Basic Supplementation

Why to provide your body with high quality nutrients.

Which athlete is not taking, or is interested in taking supplements. I often get asked what I´m taking, and what my protocol looks like when racing. Well, back then, I would have liked to know what I know now. After taking different nutrition classes and diving deeper into this topic, I´m looking back and know, I would have done things differently. 

Here is how I think about supplementation now:

It is like training for racing. At first you want to set a good foundation. Long, slow, over distance training sessions in beginning of training season are key for this foundation. To keep this base, those sessions don´t disappear from your plan through the year. You make sure to maintain this foundation in-between interval blocks and training sessions. 

In the same way you want to look at nutrition and supplements. At first you want to make sure you provide your body with a wide spectrum of vitamins and minerals. Those nutrients are key for proper cell function. If one of those nutrients is missing or very low, your cells have to compensate and may not function in the same way anymore after cell division. 

There are so many processes in our body, which need not only specific nutrients,like minerals or vitamins, but also the right ratio of them. In this article I will pick one kind, to get little deeper -  antioxidants. Nutrients, which function as antioxidants “clean up” our bodies from free radicals, which we produce every day, all day. Our body is good in doing that on its own – if it has normal stress levels it sources all it needs for that. Exercising in the way athletes do, produces more free radicals. This happens during ATP (energy) production in our energy “power stations,” the mitochondria. Depending on what kind of a cell we are looking at, we find between 50 and 5000 (heart) mitochondria in one cell, and we want them to be able to produce energy. The higher production of free radicals requires higher levels of antioxidants. For this of course you can take antioxidants or eat food with lots of antioxidants, like berries. It is also possible to trigger the system of your body, which produces their own antioxidants. There are supplements existing, which do that. Antioxidants “hand out” electrons to the free radicals, to neutralize them. But what happens, when your body doesn´t have the source to neutralize those? Cell damaging, inflammation, maybe you had heard about oxidative stress... In short - your energy level goes down, your recovery takes longer, you cannot performance as good anymore, you can get sick easier... 

Your mitochondria also will be damaged by free radicals and a damaged mitochondria produces even more free radicals. Now, your energy production goes down and your oxidative stress goes up. That´s the time when you need to give your body a break and help to recover. Mitophagy is the process that cleans up your mitochondria. Supporting this clean up process helps to renew your powerhouses. That´s why you want to provide your cells on a regular basis with the nutrients they need to function well.

Energy in form of carbohydrates, fats and proteins are also very important, and in this context, I would compare it with interval sessions. There are essential, but more effective with a solid base. 

When looking into supplements, please make sure you are taking high quality ones. Supplements are not well regulated. Make sure you are choosing a brand, which guarantees, what´s on the label is in the package. I know, it sounds obvious. I trust the same brand the US Ski Team does and I would be happy to be your supplement guide for good health as one of the puzzles for satisfying performance. 

Knowing all of that, part of my daily supplementation routine are the CellSentials™from USANA