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VITAMINS

Introduction

Food provides the body with the materials it needs for energy, growth, repair, and reproduction. These materials are called nutrients. Nutritionists divide nutrients into two main groups: macronutrients and micronutrients. Macronutrients, so called because the body needs more of them, include carbohydrates, fats, and proteins. These are the foods our bodies use for energy and growth. Micronutrients, or nutrients required in only small amounts, include vitamins and minerals. Most foods contain a combination of the two groups.

What are the different parts of my diet that give me energy?

Macronutrients provide the body with the energy it needs to work, grow, reproduce, and repair. Carbohydrates and fats are the body's primary energy sources. Protein is essential to growth and maintenance.

Here is a rundown of what each macronutrient does and some good sources.

Carbohydrates Carbohydrates include all starches and sugars. They are the body's main source of energy. Each gram of carbohydrate provides 4 calories. Most foods contain carbohydrates. The main sugar in food is sucrose, which is everyday white or brown sugar. Other sugars include lactose (found in milk) and fructose (found in most fruits and many vegetables). Starches are a more complex form of carbohydrate. They are more filling and contain more nutrients than foods with lots of sugars, fats, or oils. Foods containing starches include beans, breads, cereals, pasta, and potatoes.

Fats Fats pack a lot of energy. Each gram of fat provides 9 calories. There are three kinds of fat: saturated, monounsaturated, and polyunsaturated. Animal and dairy fats, which remain solid at room temperature, are saturated fats. Saturated fat is often called "bad" fat. Unsaturated fats include vegetable fat and oils; they remain liquid at room temperature.

Proteins Proteins provide energy at 4 calories per gram, but they are more important as the body's building materials. Muscle, skin, bone, and hair are made up largely of proteins. In addition, every cell contains proteins called enzymes, which speed up chemical reactions in the body. Cells could not function without these enzymes. The body uses proteins to make antibodies, or disease-fighting chemicals, and certain hormones such as insulin, which serve as chemical messengers in the body. (Other hormones, such as the female hormone estrogen, are not made from proteins.) Meat, poultry, fish, dairy products, eggs, cereals, legumes, and nuts are all good sources of protein.

What role do vitamins and minerals play in nutrition?

Vitamins help the body turn food into energy and tissues. There are 13 vitamins in all: vitamin A; the vitamin B complex, which includes thiamine, riboflavin, niacin, vitamin B6, folic acid, vitamin B12 pantothenic acid, and biotin; and vitamins C, D, E, and K.

Minerals are needed for growth and maintenance of body structures. They also help to maintain digestive juices and the fluids found in and around cells.

Unlike vitamins, carbohydrates, fats, and proteins, minerals are not made by plants and animals. Plants get minerals from water or soil, and animals get minerals by eating plants or plant-eating animals.

The minerals the body needs in large amounts include calcium, chlorine, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, sodium, and sulfur.

Other minerals, called trace elements, are needed in much smaller amounts. Trace elements include iron, copper, fluorine, iodine, selenium, zinc, chromium, cobalt, manganese, and molybdenum.

Copy below table from this link -- http://www.fauxpress.com/kimball/med/essentialv.htm

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Why Supplement?
Why Supplement? Because Your Body Has to Last a Lifetime.

Overfed yet undernourished. Stop for a moment, and consider your daily eating habits. How often do you reach for junk food instead of fresh fruits and vegetables? How often do you skip meals? Does your diet provide variety or do you eat the same things day after day? If you answered "yes" to any of these questions, rest assured you are not alone. Most of us choose foods that satisfy cravings rather than nutritional requirements. The problem is, we still need a daily intake of over 45 essential nutrients to maintain optimal health.

Filling the nutritional void. Since many diets fall well short of providing everything the body needs, it is important to identify a good source of essential nutrients. The natural solution is nutritional supplements. Supplements offer a quick, easy way to get the vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and important phytonutrients necessary for optimal health. In fact, a balanced nutritional program that includes supplements offers important protection ranging from your immune system to the density of your bones.

An investment with healthy returns. When you look at the health costs associated with poor nutrition and unhealthy lifestyles, dietary supplements could very well be one of the most important investments you will ever make. If you are truly serious about investing in your family’s health, the question is not whether you can afford to add nutritional supplements to their diet, but rather, whether you can afford not to.

Thats where Creatine Monohydrate Powder comes into effect. Price ranges anywhere from $20-$30 for 1000g of Creatine. Be sure to watch out for the Creapure trademark to ensure the Creatine made by that particular brand is 99% HPLC Certified and Pure. Oral supplementation of creatine increases muscle stores and may increase muscle strength and improve exercise performance. Creatine claims to increase energy, power output, and enchances muscle size and strength.

Creatine also has a cell volumization effect which means that it will fill up your muscles with water. This effect is a positive effect because more water in the muscle means greater nitrogen retention. Since the cell is holding more water, it can also hold more ions since the ions will follow water into the cell in order to keep the concentration the same. When more ions are present in muscle cells (the most important being nitrogen) muscle protein synthesis also increases. Nitrogen retention is anabolic simply because amino acids are not exiting muscle cells. They therefore are available for repair and growth instead of exiting or becoming an energy source.

*Note: It isn't a bad idea at all to include 5g of creatine monohydrate in your post workout protein shake along with 45-65g of dextrose(glucose) to help restore glycogen stores as well as increase uptake of all nutrients in your postworkout shake. I also recommend that there is a ratio of 2:1 when it comes to carbs to protein in the Postworkout Shake. For Example: If you have 30g of protein in your PWO shake, there should atleast be 60g of dextrose in it. Don't forget to add that 5g of creatine to it to have a complete PWO shake that includes: protein, amino acids, creatine, and glycogen replenishment.*

Multi-Vitamin:

Multivitamin and mineral supplements are perhaps the most important single supplement that can be consumed by bodybuilders and athletes. Creatine and Whey Protein are also very important.

For the human body to perform at its maximum potential, it must be fed a vast and complex array of vital nutrients. Becoming deficient in just one of these essential vitamins or minerals breaks down the metabolic pathway that produces optimum efficiency and performance declines. Not good! Daily consumption of a high-potency multivitamin/multimineral formula may help ensure the presence of essential cofactors necessary for thousands of metabolic reactions.

"Many people underestimate the importance of them. They think that since you can not get 10 pounds of muscle, it is useless to take them. But here is something very important. If your body is deficient in just one of the essential vitamins and minerals over a thousand chemical and enzymatic processes in your body could be impaired. Each and every vitamin and mineral is responsible for thousands of biochemical reactions, including the formation of hormones. Bottom line? If you don't use a good multivitamin and mineral formula you will never reach your fullest potential.

When should you take multivitamin/minerals and extra antioxidants? Simply take your multivitamin/mineral formula first thing in the morning, and IMMEDIATELY after your weight training, take one multivitamin/mineral plus your extra antioxidants. On the days you don't train, take only one serving of vitamin/mineral formula in the morning, and in the afternoon take your antioxidant protection."

- John Stamatopoulos (Bodybuilding.com)

*Multi-Vitamins can be found at a reasonable price, I prefer Higher Power Nutrition's Multi-XS, AST Pro 32X is also good as well as Twinlab's Daily One Multivitamin.*

EFA(Essential Fatty Acids):

What they do?

Energy Production
Diffusion of oxygen into the bloodstream
Hemoglobin production
Vital for the transportation and metabolism of triglycerides and cholesterol
Brain and nerve tissue development
Control cell membrane fluids
Lower high blood cholesterol and triglyceride levels
Stabilize insulin and blood sugar levels
Treat arthritis
Anti-inflammatory effect
Helpful in inflammatory conditions
Relieve asthma.
Ease PMS symptoms
Decrease allergy response
Strengthen immune system
Reduce water retention, by assisting in sodium and water removal.
Aids in skin texture
Alleviate psoriasis

*Taken from Bodybuilding.com EFA FAQ*

You can get EFA's from foods such as:

Omega 3:

Flax Seeds
Flax Seed Oil
Hemp Seed Oil
Pumpkin Seeds
Salmon
Soy Bean Oil
Tuna
Trout
Fish oil
Walnuts

Omega 6:

Corn Oil
Pumpkin Seeds
Safflower Oil
Soybean Oil
Sunflower Oil
Walnuts