Note from Darryl: We didn’t participate in this historic day of people blacking out their websites. To be honest, I haven’t even had a chance to see what all of this is about so I never had a chance to grab myself an opinion on it. I’m definitely one for free speech and individuality which...
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Our “Let’s Talk” series of posts looks to have caught on and it’s great to hear people’s comments and tips on the subjects we bring up in these posts. Once again, today’s post is all about you and we’re wanting you to add your comments below in the comment field as a way of...
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Ahhh, what a great ride! But ouch, my hips are so tight. What can I do to stretch my hips? Believe it or not, cycling and yoga go very nicely hand in hand. I’m excited to have Grace Wathen guest posting today with some great information for cyclists. Being a cyclist herself, Grace knows...
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A couple weeks ago we had a post with 4 Good Cycling Stretches. These are our picks for keeping those cycling legs of yours all loose and performing the way they should. Following the post, our Loving the Bike pal, @StevieDexter asked if we could suggest some post ride self massage tactics for the...
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One of our Loving the Bike friends, @myrnacgmibus recently suggested that we do a post on good cycling stretches. She told me that she doesn’t really know when to stretch or what stretches to do. So this post is for you, Myrna and I hope there are others out there that can benefit from...
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I generally eat pretty healthily and stay relatively fit but I wonder if I’m getting enough vitamins and minerals. Is there a product (available in the UK) that contains the right mixes of daily vitamins and minerals and if not, which individual supplements should I take to compliment a healthy lifestyle. (ps… I don’t want to take so many pills that I rattle!)
Kelli’s Answer:
Thanks for the question! First a disclaimer: It’s always important to talk to your personal health care provider about supplements -some should not be taken due to medication interactions and individual conditions.
Now, my general recommendations:
Although a healthy and balanced diet is most important, I do believe that most people, and athletes especially, need a good multivitamin/multimineral, extra vitamin D, and fish oil (or another source of DHA/EPA omega-3s) in addition to healthy foods. Mostly, I recommend this because our soils have been over-farmed (which decreases the amount of nutrients in our foods), our waters are polluted (which is one reason we can’t eat as much seafood as we’d like), and our ability to get outside and get sunlight year round has decreased with more time spent inside and at a desk. And, there’s a lot of exciting research that supports higher levels of vitamin D supplementation than previous recommendations.
Generally, I recommend these daily supplements:
Additionally, individual athletes may need extra iron, probiotics, calcium, etc. But, these 3 pills are a good place to start for most healthy athletes.
As you look for supplements, the keys are to find ones that 1) have what they claim they have (no exaggerated claims) and 2) don’t have anything that’s harmful. You don’t want lead or other dangerous heavy metals, and I try to stay away from colorings, flavorings, and unnecessary additives. Since this industry is not really regulated, it can be hard to find good brands that have support from a 3rd party expert. I often www.consumerlab.com, a completely impartial 3rd party site that tests supplements and reports on their ingredients. They don’t have every brand, but it can be a good starting point. I hope this helps!
Please send us your questions for our Expert Sports Nutritionist, Kelli Jennings to “Ask the Sports Nutritionist“. Kelli Jennings is a Registered Dietitian with a passion for healthy eating, wellness, & sports nutrition. For more information go to www.apexnutritionllc.com.
Nutrition Tips
