Sport increases the need for vitamins and minerals – it is better to do without food supplements – naturopathy & naturopathic specialist portal

Exercise increases the excretion of vitamins and minerals

Regular exercise is healthy, but those who exercise should also pay attention to proper nutrition. For example, athletes should consume enough vitamins and minerals. Dietary supplements are not necessary for this.

Exercising is healthy. Regular exercise helps you lose weight and can help reduce your risk of cardiovascular diseases like high blood pressure. However, care should be taken to ensure that there is an increased need for vitamins and minerals in sports.

Balanced nutrition automatically covers the increased need

As the Barmer health insurance company explains on its website, exercise stress leads to an increased excretion of water-soluble vitamins and minerals (micronutrients) via sweat and urine. This increased need must be met to maintain full performance.

Because recreational athletes eat more due to an increased calorie requirement, a balanced diet with lots of fruits and vegetables automatically covers the increased need for micronutrients.

In the case of food intolerance, supplement micronutrients in a targeted manner

In certain cases – such as sports people who consume too few calories in the long term, suffer from food intolerance or eat vegan – the German Nutrition Society (DGE) recommends supplementing micronutrients in a targeted manner in view of inadequate supply.

However, this should only be done after a check of the individual nutrient supply by means of blood and urine analyzes by a doctor.

Avoid vitamin and mineral supplements

According to the health insurance company, vitamin and mineral supplements should not be used because they do not compensate for an unfavorable choice of food. In case of doubt, advice should be given by the doctor treating you.

No additional protein intake

The additional protein intake via special protein bars or protein shakes is usually not recommended. According to the DGE, the protein requirement for adults is 0.8 grams per kilogram of body weight and day. According to the Barmer, the additional protein requirements for sporting activities in recreational sports are more than covered if the energy used is fed back in the form of a balanced diet.

As the health insurance company writes, a higher protein intake is “not necessary and can even be harmful”. For example, scientific studies have shown that a high-protein diet can harm the kidneys. In addition, excess protein is used as an energy component in the metabolism and can therefore promote fat instead of muscle building.

Rely on vegetable protein

With sufficient energy intake, the protein requirement can also be met through normal nutrition. Food such as milk and milk products, meat, fish, legumes and cereal products are well suited for this.

The right combination of vegetable proteins can increase the biological value of the protein – this indicates how much food protein is converted into the body’s own protein.

This means that herbal products also have a similarly favorable amino acid composition to that of animal proteins from fish and meat – with the advantage that they also contain fewer undesirable substances such as fat, cholesterol and purines. (Ad)