Are Vitamin and Mineral Supplements Necessary?

For the most part, healthy adults can satisfy their vitamin and mineral needs by eating well with Canada’s Food Guide. However, there are some important exceptions. For instance, Canada’s Food Guide now recommends certain supplements for women who may become pregnant, are pregnant or breastfeeding and adults over the age of fifty. Other people who may need supplements are people who smoke and those with restricted diets e.g. vegans, who may need more of certain nutrients than what they are getting from healthy food choices. If you fall into one of these groups or want to see the nutritional requirements for your age and sex, check out Canada’s Food Guide at www.healthcanada.gc.ca/foodguide.

Here are some useful tips about vitamin and mineral supplements: You don’t get energy from eating vitamin pills. You do get energy as calories from carbohydrates, fats and proteins in the food you eat. Vitamins help convert this energy into the type of energy the body can use. If you are “stressed out”, pay close attention to what you eat. Eating well can help you cope with stress but over eating or under eating are not solutions. A supplement only provides some missing nutrients if you are not eating well. You may require vitamin or mineral supplements for medical conditions such as anemia or osteoporosis or during times of physical stress, such as after an operation or during a severe infection. Follow the advice of your physician and registered dietitian. Taking large amounts of vitamins or minerals can be dangerous. Vitamin A, vitamin D, niacin, calcium, iron, and selenium are particularly toxic in high doses. Large amounts of vitamin B6 and fluoride also have harmful side effects. Taking more than 2000 mg of vitamin C, for example, may cause diarrhea and gastrointestinal problems, and is not recommended. Talk to your physician or registered dietitian. Before taking any supplements talk with your physician or dietician about your nutritional needs. If you are unsure about any vitamin or mineral supplement you are interested in buying speak to the pharmacist. Keep supplements, especially those containing iron, away from children.   Source: “Do I Need A Vitamin Or Mineral Supplement?” http://www.dietitians.ca/

Train Like an Olympian

If you are like us, we have been glued to the TV watching the Olympics.  The coverage is incredible and every sport is featured in one way or another.  What amazes me is the various body types and the sports they excel at.  We have the “larger-than-life” Michael Phelps and Usain Bolt with their long, strong limbs and 6’7” wing spans (is that even possible?).  We also see the small, powerful gymnasts hurling through the air with incredible strength and flexibility.  The African distance runners that look like a strong wind would blow them away, yet they can run and run and run forever.  Every body type has its sport .....and there is something we can learn from this.  We often hear people say that they don’t have an athletic body – yet we know every body type can be athletic. 

We watch in awe as elite athletes perform seemingly impossible feats and wonder, how the heck do they do that?  And, more important, how do they make it look so easy?  Maybe it's too late for us to become Olympic athletes (ahhhh, yes!), but we can still get inspired by their incredible skill and commitment to reach our own goals.

Train Like an Olympian

Fortunately, training like an Olympian doesn't mean running 20 miles before breakfast or spending half your Saturday doing anaerobic sprints. However, even if you're not training for the Olympics, you can emulate the best athletes in the world to get the most out of your workouts:

·         Train every day. Many people fall victim to the weekend warrior syndrome:  after sitting on a couch all week, you try to make up for it by killing yourself with hours of exercise on the weekend. Instead of setting yourself up for injury, think like Olympic athletes who train every day in order to compete with the best. Exercising regularly not only helps you lose weight, you also maintain a level of conditioning that will keep you strong and fit. Exercising sporadically can cause injury, soreness and the urge to never exercise again.

·         Keep your eyes on the prize. Olympic athletes have a specific goal; to compete with the best athletes in the world and win. Our goals may be smaller, but they're just as important in motivating to get us out of bed each day to exercise. When setting a goal,  keep it simple, specific and, most importantly, reachable. Remind yourself every single day what your goal is and how you're going to achieve it.

·         Be specific in your training. An Olympic marathon runner has to have incredible endurance and strength in order to complete a marathon. To compete, he will have to incorporate specific training such as long runs, speed work and strength training. Whatever your goal, make sure your training fits. If you're trying to build muscle, focus on heavy strength training and getting quality calories. If you're goal is to lose weight, break that goal down into the necessary steps you need to take to get there. What kind of workouts do you need to do? What about your diet?

·         Fuel your body for peak performance. We all worry about food and whether we're eating too much fat, or too many calories. An Olympian, however, worries about getting the right nutrients and calories to fuel the most important competition in her life. Instead of looking at food like its the enemy, turn your thinking around and ask yourself, what is the best thing I could eat right now for my workout? What kind of food will put my body at it's very best?

·         Know when to rest. Olympians walk a fine line between peak performance and burnout and they know when to throw in a few extra recovery days. Overtraining for an Olympian can mean the difference between winning and losing; for the rest of us it means the difference between a great day and a crappy one. Know the signs of overtraining and when to take a break.

·         Have perfect form. Did you see Usain Bolt run the 100 m final? He ran like a thoroughbred with long, loose strides and a tall body. In whatever activity you do, make sure your form is perfect. If you're running, stand tall and relax your upper body. If you're lifting weights, do each exercise slowly to reduce momentum and don't swing your weights. Having perfect form requires you to focus on what your body is doing, rather than trying to distract yourself from the pain.

Whatever you're training for, thinking like an Olympian can help you get the most out of each and every workout. When you find yourself losing momentum or motivation, just remind yourself how much discipline it takes for an athlete to make it to the Olympics. Just a fraction of that discipline can help keep you going every day.