Everyone knows that eating well and getting 8-10 hours of sleep is necessary for maintaining your health and wellness. But beyond the usually talked about health facets of diet and exercise, there’s a third component that is often overlooked. Micronutrients, otherwise known as vitamins and minerals, and a lack thereof, could be secretly thwarted your progress. Although macronutrients give you energy, micronutrients aid the body’s overall performance and immune function. Therefore, if you have vitamin deficiencies, you’re not going to perform optimally.
Here is everything you need to know about vitamin deficiencies, how vitamins affect athletic performance, and what you can do to get back on track.
Why Vitamins & Nutrients Are Important
You might be wondering why vitamins and minerals are necessary, as well as why you can’t get enough simply with a wholesome, balanced diet. Micronutrients are used by the body a number of ways, ranging from metabolism, energy, immunity, cell repair, bone repair, and more. However, when you exercise intensely, certain levels of vitamins and minerals are impacted. For example, water-soluble vitamins and minerals are often lost as you sweat and urinate, particularly in hotter environments.
Therefore, you could be losing more vitamins and minerals than you are consuming. In turn, this creates deficiencies in the very micronutrients that are required for optimal health and wellness.
Most Common Vitamin Deficiencies In Athletes
According to a report done by Medicine & Science in Sports and Exercise, certain vitamins and minerals that are essential to athletes and very active people are those most often lacking. Those include:
• Calcium – The recommended intake for men and women is 1,000 mg a day, but most people get half of that from regular eating. Calcium is essential for building bones, muscle contractions, heartbeat, and blood pressure. High-intensity training increases the usage of calcium, so those who workout often and vigorously need more of it.
• Iron – Necessary for endurance training, iron is needed to carry oxygen to the heart and skeletal muscles. Women need for iron than men.
• Zinc – Needed for more than 300 different enzymes in the body and for immunity and infection resistance. Zinc deficiency lowers your ability to fight off colds and heal.
• B Vitamins – This includes thiamin, riboflavin, vitamin B6, B12, and folate. B vitamins are necessary for processing protein and carbohydrates into energy, repairing cells, and producing red blood cells.
• Potassium – A key electrolyte that partners with sodium to keep muscles working and blood pressure low. You also need potassium for fluid regulation. Low potassium causes cramping, weakness, and tachycardia.
• Vitamin D – When you have less than optimal levels of vitamin D, your body has trouble absorbing calcium and keeping bones healthy. Vitamin D also impacts hormone levels, immunity, and muscular endurance. Those who experience balance issues and slow reaction time, especially older individuals, might have a vitamin D deficiency.
Though you can eat foods that are fortified in calcium, iron, zinc, B vitamins, vitamin D, C, E, and potassium, for those who are trying limit calories or are on a restrictive diet, such as veganism or gluten-free, getting the adequate amounts of micronutrients can be difficult. As noted before, highly active individuals tend to use more vitamins and minerals due to increased stress on the body. Without optimal levels, your body, progress, and health will suffer.
If you think you have deficiencies, eating a balanced diet can indeed help, but you may need to supplement with a multi-vitamin to fill in the gaps.
The Roles of Micronutrients
As we started hinting to up above, vitamins and nutrients have roles in the body. When you have deficiencies, these roles go unfulfilled, which can have a negative impact on your overall health. Furthermore, exercise can induce something called “oxidative stress,” where the stress on your cells can tax the immune system. If you lack micronutrients, your body cannot complete the cellular repairs and adaptations required to keep you strong and healthy. Intense workouts and training sessions put a high demand for micronutrients like vitamins C and E, selenium, and iron.
For example, if you experience a deficiency in vitamin B12 and iron, you could experience shortness of breath, muscle cramping, lightheadedness, and lethargy. Other minerals like calcium and magnesium are necessary for bone health. When the body doesn’t have enough, you are at a higher risk for bone fractures.
Recommended Supplement
Don’t let vitamin deficiencies sabotage your progress. If you want accelerated recovery; stronger, healthier bones; optimized performance; and better nutrition, try Gaspari Nutrition ANAVITE.
ANAVITE is more than a generic multi-vitamin. The formula has been developed for athletes and fitness enthusiasts like you to help your body recover faster and get stronger. ANAVITE contains a unique multi-vitamin and amino acid complex that have been validated by clinical research. Some of the ingredients found in ANAVITE include Albion Gold Standard Mineral Chelates, Carnosyn (a form of beta-alanine), and MenaQ7—all of which have undergone extensive research to ensure their quality and effectiveness.
While other companies use a mixture of lower quality vitamins and minerals, Gaspari Nutrition has formulated their sports multi-vitamin with real mineral chelates, so your body can absorb and utilize the vitamins and minerals completely and quickly, unlike another brand’s mix.
You can choose between capsules or a flavorful powder mix to ensure you’re getting your vitamins and minerals. For tablets, consume 1 serving (3 tablets) twice daily with a meal.
With ANAVITE, you can train harder and recover faster than ever before. Invigorate with ANAVITE.
Final Thoughts
Time to check your health. By now, you should realize that even when you’re working out, eating well, and swigging shakes, you still might not be getting enough vitamins and minerals to stay healthy. Without the proper intake of essential micronutrients, you’re not only sabotaging your fitness but your overall wellbeing. Start using a multi-vitamin like ANAVITE by Gaspari Nutrition to clear up vitamin deficiencies and optimize your athletic performance. You won’t just run longer and lift stronger, you’ll feel better—and isn’t that what being healthy is all about?
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