Vital Micronutrients for Endurance Athletes
Nutrition coaching for endurance athletes often centres on obsessing about the intake of the macros – protein, carbs and fat. Perhaps it also addresses under-fuelling and consuming too many calories at the other end of the spectrum. But even though many athletes might get these big rocks in place, they could still struggle with their micronutrient intake. In this post, we’ll zero in on five vitamins and minerals that athletes are often low in and explain the adverse effects of deficiency in each, suggest how they can be increased their intake — first through foods and then, if needed, via supplementation.
Magnesium
Magnesium is a vital mineral that plays an important role in more than 300 processes throughout the body and brain. While athletes need to keep their sodium and potassium levels topped up during training and racing, it’s magnesium that helps modulate the balance between the two — more on this in a moment. Magnesium also aids in the utilization of carbohydrates, helps regulate cardiovascular output and promotes better rest and sleep.
Magnesium is also attributed in fighting fatigue during and after exercise as well as preventing cramps. This is a controversial point, as research has shown that a lack of magnesium or othe elements is not the only factor contributing to muscle cramps, but mainly low fitness levels or over exertion.
Bone health, which is critical for endurance athletes, is also a magnesium related issue.
Athletes tend to have lower magnesium levels, as magnesium is a vital for the production of ATP which simply put is an energy carrying molecule that fuels muscle contractions. Furthermore, athletes tend to place extra stressors on their bodies, which increases their rate of magnesium usage due to their allostatic load. These can include sports-specific factors like pre-race anxiety, travel to events, the combined effects of training and competing and lifestyle factors such as relationship issues.
B Vitamins
The B vitamins constitute an entire family of micronutrients and are all essential to an athlete’s ability to produce energy, repair muscle tissue and form red blood cells. Red blood cells are essential for the formation of haemoglobin, which in turn absorbs oxygen from the lungs into the bloodstream. Aerobic running is oxygen dependant, so the more you can get, the better you can run!
The B Vitamins are important group of vitamins that all play vital roles in converting food into energy (metabolism), production of red blood cells and maintaining nerve health. They do a lot more of course, but these are the most important functions that concern endurance athletes.
The B vitamins are:
Thiamine (B1)
Riboflavin (B2)
Pantothenic acid (B5)
Pyridoxine (B6)
Biotin (B7)
The B Vitamins are depleted by excessive sweating, too many bathroom breaks, taking anti- inflammatory medication, eating a lot of processed foods instead of whole foods and chronic inflammation.
Zinc
Although Vitamin C is widely known for its immune boosting function, Zinc also plays a crucial role in warding off viruses and pathogens. If you are frequently struggling with cold and flu-like symptoms, this could indicate that you are not getting enough zinc to support optimal immunity. It might also impact your utilisation of Vitamin A – an antioxidant that reduces free radical damage and is involved in regulating your immune system. Vitamin A is also needed for cell, bone and muscle growth, as well as the optimal utilisation of Vitamin D.
A Zinc deficiency can compromise all these processes. Zinc deficiencies in athletes can lead to anorexia, significant loss in bodyweight, latent fatigue with decreased endurance and a risk of osteoporosis. In trying to pinpoint why Zinc levels might be too low, it is suggested that endurance athletes often adopt an unusual diet to enhance performance: an excessive increase in carbohydrates and low intake of proteins and fat that may lead to suboptimal Zinc intake in many endurance athletes.
Besides supplementation of Zinc, the easiest way to access Zink in your diet would be eating red meat, cheese, shellfish and oysters which are all rich animal sources of Zinc, while for those on plant-based diets, legumes, seeds, and nuts are solid choices. So, basically more protein and fats and less carbohydrates.
Vitamin D
It might seem odd that you as an endurance athlete that trains outdoors, Vitamin D would be the least likely to be deficient Vitamin. A lot of us endurance athletes cover up with long sleeves or put on sunscreen before heading out for a run, thus you might not be getting anywhere near the kind of sun on skin that would promote sufficient Vitamin D synthesis. And as a result, your bone health, sleep, and immune function could be compromised.
Supplementing with 1000 milligrams of Vitamin D and getting at least 20 to 30 minutes of direct sunlight on your skin per day before should be sufficient. A study conducted by British and Australian exercise scientists concluded that supplementation in Vitamin D deficient athletes improved their muscle regeneration and increased their speed, strength and power, demonstrating Vitamin D’s unheralded role in muscle function. It’s important that you as an athlete don’t consider your vitamin D status in isolation. Nevertheless, supplementation with Vit D and exposure to the sun will not have the beneficial effects on your body and performance if your Magnesium levels are low.
Calcium
Most adults in the general population get enough calcium, but a surprisingly high number of athletes don’t. A study of cross-country runners found that 40% of female participants and 35% of males had suffered at least one stress fracture during their competitive careers. “All of these did not meet the recommended daily energy intake or adequate intakes for calcium, or 25(OH)D required for their amount of training,” the researchers wrote.
I have already addressed the Vitamin D component of their findings. A lack or deficiency of Calcium can lead to weak and brittle bones in an athlete, which in many cases causes stress fractures, especially with high milage training. Calcium deficiency can have many causes:
The replacement of non-dairy products by athletes
The regular consumption of alcohol
Wolff’s Law theory states that the body will make bones thicker, denser, and more resistant to injury when regularly exposed to resistance training. But this is only possible when athletes are taking in enough of the building blocks, of which calcium is the cornerstone. Calcium is also involved in nerve conduction and muscle contraction, both vital for performance in running.
The simplest solution to Calcium deficiency should be getting more Calcium from your diet. All leafy greens, seafood and dairy contain loads of calcium, but should you still suspect a shortfall, a supplement could be used to get your total intake up to between 1,000 and 1,500 mg per day.
As an athlete, you train hard to achieve your goals. That is one part of being successful. Nutrition is the second part of achieving success. Nutrition is a big field to play in and its unfortunately a little more involved than eating carbs for energy and protein for recovery. The micronutrients are not to be ignored as it is important to be aware of the signs and symptoms of micronutrient deficiencies. A lack of these essential nutrients can hurt performance and overall health. So, if you notice any problems with your performance or overall health, consider looking for a deficiency in one of these five micronutrients.
