Guest blogger Yishane Lee is the author of

Most athletes know that carbohydrates and protein are critical to fuel a workout and aid recovery after exercise. But beyond those nutrients, there are five essential nutrients to incorporate into your diet in order to make sure your body operates at its peak.

1. Anthocyanins

This antioxidant gives red, blue, and purple fruits and vegetables their color. It reduces inflammation and counteracts muscle damage that can be caused by working out and also improves cardiovascular function. Blueberries, strawberries, cherries, blood oranges, eggplant, and red grapes are all good sources of anthocyanins. Even the cocoa in dark chocolate contains this antioxidant.

2. Choline

This nutrient, grouped with the B vitamins, is important for liver and cellular function, the metabolism of fat, and cardiovascular health. Higher choline levels in the body have been linked to better endurance and performance in marathoners. Find choline in egg yolks, soy products, sesame seeds, flaxseeds, wheat germ, peanuts, chicken liver, beef, and pork.

3. Omega-3 Fatty Acids

These heart-healthy essential fats that improve cholesterol levels, keep arteries flexible, and regulate blood pressure also fight joint pain by reducing inflammation. Boost your intake by eating wild salmon and other fatty fish, soy, and certain oils and nuts, like walnuts.

4. Potassium

This mineral is critical for balancing salt and electrolyte levels that can get out of whack with exercise. When fluid and electrolyte levels are unbalanced, you can feel weak and your muscles may cramp. Potassium occurs in all plant and animal foods, provided they are not processed. Reach for fresh fruits such as bananas and oranges, as well as milk and yogurt, leafy greens such as spinach and arugula, and baked potatoes.

5. Vitamin D

Known as the “sun vitamin,” this nutrient works in concert with calcium to create strong bones. It also lowers the risk of heart disease, cancer, and diabetes, and can help improve athletic performance, prevent injury, and lead to faster recovery. Your body gets the vitamin from sun exposure but supplements and food sources can also help. Look for D-fortified cereal and bread, canned fish (tuna, salmon and sardines), and milk, cheese, and other dairy products.

Also Read:

The Athlete’s Palate Cookbook

10 Perfect Post-Workout Snacks

Eating Advice from Female Olympic Athletes

Post from: Diets in Review Blog

Five Essential Nutrients for a Great Workout and Recovery

With the increase in concern for skin cancers and wanting to protect our skin from sun damage and burning, the amount of sunscreen we utilize has caused our vitamin D levels to plummet. I myself am very fair skinned, but I still make sure to allow my skin time outdoors to soak up the sun’s beautiful rays in limited quantities, ensuring not to burn or over expose myself.

Deficiencies in vitamin D are most commonly muscular weakness and weak bones. The disease that we are mostly familiar with associated with vitamin D is osteoporosis, where an individual will have very fragile bones, which can result in bone fractures.

The recommended daily intake by the National Osteoporosis Foundation is 400-800 IU for adults younger than 50 and 800-1000 IU for adults older than age 50. You should talk to you doctor to understand what levels are best suited for you and can be tested to monitor those levels as well.

In addition to the sun being a great way to increase your vitamin D levels, food is also an ideal source. Examples are:

• Cooked salmon 3.5oz – 360 IU
• 1 whole egg – 25 IU
• Cooked mackerel 3.5oz – 345 IU
• Canned sardines 3.5oz – 270 IU
• Soy milk – 120 IU

You can also look for products such as juices and cereals that are fortified with vitamin D. While they won’t contain as much of the vitamin as whole foods, they will certainly help add to the levels needed by your body.

View the entire vitamin guide:

Vitamin A

Vitamin B12

Vitamin C

Vitamin D

Vitamin E

Vitamin L

Zinc

Post from: Diets in Review Blog

Vitamin Guide from A to Zinc: Vitamin D

In a new weekly series that will launch on Saturday, November 28th, I’m going to feature specific vitamins and provide an overview as to why you need it, what it does for your body and where you can get it.

More and more people are deficient and with busy schedules you can start to feel even more run down especially heading into the holiday season.

Here a couple of tips to get you started:

1) Eat whole foods like grains, fruits, vegetables and nuts.
2) Take a multi-vitamin, but consult with your doctor or nutritionist first.
3) Drink plenty of water throughout the day.
4) Start your day with a wholesome breakfast.

Tune in every Saturday through January 2, with the series kicking off November 28th!

Check out some top-level tips already blogged about by the DietsInReview.com staff such as the benefits of Vitamin D and how Vitamin K can help to fight diabetes.

Sign up for Amy’s monthly Natural Health Newsletter.

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Vitamin guide from A to Zinc – Series Kick-off

1. Calcium – According to the National Institute of Health, the recommended total calcium intake is 1,000 mg a day for women between 25 and 50 years of age, 1,200 – 1,500 for pregnant or lactating women, and 1,500 mg per day for postmenopausal women. The average calcium consumption among North American women is currently only 600 mg per day. I take a calcium magnesium supplement and find that it really helps me with nighttime leg cramps.
2. Fish Oil – fish are rich sources of Omega 3s, most especially EPA and DHA, highly specialized fats that cannot be made by our bodies in the levels we need. Taking these essential oils also has an added skin benefit, and because we all know that fish is brain food – well, the thought of improved brain function never fails to sway me. Make sure it’s an encapsulated version so as to avoid fish oil burps. (I take mine at night.)
3. Vitamin D -The major biologic function of Vitamin D is to maintain normal blood levels of calcium and phosphorus. Vitamin D aids in the absorption of calcium, helping to form and maintain strong bones. The FDA has increased the levels of Vitamin D recommended, and a low level of this important vitamin has been shown to affect mental stability.
4. B Complex – The Vitamin B Complex is comprised of the essential B Vitamins – Vitamin B1, Vitamin B2, Vitamin B3, Vitamin B5, Vitamin B6, Vitamin B9, Vitamin B12 plus the vitamins Biotin, Choline and Inositol. Vitamin B Complex is needed for the proper functioning of almost every process in the body, including energy production, healthy digestion and great looking skin, hair and nails – a wonderful side benefit!
5. Multi-Vitamin – My other choice would be a quality multi-vitamin, one balanced in the key nutrients and close to 100% of the RDA without going over with enormous numbers. Many of those high numbers are impressive, but they are often water soluble vitamins and can cause you to have nothing more than “expensive pee.”

What would you add or subtract?

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Five Key Supplements For Good Health

“National recommendations from the Food and Nutrition Board are 400 to 600 International Units (IU) a day,” says Neil Binkley, MD, an Associate Professor in Geriatrics and Endocrinology at the University of Wisconsin.

The Food and Drug Administration currently recommends between 400 and 600 International Units (IU) a day. Experts are recommending between 1500 to 2600 IU daily. And there’s no concern for overdoing it since it’s safe to take 40,000 IU a day or even a little more.

Vitamin D is essential for bone health and improves muscle function. And there’s also evidence that shows it’s essential in warding off asthma symptoms.

Doctors from Harvard Medical School studied over 600 Costa Rican children with asthma. They found that children with lower vitamin D levels were significantly more likely to have been hospitalized for asthma. They were also more likely to have airways with increased hyper-reactivity and were likely to have used more inhaled corticosteroids.

“To our knowledge this is the first study to demonstrate an inverse association between circulating levels of vitamin D and markers of asthma severity and allergy,” wrote Drs. Juan Celedón and Augusto Litonjua.

(via: Science Daily & News-Medical.net)

Post from: Diets in Review Blog

Vitamin D Deficiency Makes Asthma Worse

“Vitamin D deficiency is associated with a number of chronic medical conditions,” says Jonathon Maguire, a researcher at Toronto’s Hospital for Sick Children and lead author of the study.

Research has linked vitamin D deficiencies to many cancers, heart disease, multiple sclerosis, and diabetes.

Of the 92 children in the Canadian study, the researchers found that the children who drank less milk, watched TV while snacking, or were “hefty” tended to have the worst vitamin D levels.

While milk is fortified with vitamin D, it alone will not provide sufficient levels. Oily fish is a good source of the vitamin, but since young children don’t often eat fish, supplementation may be needed.

Moderate sun exposure is a good way to increase levels of vitamin D. This too is difficult for the children in the study as they reside in Canada where, due to the high latitude, there is not sufficient sun throughout the year.

(via: The Globe and Mail)

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Study Finds Vitamin D Low in Toddlers

According to the largest study to date that has taken a look at the link between vitamin D and its power against colds, at least 50 percent of the subjects involved had insufficient levels.

In the study, Dr. Adit Ginde of the University of Colorado Denver School of Medicine and colleagues at Harvard Medical School and Children’s Hospital Boston found that people who had low blood levels of vitamin D were more likely to report having had a cold than those with higher amounts. To compound the problem, the risk of a recent cold or other respiratory infection seemed to rise as vitamin D levels dropped.

The link between vitamin D and respiratory infections was found to be even stronger in people with asthma, who had about six times a greater risk of colds with low vitamin D. Those with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease had a 2-3 times greater risk.

So, where can you get vitamin D? Eat more dairy, fish (salmon and tuna), fortified cereals, and orange juice. You may consider supplements as well, but consult your doctor first. You can also get moderate amount of sun exposure, which is why vitamin D is referred to as the sunshine vitamin. Just be sure to apply an ample amount of sunscreen.

(via: CNN)

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Vitamin D Deficiency Linked to Common Cold

Justification for this increase is due to the numerous health issues resulting from inadequate consumption. Complications due to poor Vitamin D intake include: Rickets in kids (a bone-softening disease), which increases the child’s chances of having osteomalacia (soften of bones) and osteoporosis (loss of calcium from bone, therefore increasing your chances of easily fracturing bones) in their adult years. Benefits of consuming more Vitamin D include: preventing heart disease, cancer, and mortality risks. The new recommendation is bumped up from its previous 200 IU/day to 400 IU/day beginning within the first few days after birth.

Sources of vitamin D include:

- The body is able to synthesize Vitamin D from the sun; therefore it’s recommended to get 10-15 minutes of direct sunlight (however, sunscreen SPF above 8 will completely block the synthesis)

- Any Vitamin D fortified product, including milk and soy milk

- Veal, beef, egg yolks, liver, fatty fish (salmon, sardines)

- Or supplementation through taking a daily vitamin

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Kids Need to Double-up on Vitamin D