Supplemental Vitamins and Minerals

This week’s post is about vitamins, minerals, and supplements. After reading chapter 2 of my Advanced Sports Nutrition textbook, it amazes me even more how many people take various supplemental vitamins and minerals. Obviously, vitamins and minerals are extremely important components to keep the body running smoothly. But other than for a few exceptions, there is little research to support any benefits from taking supplements.

First, the body requires vitamins and minerals to be in a particular balance. Most vitamins and minerals work together, along with coenzymes and cofactors, to complete their tasks. Any large does supplement of one particular vitamin or mineral could completely dismantle this balance and potentially cause the body more stress in achieving equilibrium again.

In addition to maintaining balance of vitamins and minerals, many would not perform their intended benefits if taken solo. The higher quality of dietary vitamins and minerals versus supplements is partially due to the variety of vitamins and minerals consumed in a food. This variety provides a higher chance that the vitamins and minerals will interact with their cofactors and coenzymes and perform properly.

The human body is also very adaptable. If a person consistently consumes a high dose of a vitamin, then their body may actually need that high of a dose to function properly.

The moral of this story: if a proper, well-rounded, and balanced diet is consumed, all the proper vitamins and minerals the body needs are also consumed.*

*This is true for most individuals but some diagnosable medical conditions do exist that can disrupt the absorption of vitamins and minerals.

**Vegetarians, and certain athletes with restrictive eating habits (ie wrestlers, ballet dancers, and gymnasts) may be slightly more inclined to rely on supplements due to their restrictive diets, but dietary sources are still the best way to consume necessary vitamins and minerals.

The Real Role of Sports Nutritionists?

My professor brought up a great point in class tonight. She noted that many athletes consume high amounts of what she called “white bread” type carbohydrates (ie white bread, white pasta, white pizza crust ect). She recommended that as a sports nutritionist one may want to encourage athletes to consume as many whole grain products in place of the less nutritious “white bread” products. This got me thinking about the responsibilities of a sports nutritionist. Is the only responsibility of these specialized health professionals, to create a diet that will help the athlete perform at his highest capabilities? Or should these nutritionists also try to teach dietary habits and behaviors that will last the athletes long past their playing days?

The point my professor brought up is a great example of how to encourage a dietary habit that would benefit the athlete later in life. To explain briefly, carbohydrates play a major role in the diets of athletes. Glucose from the carbohydrates acts as the main source of fuel and keeps the Central Nervous System working properly. An athlete would become both mentally and physically fatigued very quickly if a high amount of glucose was not stored in their body. This is one reason why many athletes may “carb load” the night before an event. Now from a performance perspective, carbs are carbs. White pasta, wheat pasta, they are both carbohydrates and will help keep athletes energized during their event. But from a nutrition perspective, wheat and whole grain will always nutritionally dominate over the equivalent white foods.

Speaking from the experience of a former high school athlete and from the friend of many college athletes, all we knew were that foods were important to keep energy elevated. Because of the great shape of many athletes, the types of foods played a less significant role on a regular basis. I can recall downing multiple pieces of S’barro’s cheese pizza from the rest area after especially tiring cross country meets. In college, I remember looking over at the table of swimmers and seeing piles upon piles of pizza, lasagna, and Belgian waffles. Obviously, nutrition was not the top priority in any of these situations.

If athletes, especially at the high school and college level, are only taught that they need carbohydrates and not the RIGHT carbohydrates, they may be in for a shock once their careers are over. Continuing a competitive athlete’s diet once that lifestyle has ended, will only lead to future weight gain and an unhealthy lifestyle in the future.

So the question remains, should a sports nutritionist solely be concerned with helping an athlete perform better while not damaging his current health? Or should they also be attempting to build a nutritional framework for these athletes to follow after their careers have ended?