Performance Supplements (Page 2 of 2)

• Vitamin C - Years ago evidence that exercise caused increase excretion of vitamin C led some to think that two to three times the RDA of vitamin C might best serve the needs of the athlete. Since that time there have been many studies and this theory has been disproved.
   
• Vitamin E - Vitamin E is important to endurance athletes. During an endurance event, the cells use great quantities of oxygen to process fuels, and vitamin E vigorously defends the cell membranes against oxidative damage. Vitamin E may also protect a part of metabolism that is involved in aerobic metabolism.
   
• Calcium - Some evidence implicates low percent body fat with bone loss. Athletes with below normal percent body fat, when compared to athletes with normal percent body fat, had bone densities as low as those of women in their seventies. Most sport nutritionist’s recommend supplementing the athlete’s diet with calcium.
   
• Iron - Endurance athletes, especially women athletes, are prone to iron deficiency. Iron status might be affected by exercise in any of several ways. Iron loss in sweat, red blood cell destruction, reduced iron absorption with some athletes, and endurance exercise may cause small blood losses through the digestive tract. It is important to note that many menstruating women probably border on iron deficiency even without the additional iron losses incurred through exercise.

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