prevention

While taking a nutrition class during college, I developed the belief that vitamin supplementation was merely insurance for good health and not an absolute. This was 12 years ago and still, scientists and doctors are still unsure of the benefits of vitamin supplementation. Since most vitamins are not harmful in low doses, and coming from the better safe than sorry mentality, I do take a multivitamin. If you are thinking that you might want to subscribe to the same insurance plan, here are a couple of things you need to know about vitamins:
• Your body is constantly trying to achieve balance; this is called homeostasis. For example, if you don't drink enough water, your kidneys absorb more water to prevent dehydration. If you are hot, your body opens the pores to release heat and water to cool you down. When you eat a meal, there is an excess amount of blood sugar thus your body releases insulin to absorb the excess blood sugar for storage. Hopefully you get the idea, if not, call me, I've get plenty of examples. I bring up homeostasis because your body has a balance when it comes to vitamins. If you take too much of one vitamin it throws off the balance. Thus, I always recommend taking a multivitamin. The makers of multivitamins keep this balance in mind and make sure that you get the proper ratios of vitamins.
• Not all vitamins are readily absorbed by the body so it's best to take vitamins with a meal. Also, some vitamins are processed to be more bioavailable (more easily absorbed) than others. Your expert at the nutrition store should be able to guide you to the more bioavailable brands.
• Vitamins can be categorized into fat soluable (vitamins A, D, E, K) and water soluable (vitamin C) vitamins. What you need to know is that too much of fat soluable vitamins can be toxic. On the other hand, vitamin C is water soluable meaning that if you take too much vitamin C, your body simply flushes the excess. However, mega-dosing on vitamin C is not always a good idea. I came across this brief article about Vitamin C and athletes who mega-dose on vitamin C. I found the article on Inside Triathlon's website and am republishing it for you to read:

Student of the Sport: Free radicals
by Cameron Chestnut
This report filed February 22, 2006

You have all likely heard the term "free radical" floating around, with its well-deserved negative stigma. A free radical is any molecule with an unpaired electron. That unpaired electron gets lonely, and thus the free radical can wreak havoc all over your body on all kinds of cells. As with the last installment in this series, we will again focus on our oxygen-carrying buddies, the red blood cells.
Red blood cells (RBCs) contain iron as part of their oxygen-carrying protein called hemoglobin. Hemoglobin's iron is in a certain electron configuration, and the integrity of the RBC is dependent on the iron staying in this configuration. Here is where a free radical can disrupt the proper configuration and markedly affect your red blood cells, altering the iron's electron configuration and rendering the hemoglobin unable to carry oxygen.
Free radicals are constantly created by our body through the energy production pathways, thus their rate of generation increases during exercise. Antioxidants, which have become popular in the mainstream health markets, have the ability to neutralize free radicals. This sounds like an easy answer - just take some antioxidants and kick into damage control - and it does work. Vitamin C and Vitamin E show recovery benefits in countless studies, and these have become the most popular antioxidant supplements.
Pomegranates are a tasty source of antioxidants.
There is a limit to the benefits of antioxidants, though. A reaction (called the Fenton reaction) takes place in the body in which Vitamin C reacts with iron molecules to create highly reactive free radicals. Confounding matters, athletes typically have substantially more free iron than the average individual, and thanks to the typical triathlete Type-A personality we are more likely to be overzealous with the Vitamin C. What is an athlete to do?
As with many things in life, moderation is the key, both with iron and Vitamin C supplementation. Get antioxidants from a variety of fruit and vegetable sources, which will also provide other valuable nutrients in the process. A boring lesson perhaps, but a functional one nonetheless.

Cameron Chestnut is attending medical school at the University of Washington. He has a background in sports nutrition and physiology, and he uses this knowledge to piece together the biochemical mysteries of sport. Cameron is also an avid triathlete, having trained at the Victorian Insititute of Sport in Melbourne (Australia) and currently making the transition from U23 ITU-style racing to long course.


Vitamins
While taking a nutrition class during college, I developed the belief that vitamin supplementation was merely insurance for good health and not an absolute. This was 12 years ago and still, scientists and doctors are still unsure of the benefits of vitamin supplementation. Since most vitamins are not harmful in low doses, and coming from the better safe than sorry mentality, I do take a multivitamin. If you are thinking that you might want to subscribe to the same insurance plan, here are a couple of things you need to know about vitamins: • Your body is constantly trying to achieve balance; this is called homeostasis. For example, if you don't drink enough water, your kidneys absorb more water to prevent dehydration. If you are hot, your body opens the pores to release heat and water to cool you down. When you eat a meal, there is an excess amount of blood sugar thus your body releases insulin to absorb the excess blood sugar for storage. Hopefully you get the idea, if not, call me, I've get plenty of examples. I bring up homeostasis because your body has a balance when it comes to vitamins. If you take too much of one vitamin it throws off the balance. Thus, I always recommend taking a multivitamin. The makers of multivitamins keep this balance in mind and make sure that you get the proper ratios of vitamins. • Not all vitamins are readily absorbed by the body so it's best to take vitamins with a meal. Also, some vitamins are processed to be more bioavailable (more easily absorbed) than others. Your expert at the nutrition store should be able to guide you to the more bioavailable brands. • Vitamins can be categorized into fat soluable (vitamins A, D, E, K) and water soluable (vitamin C) vitamins. What you need to know is that too much of fat soluable vitamins can be toxic. On the other hand, vitamin C is water soluable meaning that if you take too much vitamin C, your body simply flushes the excess. However, mega-dosing on vitamin C is not always a good idea. I came across this brief article about Vitamin C and athletes who mega-dose on vitamin C. I found the article on Inside Triathlon's website and am republishing it for you to read: Student of the Sport: Free radicals by Cameron Chestnut This report filed February 22, 2006 You have all likely heard the term "free radical" floating around, with its well-deserved negative stigma. A free radical is any molecule with an unpaired electron. That unpaired electron gets lonely, and thus the free radical can wreak havoc all over your body on all kinds of cells. As with the last installment in this series, we will again focus on our oxygen-carrying buddies, the red blood cells. Red blood cells (RBCs) contain iron as part of their oxygen-carrying protein called hemoglobin. Hemoglobin's iron is in a certain electron configuration, and the integrity of the RBC is dependent on the iron staying in this configuration. Here is where a free radical can disrupt the proper configuration and markedly affect your red blood cells, altering the iron's electron configuration and rendering the hemoglobin unable to carry oxygen. Free radicals are constantly created by our body through the energy production pathways, thus their rate of generation increases during exercise. Antioxidants, which have become popular in the mainstream health markets, have the ability to neutralize free radicals. This sounds like an easy answer - just take some antioxidants and kick into damage control - and it does work. Vitamin C and Vitamin E show recovery benefits in countless studies, and these have become the most popular antioxidant supplements. Pomegranates are a tasty source of antioxidants. There is a limit to the benefits of antioxidants, though. A reaction (called the Fenton reaction) takes place in the body in which Vitamin C reacts with iron molecules to create highly reactive free radicals. Confounding matters, athletes typically have substantially more free iron than the average individual, and thanks to the typical triathlete Type-A personality we are more likely to be overzealous with the Vitamin C. What is an athlete to do? As with many things in life, moderation is the key, both with iron and Vitamin C supplementation. Get antioxidants from a variety of fruit and vegetable sources, which will also provide other valuable nutrients in the process. A boring lesson perhaps, but a functional one nonetheless. Cameron Chestnut is attending medical school at the University of Washington. He has a background in sports nutrition and physiology, and he uses this knowledge to piece together the biochemical mysteries of sport. Cameron is also an avid triathlete, having trained at the Victorian Insititute of Sport in Melbourne (Australia) and currently making the transition from U23 ITU-style racing to long course.