6. Vitamin C is mostly present in fruits which contain fructose. If you are watching your sugar intake, there are products out there, like Bio Energy C, that use Ribose instead so you can avoid the insulin response associated with fructose intake. Ribose has also been proven to reduce oxidative stress (damage created by strenuous exercise) and aids in the removal of lactic acid as does vitamin C. Vitamin C aids the production of ATP, helps wound healing, and is a cofactor to building collagen and repairing muscle. Athletes should take a minimum of 4,000-8,000 mg a day and upwards of 16,000 mg a day as it is very difficult to overdose on vitamin C. During and post-workout are the optimal times to take vitamin C.
7. Coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10) is the ONLY anti-oxidant found within cells and it allows the mitochondria to produce ATP. It also gets rid of lactic acid. CoQ10 is known because of its important implications to the heart, which is high in CoQ10. It is depleted from “stressful” athletic training/exercise. There have been a number of young, ultra-distance runners who’ve dropped dead of cardiac failure in recent years and the discovery was the lack of CoQ10 in their hearts which caused scarring and damage from years of training abuse. Anyone who participates in strenuous training should take CoQ10. The best, most usable form of CoQ10 is ubiquinone and delivered in oil since fats enhance the absorption of CoQ10 so it can enter the cells. A recommended dosage of CoQ10 is 100-200 mg a day. If you are an athlete, try increasing your dosage when you are approaching an event to improve performance, endurance, strength and recovery.
8. Beta-alanine primarily works its potential performance-boosting effects by raising intramuscular levels of carnosine, which is a dipeptide formed from beta-alanine and histidine. Carnosine can be synthesized endogenously, mainly in the liver, but as holds true for many nutrients, sometimes the body’s capacity to produce it isn’t sufficient to support optimal health, or, in the case of athletes, supplemental amounts above that which the body can produce may offer additional benefits. There is typically a large pool of bioavailable histidine in the body, making the availability of beta-alanine the rate-limiting step in carnosine synthesis.
8 Natural Nutritional Supplements was originally published on blackdoctor.org
