Open Mic Friday: A Look at Supplements for Runners

Today's interview reinforces this week's focus on "Eat This, Not That" with a discussion on supplements, the formulas of vitamins, nutrients, antioxidents, and other products to enhance our running. 

Our guest is Steve Born, an expert from Hammer Nutrition, who is an expert and researcher in nutritional fueling and supplementation.  Also a highly successful athlete, Steve offers enthusiasm and deep science to help us understand the complex world of supplements. 

This is the first in a series of interviews which will examine supplements and help us evaluate the what, why, and how about supplementing our diet and training.

Welcome Steve!

When starting with a new supplement, what should we do to get the most complete benefit?

First, you want to buy from a reputable manufacturer, one that has a history of high quality standards and ethics. This ensures that you're receiving a high-quality product that contains high quality nutrients. It also means that you're receiving the full amount of what is advertised on the label (you want to make sure that what's stated on the label is actually inside the bottle).

Second, you want a product that contains nutrients that provide general health benefits, not just athletic performance benefits. In other words, if a supplement contains nutrients that override and don't cooperate with normal body mechanisms (which means it may produce unwanted side effects), it's not something that you want to put in my body. Third, in order to receive maximum benefits, it's important to take the product as directed and as consistently as possible. As an example, in order for a joint health product that contains glucosamine sulfate and chondroitin sulfate to realize its best benefits, it has to be taken consistently over a fairly long period of time (usually a minimum of 4-6 weeks). More often than not, people who complain that "this joint health product didn't work for me" have simply not used it consistently or for a sufficient amount of time.

Is it possible to get some of the same benefits which supplements provide by eating the right combination of foods?

First, it is important to remember that supplements are not designed to replace food and the consumption of the healthiest diet possible (hence the word "supplement"). Eating whole foods is by far the best way to supply your body with the myriad plant-derived, health-benefiting phytochemicals. That said, today's food supply can't provide even all of the basic vitamins and minerals. Our food simply won't even meet the nutrient needs of average people, let alone athletes. Dr. Bill Misner states, "Athletes today ingest only 11% of the organic nutrients from their food sources that the athletes of the 1940's enjoyed." Even more sobering is the ever-increasing body of research that suggests that many people's diets are insufficient in supplying enough nutrients to prevent a deficiency disease.

That last sentence should grab one's attention. Forget about providing enough nutrients to promote optimal health, many people do not eat enough quality food to meet the minimal Reference Daily Intake (RDI) micronutrient requirements for preventing deficiency-related disorders. 

The bottom line is that our diets, no matter how good we think they may be, may not provide enough of the micronutrients needed to prevent a deficiency. That's why taking supplements, especially a multivitamin/mineral supplement, is a wise strategy to employ; it helps bridge the gap between what you should be receiving and what you're actually getting from your diet. Consuming the best possible diet as consistently as possible, and augmenting that with a multivitamin/mineral supplement plus additional antioxidants and auxiliary/complementary nutrients is the best way to cover your nutritional bases.

What exactly do supplements boost - Energy? Strength? Endurance? Metabolism? Recovery?

It depends on the nutrient in the supplement. For example, CoQ10, which is an important substrate in the complex process of energy production from food and oxygen intake, has been shown to help increase endurance. It also happens to be a potent antioxidant so it helps protect the immune system, thus helping to support enhanced recovery. Another nutrient, creatine monohydrate, helps enhance the short-term energy pathway known as the ATP/CP energy system, which is beneficial for strength athletes. The benefit to be derived is dependent on the nutrient, though many nutrients (such as CoQ10, acetyl l-carnitine, and others) have multiple benefits for enhancing energy, endurance, and recovery.

Can you explain how taking supplements is not tampering with the natural processes of training hard?

Quite the opposite is true.  An intelligent and properly-used supplement program not only DOESN'T interfere with the natural processes of hard training, it enhances them, allowing the athlete to get the full value out of every minute they put into their training. For example, one of the unfortunate by-products of training is the production/accumulation of free radicals. Free radicals (of which there are several types) are unstable atoms or molecules, usually of oxygen, containing at least one unpaired electron. Left unchecked, free radicals seek out and literally steal electrons from whole atoms or molecules, creating a destructive chain reaction. Excess free radicals, in the words of one nutritional scientist, “are capable of damaging virtually any biomolecule, including proteins, sugars, fatty acids and nucleic acids.”

If free radicals are not neutralized by antioxidant body stores immediately, tissue damage occurs to absolutely every cell membrane touched by these imbalanced molecular wrecking machines. Some theorize soreness and stiffness result because free radicals and waste metabolites build up during either prolonged or intense exercise. The more volume oxygen that passes into our systems for energy fuel metabolism, the more increased free-radical-fatigue symptoms may be experienced.”

Those words should sound the alarm bells loud and clear, because athletes consume huge amounts of oxygen and metabolize far greater amounts of calories than sedentary people. This means they're generating free radicals on the order of 12-20 times more than non-athletes! During periods of highest training volume and racing stress, free radical production increases even more. While the benefits of exercise far outweigh the potential negatives caused by free radicals, excess free radical production and accumulation, if not properly addressed and resolved, may very well be the endurance athlete's worst foe.

The necessity of neutralizing excess free radicals simply cannot be overstated. The human body can oxidize and decay, like rusting steel, from excess free radical production. Not only can this negate everything the athlete has worked so hard to achieve in your training, it can result in severe consequences to overall health.

A proper diet, augmented with antioxidant nutrients via supplements, help address and resolve the problems associated with excess free radicals.

If I was skeptical about seeing results using a supplement, what kind of supplement might I begin with?

I have always suggested that athletes start a supplement program with a high potency multi-vitamin/mineral supplement, even though many of them may not place much emphasis on taking a multivitamin/mineral supplement. Perhaps it's because they don’t consider it to be as “glamorous” as other supplements, meaning that they may not feel that it will really have much of a direct impact on their athletic performance.

I disagree with that, however, and here's my rationale: Providing the body with adequate supplies of vitamins and minerals is similar to pouring a strong foundation prior to building a house. Without this strong foundation in place, none of the other necessities of the house will have any structural integrity or be of much benefit. Similarly, without adequate replenishment of vitamins and minerals, many important bodily systems/functions (especially the immune system) will not be receiving the basic support they need. At the very least, this means the athlete can’t get the full value out of all the hard work they put into their training. It could also very well mean compromised immune system function, which is definitely something an athlete wants to avoid.

What might be a supplement product that the majority of runners would appreciate knowing about and which would provide an all-around benefit to us?

I believe that a product like Race Caps Supreme would provide a wide range of benefits for both athletic performance and overall health. Here is the "condensed version" product information on Race Caps Supreme:

Several important substrates ("spark plugs") are necessary for the efficient production of energy from our food and oxygen intake. Exercise rapidly depletes these important nutrients. Taking Race Caps Supreme is like putting fresh spark plugs in your body, ensuring consistent, efficient energy production from our food and oxygen intake. In addition, several ingredients in Race Caps Supreme are superb antioxidants and key nutrients for cardiovascular health.

The extraordinary combination of "super nutrients" found in Race Caps Supreme works powerfully and synergistically to cover a wide range of requirements for maintaining consistent and efficient energy production. Perhaps even more impressive are the overall health benefits that may be derived from this product. For enhancing both athletic performance AND overall health consistent supplementation with Race Caps Supreme is a wise strategy. I believe all people would benefit from this product and it's an absolute essential for athletes.

If you have questions or comments about supplements, fueling, or ways to enhance your running that you would like to ask Steve, please leave them below or submit to Tom@runnerslounge.com or Amy@runnerslounge.com.

Comments

[health food antioxidant supplements]

For your question to get same benefits from supplements and foods, I think supplements are supports to fill the body's other needs. It's better if you eat healthy foods and having also supplements.

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I have been taking a pretty good supplement called Oxi-7. Natural anti-oxidant ingredients that have helped me recover after long runs. www.oxiseven.com

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Agreed. Oxi-7 is a great supplement. Very underrated. I have been taking it for 6 months now and its the best supplement i have ever taken, not to mention it is natural.

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