Multivitamin Supplement – Is It Needed For Bodybuilding?

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 ust like 4 important elements are required for crop raising – soil, water, sun, and air, a bodybuilder needs 4 important elements  – muscle strength, nutrition, adequate rest, and muscle endurance to get the most out of the training session. Most people into bodybuilding consider protein and carbohydrates as the mainstream nutrition. But, nutrition doesn’t mean only macros! A fad in recent years has been to grab the easiest and quickest things to eat, eliminate foods or food groups and monotony of food selection. With the busy lifestyle and eating habits, focusing on micronutrients has become more critical than ever. Bodybuilders are missing out on small but very important micronutrients lately…

A NEED FOR MICRONUTRIENTS

Vitamins and minerals are 2 main types of nutrients that do different jobs to help the body work in proper order. Vitamins and minerals are required to carry out metabolic functions, assist in breaking down fatty acids and amino acids, are required to make lipids, neurotransmitters, maintain bone health, fight free radical damage, enhance the activity of insulin, help maintain fluid balance, stronger immune.

There are nearly 30 vitamins and minerals that our body cannot manufacture in sufficient amounts. Since consuming a well-rounded diet everyday becomes tough to follow routine, the use of multivitamin supplements can help to cover up the nutritional gaps. 

Let’s learn in this blog the importance of multivitamins for bodybuilding…

TOP 5 BENEFITS OF MULTIVITAMINS FOR BODYBUILDING

1. MULTIVITAMINS CAN HELP YOUR BRAIN’S RESPONSE TO STRESS SO YOU CAN POWER THROUGH TOUGHER SESSIONS     

Physical and mental fatigue elicited during exercise training gets translated into reduced exercise performance. Fatigue in any sense is experienced when the energy demands of the brain and muscles are not met sufficiently. Unlike skeletal muscles, which contain significant amounts of stored energy in the form of glycogen, the brain has only limited energy reserves; it is dependent on a regular supply of energy substrates from the circulation through the blood-brain barrier. During the intense training process, the energy fuel for the brain gets reduced. Vitamins play a crucial role in the energy production process and in reducing mental fatigue. Vitamin B1 plays a role in the synthesis and regulation of neurotransmitters, vitamin B2 helps extract energy from glucose, fatty acids, and amino acids. Vitamin B3 is critical to breaking down carbohydrates, and fatty acids during exercise. Biotin serves as a cofactor in the catabolism of BCAA, pyridoxine assists in the metabolism of carbohydrates, helps synthesize the oxygen-carrying hemoglobin, and helps produce neurotransmitters. Vitamin C acts as a cofactor in the transportation of long-chain fatty acids into the mitochondria. Ashwagandha, green tea extract, ginseng extract, green coffee bean extract help regulate metabolism, help the body adapt to stress by normalizing system functions, elevate physical performance corresponding to the stress response.

2. MULTIVITAMINS STRENGTHEN YOUR BODY TO REDUCE RECOVERY TIME

Exercise-induced muscle damage results in impaired performance, muscle pain, soreness and reduced training quality. If your body is not provided with enough nutrients, it will limit your capacity to train harder and recover faster. A well-supported nutritional strategy helps augment the recovery process.

A multivitamin supplement is especially important for those who train hard, because whenever you train hard and are restrictive in terms of your diet, the more nutrients the body needs, as the body loses more nutrients through sweat. B complex vitamins produce usable energy so that muscle cells have the fuel needed to repair muscle tears. Vitamin C acts as an antioxidant to protect the muscles from oxidative damage. Consumption of flavonoid polyphenols may enhance recovery from exercise-induced muscle damage through upregulation of the cell-signaling stress response pathway.

3. MULTIVITAMINS PROTECT FROM OXIDATIVE STRESS CAUSED DURING EXERCISE

Vigorous-intensity training sessions are known to increase numerous stressors, such as muscle damage, inflammation, and oxidative stress. During intense resistance training, excessive production of reactive species can overwhelm the endogenous antioxidant defense system, causing detrimental effects on physiological function. If recovery is inadequate following exercise, it may prevent athletes from completing the subsequent training sessions. Phytonutrients exhibit recovery benefits through inhibition of pro-oxidant and pro-inflammatory intermediates. Astaxanthin, lycopene, garcenia, green tea extract, green coffee bean extract, ginseng extract have been suggested to enhance exercise metabolism, performance, and recovery. Vitamin C, vitamin E, and Astaxanthin are effective in inhibiting exercise-induced oxidative stress. Minerals help stabilize mitochondrial energy production and efficiency. Chromium is an insulin cofactor, potentiates the effects of insulin, and facilitates the transport of BCAA into muscles. Selenium is a component of glutathione peroxidase, an important cellular antioxidant enzyme. Zinc is important for muscle energy production and protein synthesis.

4. MULTIVITAMINS GIVE YOU AN ENERGY BOOST & HELP MAINTAIN MUSCLE STRENGTH

Micronutrient deficiencies are caused by high physical activity due to sweating during exercise.  Combining the positive energy balance with resistance training ensures anabolic effects are directed towards increasing skeletal muscle mass and muscle strength. Limitation in energy supply is a classical hypothesis of muscle fatigue, limitation in the energy-generating process can limit the rate of energy expenditure and performance. Bodybuilders generally utilize restrictive diets that eliminate foods, which may cause depletion of energy levels to less than 30% of resting concentrations. A multivitamin supplement ensures an adequate supply of B vitamins. The B vitamins except for folate function as cofactors or co-substrate for enzymes involved in amino acid metabolism, lipid metabolism, gluconeogenesis, catabolism of BCAA for energy production.  Magnesium, zinc, and chromium improve strength and muscle metabolism.

5. MULTIVITAMINS SUPPORT BONE HEALTH & IMMUNE SYSTEM

Bone injuries can result in a significant loss of training time, which undoubtedly impacts sporting performance. Multivitamin supplementation is associated with improvement in bone health.

Magnesium, calcium, phosphorus, vitamin K2, vitamin D3 help in bone metabolism. Vitamin C helps in the production of collagen in the bone matrix.

In addition to these nutrients, the athlete should also ensure adequate intake of manganese, copper, iron, zinc, vitamin A, vitamin C, and the B vitamins in order to support other metabolic processes important for bone health. Phosphorus is essential for bone mineralization. Zinc assists in bone regeneration. Copper, magnesium promotes strong bones. Vitamin A, D, C, E, B6, B12, folate, zinc, iron, copper, and selenium play synergistic roles to support immune function by protecting from free radical damage, enhancing NK cell activity, regulating antimicrobial protein expression, regulates inflammation.

HOW TO CHOOSE THE RIGHT MULTIVITAMIN SUPPLEMENT?

A multivitamin supplement should offer you the convenient recommended dosage like one-a-day capsule.

Choose a multivitamin with 100% of the daily value of most of its ingredients.

Always source a multivitamin from a reliable brand.

WHEN IS THE RIGHT TIME TO TAKE MULTIVITAMINS?

A multivitamin supplement has to be taken in a way that maximizes absorption of its nutrients. Although breakfast time is the ideal time to take a multivitamin, if your breakfast doesn’t include a significant amount of fats or oils, you won’t get the best absorption of fat-soluble vitamins. Hence, it is suggested to take multivitamins with a meal that contains fats and oils.

ATOM MULTIVITAMIN

ATOM Multivitamin is a 100% vegetarian, an easy-to-swallow dietary supplement designed to fulfill the higher nutritional demands of bodybuilders. The supplement loads your body with 31 essential vitamins and minerals to keep the energy levels higher, increase the body’s wellness to deal with stress, fatigue, boost immunity, give you better endurance through each session of training and help you stay on top of the game. To support the lifestyle of active individuals, the supplement is formulated with 200 million spores of a diverse range of probiotics per capsule. It is enhanced with green tea extract, astaxanthin, lycopene, ashwagandha, ginseng extract, garcenia extract to enhance immune response, fight free radicals, and improve focus and alertness. For bone health, the supplement contains magnesium, calcium, vitamin K2 MK 7, vitamin D3. The supplement does not contain preservatives, corn, soy, or gluten.

Let’s get going and change the nutrient deficiency to nutrient sufficiency…Whether you just need a daily boost, true nutrient repletion, or overall health maintenance, a complete multivitamin goes a long way in helping you reach micronutrient sufficiency…

Catch you all with yet another blog…until then stay energetic, fit, and healthy…

Also read: How To Know You Are Protein Deficient - What Are The Signs?

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