Nutrition & Athletic Performance

In the world of athletic performance, we often hear about our need for adequate macronutrient intake. Of course this is important, but we don't hear much about our need for micronutrients and their baring on performance.

These are the vitamins, minerals and trace elements we require not just to to perform at our best but also recover efficiently and protect us from illness.

But there's also another side to it. Different micronutrients impact our performance in very specific and often nuanced ways.

If we just look at fat soluble vitamins:

Getting enough vitamin A improves reaction time, recovery and muscle growth. It shortens healing time, helps us fight off colds and other illnesses, reduces fatigue and prevents physical exhaustion.

Consuming enough vitamin E prevents exercise associated chronic stress, reduces fatigue and promotes recovery. It improves our immune function and aids blood flow - increasing cardiovascular performance.

Vitamin D intake impacts hormone production and plays a critical role in calcium homeostasis - reducing stress fracture rates. It improves immune function but also increases strength, speed and power output.

Vitamin K is vital for bone health - increasing bone formation in elite athletes and improving cardiovascular output.

Unfortunately, it's not just a case of supplementing these things like crazy. Excessive consumption can also have negative effects, causing issues like muscle fatigue and impairing recovery plus a range of other problems.

No single nutrient is more important than any other and we should be able to get most of what we need from a properly considered diet.

Yes, you absolutely need to make sure your athletes are getting the right macros, but optimal performance goes beyond that.

It's complex, which is why it's so important to have good nutritional advice, to make sure you're also ticking the right boxes when it comes to all the micros.

PMID: 37368559