Posted by Eleni Prokopeas on Aug.28, 2010

ⓒ iStockPhoto - LajosRepasi

If you have an exercise program you follow, you should know that when you exercise, you use up more nutrients and therefore, will need more nutritional supplementation than those who don’t.

Exercise makes people healthy, but that’s only half the picture. The recovery period after exercise is what ultimately makes you healthier. You do not improve your health during the exercise, nor do you burn significant amounts of fat during exercise. Virtually all the health benefits associated with exercise are created during the recovery period after exercise, which can take anywhere from 24 hours to several weeks, depending on the intensity of your exercise.

During that time your body is using nutrients to adapt and rebuild. If you do not have the proper nutrients available during that recovery period, then you are not going to recover fully, and you won’t get the full benefits of all the effort you put into exercise!

Why supplement?

Nutritional supplements are extremely important during any kind of exercise program. Even if you only exercise three days a week, you need to supplement every day of the week.

Protein is important to supplement if you are not already eating a high-protein diet, but it is far more important to supplement trace minerals, macro minerals like magnesium, zinc and calcium; various vitamins including all the B vitamins; plus vitamins C, D and K. In addition, you need to supplement numerous phytonutrients, which means the medicine that comes from plants. Those include various carotenoids like beta keratin or zeaxanthin, lutein, anthocyanidins, proanthocyanidins like those found in grape seeds or even resveratrol found in grape skin.

There are hundreds, actually thousands, of different phytonutrients found in foods and nutritional supplements.   These are also very important to get into your body when you follow an intense physical exercise program. Eating raw nuts and seeds are also extremely important and needs to be present in your diet at least once a day.

It is only through this superior supplementation that your body can adapt to the physical stresses you have placed upon it through exercise. In terms of bone density, for example, you already know that subjecting your bones to stress causes  your body to build stronger bones. This does not happen in a matter of hours. It takes days, weeks, even months to rebuilt bones, especially if you start out with very low bone mineral density. During this period, your body is rebuilding bone mineral density by depositing nutrients, mostly minerals in this case, into the bone structure of your skeletal system.

Obviously, if you do not have excess nutrients available in your body, then you are not going to build strong bones. The best results would come from adding in some good supplementation on top of your physical exercise.

What type of Supplements do I take?

Try Superfood nutrients and high-quality nutritional supplements that have a combination of food-based and supplement-based nutrition. I start each morning with a green superfood smoothie that contains various superfood concentrates. This preps my body for the day, allowing me to have the nutrition and energy I need to exercise and keep up with my demanding schedule.

Another great source of supplements can be found in drinking fresh organic fruit and vegetable juices. These juices provide live enzymes, minerals, carbohydrates and vitamins. You will also have feel additional benefits such as increased immunity, healthy complexion and good digestion.

Remember when you exercise, you place a much higher nutritional demand on your biochemistry. If you do not supplement, then you are not going to get the results you expect from your exercise program.

So on a final note, exercise all you want, but make sure to supplement your nutritional needs to achieve great health.

As a reminder…

Make sure to drink plenty of water a day and especially during a work out.  It’s the best way to keep your body fresh and move toxins out of the body.  In general, you should be drinking 10-12 glasses of water, 8-10 oz each a day. In addition, try to drink filtered water and put it in a toxin-free bottle rather than drinking water from plastic bottles found on a store shelf.  Those bottles could have been exposed to excess heat from the sun before you get your hands on them.

Share

Posted under Food, Nutrition & Recipes, Supplements.