USN Advice:
Supplements - All about Minerals
96% of the
body consists of the following five macro-elements:
1.
Oxygen
2. Hydrogen
3. Nitrogen
4. Carbon
5. Sulfur
The above is well supplied in the water we drink, the food we
eat, and the air we breathe.
The next level of macro-minerals needs
more attention as far as supplementation goes:
1.
Calcium
2. Magnesium
3. Phosphorus
4. Sodium
5. Potassium
6. Chloride
And for the sixteen trace elements, supplementation is crucial.
These elements work in synergy, which means that even though
some are needed only in a few millionths of a gram per day, they
are just as important as those you need a lot of.
Macro-Minerals
1. Calcium:
About 1.9% of the body weight in a lean athlete, consists of
calcium, of which 99% is in bones. The remaining 1% moves about
controlling impulse conduction in nerves, muscle contraction,
and so on. This traveling 1% has to be kept between narrow margins
(8.7 to 10.7 mg/dl of blood), which means if you don't eat it,
you eat away your own skeleton to make up for it! Stress fractures
are a common sign of calcium deficiency.
Calcium is found in dairy products and green leafy vegetables.
Calcium in grains and cereals are bound by phytates, so it cannot
be absorbed, so does oxalates in spinach, rhubarb, cocoa, chocolate,
and coffee.
The best time to supplement calcium is at night. Calcium will
only be transported to the bone, if you do regular exercise,
and have adequate supplies of magnesium, silicon, fluoride, zinc,
copper, boron, manganese, phosphorus, and Vitamin D. The RDA
for calcium is 1 200mg per day, and most diets do not supply
that. The maximum bone mass and bone strength is achieved between
ages 18 and 35, so you should use this time to accumulate as
much as possible. Both strenuous exercise as well as high protein
intake can lead to calcium loss, which also needs to be replaced.
Active people therefore should supplement calcium on a continuous
basis.
The answer is not simply to indulge in mega doses of calcium,
it puts stress on the kidneys causing kidney stones, inhibit
iron and zinc absorption, and disrupt the synergy of mineral
use in the body. Supplementation can be anything between 400
and 1600mg per day.
2. Magnesium:
Of the 20 to 30 grams of magnesium in the body, 60% resides
in the skeleton, and 40% in soft tissue. Magnesium forms part
of over 300 enzymes in the body, and it is essential for the
burning of glucose as fuel, muscle contraction, genetics, etc.
The best food sources are legumes (beans) and whole grains.
Unfortunately the germ and outer layers of grains which usually
gets lost, contains 80% of it. The RDA for magnesium is 350mg
for males and 280mg for females. Athletes lose a lot of magnesium
in energy production and sweat, so anything between 400 and 1200mg
per day is used.
3. Phosphorus:
700 of the 800 grams of phosphorus in the body is contained
in the bones. It is also important for energy production in the
making of ATP and creatine phosphate. Is also contributes to
the metabolism of red blood cells. Fish, meats, milk, and whole
grains supply it. Some phosphorus is also added through food
processing. Phosphorus levels are hard to measure and as far
as is known, need not be supplemented in general.
4. Sodium:
Sodium, potassium and chloride are the three main electrolytes
in the human body. Sodium is the main positively changed electrolyte
outside the cells. It is added so much during food processing
that shortages are scarce. The RDA is 0.5 grams per day, but
we end up eating up to ten times that. Except for ultra endurance
events, no one really needs additional supplementation of sodium.
5. Potassium:
Potassium is the main cation (positively charged electrolyte)
inside the cells that interacts with sodium and chloride in the
conduction of nerve impulses and other functions.
Most of the fresh foods we eat, have a much higher potassium
content than sodium, even seafood that grows in a high sodium
medium, contains 24 times more potassium than sodium. Processing
and preservation reverses this process, resulting in a detrimental
overload of sodium in canned and preserved foods. Fresh tuna
contains 100 parts potassium and 20 parts sodium, where canned
tuna is still 100 parts potassium, with a whopping 330 parts
sodium! Freshly grounded wheat flour is 120 parts potassium and
1 part sodium, but whole wheat bread gives only 100 parts of
potassium for every 570 parts of sodium! The overall ratio of
potassium to sodium in fresh food is 7:1, but in the normal refined
diet it is reversed to about 1:2.
The easiest way to overcome this problem if you need salt on
your food, is to use a potassium salt in stead of the normal
sodium chloride (table salt). The RDA for potassium is 3500mg
per day, and the normal diet supplies only 2500mg. Lots of potassium
is lost through hemolysis and sweat in athletes, and need to
be replaced. Active people need to supplement 100mg to 500mg
per day to replace losses. Even up to 5 grams per day may not
be toxic, but may cause nausea.
6. Chloride:
On the opposite end of the scale from sodium and potassium
(cations), lies chloride, which is the main anion (negatively
charged electrolyte) outside the cells. It mainly comes from
the chloride bit of sodium chloride, or table salt. With the
two actions, these three electrolytes control fluids and electrolyte
balance inside and outside the cells. Overload, and not deficiency,
is the main problem with chloride. The minimum requirements are
only 750mg per day.
Trace Elements
1. Iron:
Iron is widely available in whole grains, vegetables, meats,
and eggs. Heme iron that is found in meat, has the best bio-availability
to the human body at about 10%. Non-heme iron from vegetables
is poorly available at only 1%. Vitamin C aids the absorption
of Iron, and calcium, fibre and antacid inhibits it.
The main function of Iron lies in the hemoglobin of red blood
cells where it transports oxygen as oxy-hemoglobin. It is also
involved with enzymes and additional iron gets stored in the
bone marrow and liver.
Active individuals need about 20 to 30mg of iron per day, and
you can supplement about 10 to 25mg per day.
2. Zinc:
Zinc is essential for enzymes, sperm production, and other
bodily functions, but to us athletes, a very important function
of zinc lies in the production of testosterone, and cell growth
stimulation.
The best sources are meats, eggs, and seafood. The RDA of 15mg
may fall short for athletes because exercise causes loss of zinc,
which you may want to supplement daily with 15 to 50mg.
3. Copper:
Again, copper is also needed for many enzymes, including those
that produce nor-adrenalin, one of your get-up-and-go hormones.
Organ meats and seafood are your best sources. The Copper requirements
for humans are still unknown, but the RDA handbook recommends
1.5mg to 3mg per day. People who train need more nor-adrenalin,
so you may want to take more copper by supplementing with 0.5mg
to 3.0mg per day.
4. Manganese:
Manganese in the body is needed for proper bone and cartilage
formation, and for normal glucose metabolism. It is naturally
supplied to us through whole grains and black tea, which may
not be adequate for athletes with their greater turnover in bone
and soft tissue. The RDA is 2.0mg to 5.0mg per day, which an
athlete can use on a supplementation basis.
5. Chromium:
A lot of hype was made about this element in recent years,
with enough proof to back it up. Chromium is essential for normal
glucose metabolism, insulin metabolism, fatty acid metabolism,
and muscle growth. It thus gives you better glucose tolerance
and makes you more insulin sensitive.
The best food sources are whole grain and shellfish, but gets
destroyed easily by processing and storage. Our average intake
is somewhere around 25mcg and 33mcg, but according to the RDA
handbook we need at least 50mcg to 200mcg per day. That makes
it one of the most deficient minerals in the modern food supply.
The body needs sugar to deal with exercise and to digest sugar,
so you may want to take 200mcg to 800mcg of chromium picolinate
per day if you are active.
6. Selenium:
Selenium works with Vitamin E as part of an enzyme to destroy
free radicals, thus acting as an antioxidant. Selenium and Vitamin
E deficiency can result in many diseases, including heart disease.
Sources of selenium are seafood and meats, and an RDA of 55mcg
to 70mcg is required. If animals were bread on selenium-poor
soil, they would not produce any, making supplementation the
easy way out. Athletes may use the form L-selenomethionine to
acquire between 200mcg and 400mcg per day. But remember that
mega-doses of selenium is toxic and anti-ergogenic.
7. Iodine:
Your thyroid hormones control all energy in the body, and they
are dependent on Iodine for production. That makes it very important
to have this one right. We used to see pictures of people living
in remote places with huge sacks hanging from their throats,
as the thyroid try to grow bigger to try to increase the thyroid
hormone production. In the end this also led to mental retardation.
The problem occurred in areas where the iodine content in the
ground, on which crops were grown and animals were bread, was
poor in this element.
This problem is mostly solved today by iodized salt, which supplements
iodine into our diets. Natural sources include seafood of any
kind. Most people get more than the RDA of 150mcg of iodine per
day. Athletes may take 50mcg to 200mcg of the element daily,
but too much iodine leads to acne.
8. Boron:
The application of Boron in sport comes from its involvement
in the production of some natural steroid hormones in the body
that are involved in calcium, phosphorus, and magnesium metabolism
in bone, and muscle growth. Clinical research suggests that adequate
boron status is necessary for normal testosterone production.
Before you get all excited, the key word here is adequate, so
more than sufficient will only interfere with the metabolism
of other nutrients like phosphorus and riboflavin.
Athletes seeking the anabolic advantage may want to take an
additional 3.0mg to 6.0mg of Boron citrate and Boron aspartate
per day.
9. Molybdenum:
Dietary molybdenum forms part of three essential enzymes. No
one knows how much is needed or how to measure it in the body,
but the RDA recommends 50mcg to 250mcg per day. Toxicity starts
only at 10mg per day, and athletes can supplement with 40mcg
to 150mcg per day. Other Trace Elements: Silicon is essential
for bone growth, cobalt is an essential part of Vitamin B12,
Fluoride is needed for teeth and bones, and Nickel is essential
for growth.
Other Trace Elements:
Silicon is essential for bone growth, cobalt is an essential part
of Vitamin B12, Fluoride is needed for teeth and bones, and Nickel
is essential for growth. |
