But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience. The use of pure vitamin supplements by athletes is legal and ethical. Instead, they can steam, blanch, microwave, grill, or roast. Levels for these can be low, especially in female athletes. That leaves 20 percent of food choices for fun. With our student-athletes at Texas, the goal is that they meet increased micronutrient needs through food alone. In addition, whole grains have a lower glycemic index than other carbohydrates, which causes less of a spike in blood sugar levels and allows for a longer duration of satiety. Foods also appear to have a synergistic effect when consumed as part of a varied diet, which is difficult to duplicate by solely ingesting micronutrients. Athletes searching for a competitive edge often look to a supplement or a special combination of nutrients to find it. However, it should be noted that such doses could exceed the Tolerable Upper Intake Level (UL) for vitamin B6. Also, focus on getting vitamin C-rich foods at meal times, especially when consuming non-meat iron sources. There are other factors that can affect iron status, including following a vegetarian diet with poor iron availability, times of rapid growth in adolescence, training at high altitudes, and increased losses (sweat, urine, feces). Athletes need to be advised to not exceed the UL for any antioxidant because higher doses could be pro-oxidative with possible negative effects. Thiamin is important to several metabolic pathways, such as the breakdown of carbohydrates and branched-chain amino acids. Can vitamin supplements improve sport performance? Even marginal deficiencies do not appear to markedly affect the ability to exercise efficiently. International Journal of Sport Nutrition. In general, health professionals indicate that vitamin supplements are not necessary for the individual on a well-balanced diet, but they may be recommended for certain individuals, such as the elderly, vegans, and women of childbearing age. It also contains natural antioxidants and fiber. Braun B, et al. Athletes who lose four liters or more of sweat in a day (about two pounds) are at increased risk for sodium depletion.
Leafy green vegetables, Asparagus, Cauliflower, Sweet potatoes, Mushrooms, Tomatoes, Potatoes, Broccoli, Red peppers, Turnip greens, Collard greens, Citrus fruits like oranges, grapefruit, and strawberries, Whole grain breads, cereals, pasta, rice, tortillas, Almonds, cashews, peanuts, baked beans, chick peas, Red meat, dark meat, poultry, chick peas, shrimp. Most sports nutrition professionals agree that supplementation will not necessarily improve performance. The Anabolic Steroid Control Act of 2004 (SB 2195) took effect on January 20, 2005 as an amendment to the Controlled Substances Act. This means foods with lots of color (fruits, vegetables), whole grains, nuts, seeds, and a variety of lean protein sources (including some vegetable sources of protein, such as beans). But even if you dont have access to the same resources or are a one-person team for your schools sports medicine needs there is much you can do to help your student-athletes meet their nutrient needs. Folate and B12 are required for the production of red blood cells, protein synthesis, and in tissue repair and maintenance. If the machines arent cleaned correctly or if particles or dust permeate manufacturing areas, the breads or cereals can contain remnants or traces of the nuts, which can be potentially dangerous to those with nut allergies.
Because plasma choline levels have been reported to be significantly reduced following marathon running, choline supplementation has been theorized to prevent fatigue. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. These vitamins help to break down food from bigger nutrients, such as carbohydrates and fatty acids, into smaller units that the body can use to turn food into fuel. Benardot D, et al. Vitamins function in the human body as metabolic regulators, influencing a number of physiological processes important to exercise or sport performance. Ubiquinone supplementation and exercise capacity in trained young and older men. Food quality: Advise athletes to choose fresh fruits and vegetables that are in season or frozen when they are not. Preventing muscle tissue damage during exercise training may help optimize the training effect and eventual competitive sports performance. A basic multivitamin/mineral supplement can fill in the gaps when eating right is an issue. Part of the reason is because it is packed with nutrition. Nutrients that may be low in an athletes diet are listed in Table 11. An official website of the United States government. CoQ10, also known as ubiquinone, is an antioxidant and may improve oxygen uptake in the mitochondria of the heart, and has been used therapeutically for the treatment of cardiovascular disease. Takanami Y, et al. For example, many of the B-complex vitamins are involved in processing carbohydrate and fats for energy production, an important consideration during exercise of varying intensity. The site is secure. Sacheck and Blumberg [34]concluded that the use of dietary antioxidants like vitamin E to reduce exercise-induced muscle injury have met with mixed success, which seems to be the prevailing viewpoint. Vitamins B1, B6 and B12 are believed to affect the formation of serotonin, an important neurotransmitter involved in relaxation. You can manage your cookie settings by clicking the "cookie preferences" button. Looking beyond the four key minerals, here is whats next: B vitamins are important micronutrients and include thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, pyridoxine (B6), pantothenic acid, biotin, folate, and B12. Moreover, some health professionals note that most people do not consume an optimal amount of vitamins by diet alone and indicate that it appears prudent for all adults to take vitamin supplements [35,36]. Vitamin C supplementation has been shown to improve physical performance in vitamin C-deficient subjects, but several major reviews support the general conclusion that vitamin C supplementation does not enhance physical performance in well-nourished individuals [15,16]. 
Most Americans are unaware that designer steroids and other dangerous drugs are intentionally being sold as dietary supplements and that current laws makes it too easy for these products to get to the market. But how much additional vitamins and minerals do athletes need, and which ones? They also help with the synthesis and repair of new muscle tissue and protect against oxidative stress. These allowances have a large margin of safety built into the recommendations.
Journal of the American College of Nutrition. October 27, 2021, sportpoint/iStock/Getty Images Plus/Getty Images. A great example of this is that some types of iron are difficult for the body to absorb and utilize when eaten alone, but when consumed with a food high in vitamin C, absorption is enhanced. We often tell our athletes you cant out-train a poor diet. Laaksonen R, et al. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research. Vitamin D can be absorbed from exposure to sunlight, however, the season, time of day, cloud coverage, as well as an individual's geographic location and skin color all can affect how well vitamin D is absorbed from ultraviolet light. The B vitamins thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, B6, pantothenic acid, and biotin are involved in energy production during exercise. Not Ready for Testing, but Still Want to Support Clean Sport? While there certainly are supplements that are safe and pure, it is possible for one batch of a product, for example, to become contaminated with a dangerous or sport-prohibited substance when manufacturing equipment isnt cleaned properly and contains remnants of ingredients from a previous product. Sen [26]indicates that strenuous exercise may generate reactive oxygen species (ROS) to a level to overwhelm tissue antioxidant defense systems. A sports drink that contains sodium and carbohydrate is recommended if you are losing lots of fluids or physically active for more than 2 hours, especially in the heat. Since athletes have high rates of energy metabolism and need their bodies to function at intense levels, they tend to have higher micronutrient needs than non-athletes. Athletes who consume vitamin supplements should purchase them only from reputable companies, such as those whose products that carry the USP (United States Pharmacopeia) certification on the label. It is easy for products to get to the marketplace without pre-market controls, and if necessary, they are extremely difficult to remove, even when serious health concerns are raised about their safety. Student-athletes are often confused about how vitamins and minerals work, thinking they provide energy. Theoretically, improved oxygen usage in the heart and skeletal muscles could improve aerobic endurance performance. Dietary Reference Intakes for Vitamin C, Vitamin E, Selenium and Carotenoids. Before Several reviewers conclude that antioxidant vitamin supplementation does not appear to prevent exercise-induced muscle tissue damage. Bonke D. Influence of vitamin B1, B6 and B12 on the control of fine motoric movements. Goldfarb [27] concluded that research findings, mostly conducted with vitamin C, vitamin E, and beta carotene, have indicated that clear evidence for their prophylactic effect on various types of muscle damage following exercise is lacking. We use some social sharing plugins, to allow you to share certain pages of our website on social media. For example, choline supplementation, although increasing plasma free choline in marathon runners, had no effect on predicted or actual marathon time [11]. Supplements cannot make up for a poor diet or poor beverage choices.
Given the overall possibility of supplement contamination, the risk of taking a mislabeled supplement is a real threat to the careers of American athletes and the health of all consumers. An easy snack food I recommend to our athletes is mixing a variety of nuts such as peanuts, almonds, walnuts, and Brazil nuts with raisins, dried fruit, sunflower and pumpkin seeds, soybeans, and granola. Can vitamin supplementation above that provided by an adequate, healthy, balanced diet enhance sport or exercise performance? 2022 Great American Media Services and Training & Conditioning. Vitamin supplementation and athletic performance.