nervous system function. Without them, energy and endurance would drop, and the CNS would not be able to meet the demands of weightlifting.
Vitamin C: Vitamin C is also a powerful antioxidant, so it will protect the body during extended cardio sessions. More importantly, it plays a role in the synthesis and repair of collagen, a major part of tendons and other connective tissue. Since most plateaus and injuries result from weak connective tissue, vitamin C is essential to prevent these scenarios.
Vitamin D: Calcium intake is helped along by vitamin D (see below for the importance of calcium). The notion that the body will produce vitamin D in the sun is something of an overstatement. Vitamin D from sources such as milk is in an inactive form, and sunlight will convert it to the active form. Thus, supplementation may be necessary.
Vitamin E: Vitamin E coats the lungs to prevent oxygen damage to them. Extended cardio can be wearing on the lungs, so more vitamin E is necessary to protect them.
Calcium: Calcium is the mineral directly responsible for muscular contraction. When the nerves tell the muscle to move, calcium is released from the sarcoplasmic reticulum, so it can bind with a protein known as troponin, which will trigger a series of events leading to muscular contraction. Most of the calcium is recycled after each contraction. Calcium is also vital for cardiac muscle function and bone integrity. Obviously, our goal here is to build muscle, so calcium will help new muscle fibers contract. High rep work will increase the size of the sarcoplasmic reticulum, so more calcium can be held, which will also increase muscle size. Of course, sturdy bones are necessary to layer muscles on top of.
Iron: Iron is one of the most important minerals for those concerned with bodybuilding and endurance sports. Iron is used in hemoglobin, myoglobin, and mitochondria. Hemoglobin is used in red blood cells to transport oxygen to the muscles. Without iron, no more heme can be produced, and thus mo more red blood cells, which will stall the development of endurance and limit recovery. Myoglobin stores oxygen in cells other than the lungs. Higher-rep training and endurance sports increase the amount of myoglobin present in the muscles, which will help with endurance and size. Mitochondria use iron as part of the electron transport chain, which is the main power house of the cell. More iron allows more mitochondria to be made, meaning more energy and more size. In addition, new cells require iron for their mitochondria and proteins. In short, iron is necessary to grow.
Potassium: Potassium is essential for the proper functioning of cells, as it is part of the control of action and graded potentials on the cell?s surface. New cells need to be full of potassium if they are to communicate properly (and thus contract for muscles).
Zinc, copper, etc: Trace elements are used to help build proteins and enzymes, which wear down as cells are used.
As can be seen above, vitamins and minerals are nearly as important to athletes as protein and other macronutrients. Without them, performance would begin to drop rapidly.
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