More and more often I have the pleasure of meeting athletes of all levels in the studio who practice various sports (cycling, running, swimming, golf, volleyball ...) and if it is natural for some not to take substances before, during and after the activity carried out, for others it is essential to always have with you the bar or cheer pack or gel or who knows what other synthesized devilry to use before - during and after!
And if it is understandable, for practical reasons, during a competition to have the packaging of this or that other food ready to use, perhaps a little less understandable is the continued use of such products outside the competitive event .
Food supplements: do you really need it?
The market has an enormous offer of these "goods" and marketing is easily able to penetrate an environment full of scarce knowledge and full of ambitions and illusions.
Despite the economic crisis, the food supplements market segment continues to grow at a rate of 10% a year . Via the internet you can buy anything; the integrator, today more than in the past, seems to have acquired a life-saving action.
The question is: Why are you taking a supplement? "To cheer me up", "the food is no longer what it used to be", "in the gym they told me that ...", "I take vitamins because you never know" ... and much more. that more than 30% of the cases buy the supplement at the supermarket, a no-man's land where everyone improvises with what they know or hearsay, for the happiness of the big pharmaceutical companies!
Today vitamins are cheap, they are produced in the laboratory, often with the help of GMO bacteria. Thanks to white technology, in the pharmaceutical field it is possible to cut the costs of the chemical synthesis process, without triggering the obligation to report the uncomfortable GMO symbol, disliked by many consumers.
But the point is : do you really need a supplement ? Are you sure? Science today tells us that in the so-called evolved world there is rarely a nutritional deficit that justifies the intake of an integrator. Nutritional deficiency? Our problem is the exact opposite: today we are literally killing ourselves for the excesses of food and we certainly cannot say that today a wide variety of foods is scarce on the tables of the opulent society. Even our garbage cans get fat.
Beyond the various ideological positions, the best cure remains that of proper nutrition. Apparently, nature is much more intelligent than pharmaceutical chemistry.
Fruits and vegetables contain not only vitamins, but also hundreds of phytochemical compounds whose mechanisms of action are still not well known, but which certainly work in synergy to provide vital substances to our body.
Food supplements: 5 tips on their consumption
Sports, free radicals and supplements
Every sportsman knows (or should know) that during physical activity, especially intense, the body produces free radicals, responsible for cell aging . This is another reason why the anti-oxidant supplement, often composed of vit. C, beta carotene, vit. A and vit.
And, ironically, this vitamin overdose, by inhibiting the production of free radicals, creates greater damage. Yes, because free radicals, according to different studies, play an important role against bacterial agents, regulate insulin secretion and stimulate the immune system.
In biology mathematics does not always work and minimizing the intelligence of our body reducing it to pure chemistry is a limiting and dangerous action. Perhaps the concept of bio-availability escapes us.
It is essential for the body to be able to absorb and use the amount of vitamins or minerals it needs to develop and maintain its functions .
What is the use of taking 1000mg of ascorbic acid, when the body needs 70-100mg a day, which can be widely supplied by 3-4 servings of fruit? Simple: to overload the system, and if, as often happens to improve gastric tolerability, ascorbic acid is salified with minerals such as sodium, potassium creating the various ascorbates, we can have negative affects on the kidneys and the intestine.
The case of vit. C of synthesis is applicable to other vitamins and minerals and teaches us that the intake of an integrator must be carried out when there is a real need . All monitored by an experienced person and taken for a short period of time .
Taking supplements for long periods against fatigue, for example, can mask the real cause of the problem, worsening the overall situation.
A correct diet and a healthy gastro-intestinal system are the fundamental bases for giving our body all the vital substances that it needs to live well ... I was forgetting physical exercise, as fundamental as food!
