Probably it could be the most asked question by an athlete from the sports dietician: How do I know if I am getting enough protein, vitamins, and minerals that can enhance my performance? Right after this, two more questions strike: which food comes with the required nutrients? Should I take herbal supplements for a workout?

If these are your questions also, you are at the right place to get your answers. Here, in this article, we’ll discuss your nutritional requirements and how to intake them. An athlete always wants to collaborate with a dynamic group of athletic trainers, strength coaches, and sports medicine physicians to ensure that he may not suffer nutritional deficiency and hamper his performance. Whenever a sports person starts working out, iron and vitamin D should screen first to monitor their level. Iron and vitamin D are pivotal elements in increasing bone density.

If our body needs nutrients, then herbal sports supplements are prescribed. But even if you don’t need or have an accurate level, it’s better to get informed of nutritional requirements.

Athlete’s requirements

People are often confused about how vitamins and minerals work. Do they provide energy or reduce hunger or keep away from diseases? Because they do not contain calories, micronutrients cannot boost energy stores. Multivitamins and other nutrients are crucial for turning food into energy through metabolic pathways. For example - many B vitamins aid in energy released from carbohydrates.

Micronutrients help our body at a certain level and perform different functions. It includes aids in producing oxygen-carrying proteins, maintenance of bone health, proper immune system function, and fluid balance.

They also help with the amalgam, repairing new muscle tissue and protecting against oxidative stress.
These also help with the synthesis and repair of new muscle tissue and protect against oxidative stress.

Since athletes have high rates of energy metabolism, they do tough workouts and perform at intense levels. So more micronutrients are required than non-athletes. In addition, exercise stresses the metabolic pathways where vitamins and minerals are utilized and may result in biochemical adaptations that increase micronutrient needs.

Routine exercise may also speed up the turnover and loss of vitamins and minerals from the body. Do you know how many additional vitamins and minerals athletes need?

Before answering the question, it’s important to understand Dietary Reference Intakes (DRIs established by the Food and Nutrition Board of the Institute of Medicine. It includes:

• Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA): average daily level of intake sufficient to meet the nutrient requirements of nearly all (97 to 98 per cent) healthy people.

• Adequate Intake (AI): established when evidence is insufficient to develop an RDA and is set at a level assumed to ensure nutritional adequacy.

• Tolerable Upper Intake Level (UL): maximum daily intake unlikely to cause adverse health effects.
Because some athletes are tempted to mega-dose on vitamins and minerals, thinking it will give them a performance boost, they need to be acutely aware of UL numbers. Taking too much of a micronutrient will not help them play better and can cause harm by increasing the risk for toxicity (especially with fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E, and K), as well as interfering with the absorption and function of other micronutrients or medications.

Therefore their diet should be natural and have more nutrients related. Furthermore, they should choose only herbal sports supplements.

If you are an athlete, tell us which herbal supplements for workout are used.

For more information visit: www.primalnutrition.in