Fill Your Body The Right Way Part 3: Vitamins/Supplements

      Now I’ve covered the essence of hydration and the vast impact carbohydrates can have on performance. This time, I’m going to discuss vitamins, minerals, and the consumption of supplements. Vitamins are metabolic catalysts that regulate biochemical reactions within the body. Many people take a daily multivitamin or mineral supplements to increase health and supposedly allow for better performance in everyday activities as well as sports. Bob Seebohar addresses this, however, in his book Nutrition Periodization for Endurance Athletes by writing, “There is no scientific research that proves that extra vitamins offer a competitive edge” (Seebohar 35). This is telling us that the myth that vitamins make us healthier and give us an advantage athletically is false. He went further in depth with that by stating, “So does endurance exercise increase the body’s vitamin needs? For most situations, the answer is no because, remember, vitamins are only catalysts that are needed for metabolic processes to occur. Vitamins do not provide energy… Another important point is that endurance athletes tend to eat more because of their increased activity. Thus, endurance athletes consume more vitamins from food since they are eating more” (Seebohar 35). This is not to say, however, that taking vitamin supplements does not have positive health effects, it just states that it doesn’t give an advantage to athletes in competitions to take extra. As can be seen from the photos below, I consume vitamin and mineral supplements, and I believe that it helps my health because I get sick far less than the average person.

        A few pages later, the importance of minerals is introduced. Minerals are elements that combine in various ways to form structures of the body and regulate body processes, so it is apparent how they could be important to an endurance athlete like myself. Among the minerals our body uses, calcium, iron, magnesium, sodium, and potassium are especially crucial to a diet because they all have something to do with hydration, bone structure, muscle development, and energy production. Most days, I also take mineral supplements like magnesium and also I love bananas so I eat a lot of bananas, which is a huge source of potassium.

        Do you all get enough vitamins and minerals in your diet, and if not, do you take daily multivitamins or mineral supplements? Or do you just take them because your parents make you? I know for myself, it’s the latter haha. Finally, I hope you had a wonderful Christmas and I hope you have a great rest of your break!