Who let the cat out?

Athletes - Are You Taking Your Vitamins?

If you are an athlete or live a very active lifestyle you had better be taking high quality vitamins. All world class and Olympic athletes take vitamin supplements on a daily basis to make sure they are getting the proper nutrition to perform their best.

It doesn't matter if you are a golfer, a runner, or a pro football player, as an athlete you need your vitamins for one critical reason above all others; you need them to prevent sickness and injury.

Injuries, such as broken bones, sprains, strains, bruises etc. are often a result of poor nutrition in the body. Vitamins keep all parts of your body in top shape which can help you fend off annoying injuries that keep you sidelined. Also you get sicknesses such as the flu and the common cold because your body's immune system is worn down and susceptible for an attack. Vitamins also ensure that your immune system is functioning at its best.

Don't get me wrong, high quality vitamins aren't going to make you invincible, but they should give you the confidence that your body is at its best. The rest of your athletic ability is then up to you and your training.

What kinds of vitamins athletes take is more important than just taking them because many store bought vitamins and minerals are useless because they are never absorbed by the body. They literally go right through you.

Why Are Most Vitamin and Mineral Supplements Useless for Athletes?

Well, just simply put, they are poorly made. They are more like vitamin bricks than fuel for athletes.

Why would companies do this to athletes? Easy answer, money. They are more concerned with making the cash than how well you perform as an athlete. Don't be too disappointed, however, because there are several different natural nutrition companies that do make exceptional vitamins that are proven to not only be absorbed by your body, but also be absorbed by the correct part of the body.

You see, each vitamin and mineral has its own specific job in a specific part of your body. This is why you need so many different vitamins and minerals to stay healthy. For example:

* Folic acid should be released only into the stomach
* B vitamins and vitamin C should have a sustained release function so they can maintain blood nutrient levels for over 12 hours
* Amino acids should only be released when they reach the upper intestine. Most amino acids are destroyed by stomach acids because they are absorbed in the stomach, not where they should be, in the intestines.
* Vitamin supplements should always be taken with food to ensure proper absorption

As an athlete you may have never heard of some of the great natural vitamin companies because they don't waste tons of money on advertising, they spend it on research and scientists to develop top notch products that actually make a difference for athletes. Then they spread the word through Olympic and world class athletes who actually use their vitamins without being paid to.

Where Can Athletes Find High Quality Vitamins?

Most vitamins for athletes will be found online or at your local health food store. To determine if the vitamins are high quality the company should have:

* Integrity - make sure that they have a track record of success
* Clinical studies published in scientific journals proving that the vitamins are absorbed and used by the body
* Easy customer access to the ingredients and any other info pertaining to the product
* A money back guarantee so you can return them if they don't work
* Proof that real athletes use them

To get published in one of the clinical journals is extremely difficult because the scientific community as a whole has to agree with the findings of the independent clinical study. Most companies hire their own scientists to put out studies that "may suggest this and that," but prove nothing and aren't even reviewed by the independent scientific community as a whole. Athletes can't afford to waste their time, talent, or money on vitamins that aren't "proven" to work.

Athletes should also try to get their vitamins through healthy food like organic fruits and vegetables, as a healthy diet is also necessary for an athlete's body to perform at its best

To Your Health,
Diet Health & Fitness
'Blog Squad'
DietHealthandFitness.com

Weight Loss and Your Health

Maintaining a healthy weight is truly vital to keeping yourself in tip-top shape, and not just so you can get in to that little dress for the holiday parties.

Keeping your weight at a healthy level is a huge step toward the prevention a of a large number of diseases that you don't want to find yourself burdened with. These can include: diabetes, sleep apnea, heart disease, and cancer, just to name a few.

If you maintain a healthy weight, it can also help you manage diseases that you may already have such as Paget's disease, Osteoarthritis and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD). In addition to disease prevention, when you maintain a healthy weight, you will set an excellent example for your children which in turn will make it easier for them to make appropriate choices in the future.

With all the temptation out there though, maintaining that healthy weight and weight loss can be challenging for many people. And really, is there one specific thing that will keep you in perfect shape? The short answer is no; however, moderate exercise and eating right are absolutely vital to any healthy weight loss-maintenance plan.

By instituting even small changes, you will be well on your way. It is amazing what even a short walk after dinner can do for weight loss, not only for the way your body metabolizes the food you just ate, but also for your mood in general.

Diabetes is a disease that is being diagnosed in record numbers, not only in adults, but also in children. This is the most obvious red flag that America is overweight, yet many people have no idea how extra weight and diabetes are connected.

Diabetes is a lifelong disease that is not curable and therefore requires that you take some form of medication for the rest of your life to manage it. Poor eating habits affect your body chemistry; when it is thrown off, it can cause your pancreas to fail in its job of insulin production. The result is diabetes.

Another reason to maintain a healthy weight is your joints. Excess weight carried on your frame puts extra stress on your joints. This will cause aches and pains every day, and really, who wants to live with that?

Later down the road, you may find yourself with Osteoarthritis as a result; this is a chronic disease that causes the cushioning between your joints to wear away which, as you can imagine, can be excruciating. It can also cause bone spurs to grow around the joints. By maintaining a healthy weight, you can lessen the likelihood of getting this disease, and if you already have it, dropping even a few pounds can help ease some of your pain.

Are you always tired? You might be suffering from what's known as Sleep Apnea. A few extra pounds can weigh against the muscles in your throat when you lie down to sleep.

As those muscles relax, they can push against your airway and force it to close; the result is periods of time during the night when you actually stop breathing, followed by gasping for air. Whether you are fully aware of it or not, this disrupts your sleep pattern and can cause you to become increasingly tired, seemingly without reason.

Cancer is a word that no one likes to hear; a common disease, many people worldwide are faced with fighting it. There is no one single thing that causes it, yet there are many possibilities.

One of these causes is being overweight. Several types of cancer are linked with being overweight.

In women, these include cancer of the uterus, gallbladder, cervix, ovaries, breast and colon. Overweight men are faced with an increased risk of developing cancer of the colon, rectum and prostate. High-fat and high-calorie diets have been found to be attributing factors in cancer of the breast and colon; common sense would say that both of these would lead to a less than healthy weight and therefore, also this could also be a contributing factor.

The message is clear: weight loss and health go hand in hand. Maintaining a healthy weight is vital to your health. No matter your age, it is never too late to start practicing a healthy lifestyle. Not only will you feel better and be healthier, your friends and family will thank you for it as they will likely get to spend many extra years with you.

To Your Health,
Diet Health & Fitness
'Blog Squad'
DietHealthandFitness.com