Good nutrition is key to your health, the science of supplements is therefore key to understand. Your well being and athletic performance can be affected by your eating a healthy, varied diet that ensures you obtain the nutrients your body needs to function.
If you are a full-time athlete, regular gym user or just about to start an exercise program, what you eat is going to play a major role in helping you achieve your goals. Likewise, knowing the science of supplements and supplement taking means you can ensure maximum personal gain from any supplements you choose to take.
There are a huge range of supplement products on the market which can often lead to much confusion when trying to choose one. The information on these pages aims to provide you with some knowledge on the science of these supplements to help you choose the right one.
Many people ask whether there is a need for supplementation in everyday life and unfortunately many people's diets mean that they are lacking in certain nutrients, vitamins and minerals. For those that eat a healthy, well balanced diet, supplementation is not essential as you should be getting enough nutrients from the foods you eat.
However, the stresses and strains of modern day life means that many people are skipping meals or eating low nutritious foods such as fast-food or takeaways. Nutrient deficiencies are rare but some things that make it more likely include;
Dieting
Restricting your daily calorie intake means that you may be missing out on important nutrients.
Vegetarian Diet
Meat is rich in protein, vitamins and minerals such as iron and zinc. Avoiding it will make it harder to get these essential nutrients.
Food Allergies
If you can't eat certain foods such as wheat or dairy then you are likely to be missing out on some important nutrients.
Pregnancy
It is important to eat a nutrient rich diet as you need to support you and your babies health. Iron and folic acid supplements are often recommended by physicians for prenatal health.
Training
Intense training will cause your body to be depleted of nutrients and if you do not replace these, deficiency and decreased performance is likely to result.
For these groups of people there may be a need for supplementation to aid good nutrition but it is not confined to these groups. Anyone who is exercising or eating a poor diet may be missing out on vital nutrients and therefore may wish to take a supplement. If you are aiming to lose weight, bulk up, enhance your stamina or improve joint function then there are supplements available to help you achieve this.
