Dietary and Sports Supplements – the facts.

Why should I take nutritional supplements?.

Firstly, lets briefly look at the categories that supplements fall into, namely dietary and sports supplements. Dietary supplements are capsules, drinks, enriched foods that are taken alongside your normal everyday meals to enhance your diet and fill in the deficiencies which one may have. Sports supplements are very similar and are carefully composed to give benefits to people who are specifically participating in sports or who exercise routinely and are trying to attain certain goals.

Your next question is that you have a good nutrition plan, so supplements aren't needed. Lets look at the following factors influencing the need for dietary supplements:

• Food irradiation is a food processing technique used by manufacturers to extend the shelf life of food and comprises of the destruction of harmful microorganisms and the delaying of ripening. This process also eliminates the essential nutrients, especially water soluble vitamins and antioxidants and is used in products like chicken, meats and vegetables.

• Environmental pollution which sees millions of kilo's of pesticides and chemical waste dumped into our environment. These chemicals go into the air, water, soil and the food we eat. Studies show that this type of pollution is the main cause for degenerative diseases, thus one requires dietary supplements to detoxify your body and boost your immune, nervous and hormonal systems.

• GM foods are created to improve crop protection and improve the nutritional value. Although the foods you see have passed risk assessment, there are no long terms studies to prove that they're safe for human consumption. We've seen in rat studies that GM foods increased intestinal infections and reduced immunity.

• Soil depletion is caused by aggressive farming, acid rains and the use of artificial fertilisers and synthetic pesticides. As these activities deplete the nutrients in the soil, so are the nutritional values of fruit and vegetables significantly reduced. Bland tasting vegetables are normally and indication of a soil lacking in minerals.

• Lifestyle plays another important part eg smoking destroys certain vitamins and excessive alcohol consumption impairs the bodies ability to absorb nutrients. In the above situations it's a must for dietary supplements to be taken and others examples are athletes, pregnant woman, those who do physically demanding work and people who work in radioactive environments.

• Stress is not uncommon in this day and age and dietary supplementation can reduce the effect of stress and relief the symptoms.

• Most foods these days are processed and do contain fewer nutrients compared to fresh foods and also lack enzymes. This can cause degenerative diseases in addition to containing refined sugar, additional salt, unhealthy fat & chemical additives all of which have a negative impact on ones body.

In today's time, although most of us do adhere to a good nutrition programme we do require to supplement our diets with dietary supplements. Remember to use them to supplement not a substitute for good nutrition.

The use of sports supplements is one of those hot topics, whereby the media has focused on the ill effects caused, supported by “evidence” from the drug companies as to how bad these are for us. What one needs to bear in mind is that the newspapers need to get circulation figures up, broadcasters want to snatch additional viewers from the competitive stations and the drug companies need to punt their products to keep their shareholders happy so lets hammer the sport supplement market.

Lets take a look at why you would need these supplements. If you take part in sports on a regular basis, using supplements will help support your healthy eating regime by making sure you don’t have any nutritional shortages during exercise. Having plenty of essential nutrients means your body has a ready supply.

Endurance athletes actually have an increased need for vitamins and minerals because this form of exercise stresses systems and there is an increased turnover in vitamins and minerals.
Certain nutrients, like protein and glucosamine, are essential for anyone taking part in sport as they help with repair and maintenance of muscle tissue and joints. If you are taking part in aerobic exercise you’ll be increasing the amount of lactic acid in your bloodstream. This is the chemical which makes us feel stiff and sore, but there are supplements designed especially to help your body clear the acid and so aid recovery and allow you to work out more often. And it’s far more comfortable to wake up the next day and be able to walk easily!.

If you want to be the best at your chosen sport, supplements can help Make It Happen because nutrient deficiencies can impair performance. So it’s wise to include some supplements and aids in your diet.

If you are working out hard you’d have to eat a great deal to gain the levels of energy at the correct ratio of proteins, carbohydrates and vitamins and minerals for optimum performance. Supplements make it easy to get the combination right. They are also more convenient in many cases as they can often be eaten on the run or carried in a bag.

The media has told us that sports supplements are dangerous and addictive and if taken will lead to the use of harder drugs. As stated above sports supplements, especially those related to bodybuilding, have received a bad press in recent years. You can be sure that these products are 100% safe and will only enhance your health. They contain no banned or controlled substances - and never have. Top athletes, who are subject to regular testing by doping officials, use sports supplements because they know they can and have every confidence in them. There is nothing psychologically or physically addictive about these products. You will want to use them because they will improve your life and enhance your routine, but you certainly won’t become addicted. Manufacturers are very clear on the packaging exactly what the dose is to gain the greatest results - if you take more you certainly won’t become ill - it’s just that you won’t see any extra benefits in line with the extra amount you have used.

When it comes to ingredients, only the best go into these products and the most natural ingredients that can be found and are compounds naturally occurring in our diets and body.

How should dietary and sports supplements be taken. As a guideline for a person undertaking an active exercise programme as follows:

• First thing in the morning a multivitamin followed by a protein rich breakfast which may constitute of oats followed by a 100% Whey protein drink. This will give your muscles the protein to grow.

• For best results we know to eat small, so a protein bar as a mid morning snack to keep the amino acids topped up.

• Pre-workout consume beta-alanine 20-30 minutes before with a sports drink and take 10-15g branch-chain amino acids (BCAA's) before as this will help with recovery afterwards.

• During workout it's important to stay hydrated and to keep the glucose levels up. For this take a glycogen drink during your workout.

• Post-workout requires a quickly digested protein and the fastest way to do this is to take a protein drink and a banana which will help with the absorption.

• Eat dinner either two or three hours after your workout or if you workout in the evenings then take it two to three hours before your workout. This meal should contain good quality lean protein, carbs and vegetables and is a good time to take a zinc and magnesium complex.

Please bear in mind when using sports supplements to read the manufacturers guidelines thoroughly and it is advisable to cycle the use eg: 12 weeks use 4 weeks off in order to a) see the effectiveness of using a specific product and b) to flush the body. It's also recommended to add Milk Thistle to your supplementation programme.

To find out more about dietary and sports supplements and to devise a programme to benefit your needs, speak to your resident gym fitness instructor. They'd be more than happy to advise you or email Massage-Etc with your questions.