Many Olympic and professional athletes trust USANA nutritional supplements, and good for everyone.

Fitness and optimal health are not the same.

Case in point - Florence Griffith-Joyner. "She's the greatest multi-event athlete ever, man or woman," said Bruce Jenner, an expert on multi-events as the 1976 Olympic decathlon champion. No one would doubt Jackie's fitness, after all she was the fastest woman in the world, but her premature death pointed to the fact she was not in optimal health. Our bodies can survive on much less than an ideal nutritional diet, but it will not be at optimal health.

Here are just a few of the many professional athletes and teams using our sports nutritional products.

 

Cellular health is the basis for optimal health.

Regardless of the training program used, weight bearing and aerobic exercise, dietary programs using the appropriate carbohydrates, proteins and fats, to achieve the desired level of fitness and available energy, every training program will result in enhanced fitness, if the athletes have first achieved good cellular health.

Every organ, bone, muscle and tissue of the body is composed of cells. Unless the cells are given a complete, balanced full spectrum of nutrients and antioxidants, the body cannot be in a state of optimal health.¹ It is the multiple interaction of nutrients that is the basis of their biological function! This is why one should never expect optimal results by simply taking "the in vogue vitamin of the month."

Initiating a nutritional based program for cellular health.

Unlike drugs and quick energy boosters, nutrients do not have immediate effect. It is definitely not a quick fix! It is a program of replacing old cells with healthier cells, which takes time. For example, blood cells, including the very important hemoglobin count relating to endurance and recovery time, takes from 60 to 120 days. Other cells take even longer.

However, since good nutrients do more than just replacing cells, many athletes do begin to notice the difference in a matter of days.

Everyone suffers cell damage from free the radicals that we ingest, breath and absorb from our polluted environment. Free radicals are also produced in our bodies as the normal conversion of fats and sugars to energy. Oxygen is required in the process and as much as 5% of the total oxygen used by the body, is involved in producing millions of free radicals. These free radicals attack and damage virtually any cell in your body and is one of the causes of muscles stiffness and soreness that can last for days, after strenuous exercise.²

Within every cell of the body is a furnace called the mitochondria. As oxygen is utilized within the furnace of the cell to create energy and life itself, charged oxygen molecules are created, called "free radicals."

A free radical has at least one unpaired electron in its outer orbit essentially giving it an electrical charge. If this free radical is not readily neutralized by an antioxidant it can go on to create more volatile free radicals, damage the cell wall, vessel wall, proteins, fats, and even the DNA nucleus of our cells. Chemically this reaction has been shown to be so volatile that it actually causes bursts of light within our bodies!

Studies appearing in medical journals like the New England Journal of Medicine, Journal of the American Medical Association, British Lancet, and Annuals of Internal Medicine report that beyond any doubt the "free radical damage" in addition to causing overall poor cellular health, is the cause of well over 70 chronic degenerative diseases.

Athletes use 12 to 20 times as much oxygen during their physical activities, as do sedentary people. That additional oxygen consumption translates into a huge increase in free radical production.

Free radical damage control.

Many of the antioxidants including vitamin A as beta-carotene, C, E, coenzyme Q10, selenium, zinc, alpha-lipoic acid and others are the army of free radical scavengers that quenches the free radicals before they can do their damage.
Debating which antioxidant is best, becomes a futile exercise. The antioxidants work synergistically. Antioxidants require other antioxidants to function fully, as in a biochemical relay team.

Unfortunately, it is not possible to receive sufficient antioxidants in a our diet, even if we use all organic foods.³

For example, in order to get the required 600 IU of vitamin E, one would have to eat in excess of 33 pounds of spinach, 27 pounds of butter or 5 pounds of wheat germ - sounds a little impractical. Nutritional supplementation is the only answer.



Endurance and Recovery Time for Athletes.

Endurance and recovery rate for athletes is heavily linked to amount of oxygen available to the muscles. That in turn is dependent on the amount of oxygen the blood is capable of carrying. The decline in hematological (red blood) status is a serious problem for athletes engaged in heavy physical activity.⁴

Folic acid, the vitamin B complex, vitamin C, iron and zinc are the primary nutrients in making red blood cells.⁵ There are substantial interactions between nutrients and the correct balance between them is very important. For example, excess zinc interferes with iron metabolism, excess essential fatty acids deplete the body of vitamin E and excess iron disrupts copper metabolism.2

At the Colgan Institute in San Diego, a double-blind cross over test conducted with endurance runners, showed an increase in VO2 max, of up to 18%. (VO2max is the maximum amount of oxygen they could use.)⁵ The result showed that just using RDA levels of nutrients, were not enough to maintain the red blood status. The enhanced balanced nutrients improved hematological status and endurance performance.

Again, one has to stress the importance of using balanced, high quality nutritionals supplementation, rather than just combining "one off" products of any single kind.

Diet considerations should include the Glycemic index and Glycemic Load factors to avoid blood sugar "crash" at crucial performance times.

Travel Fatigue and Jet Lag.

Jet lag is the disruption of the bodies time cycle by crossing numerous time zones, plus travel fatigue. Travel fatigue is a result of hours of immobility, cramped quarters, and the poor air quality in planes. Each should be considered as a separate challenge, however one common factor for reducing the effect, is good health. In addition, one should keep hydrated during the flight and avoid excess sugars and alcohol.

 

Here are just a few of the many sports organizations and professional athletes who use and appreciate the effectiveness of the fully balance, pharmaceutical grade supplements. A more complete list is available.

160 women in the Women's Tennis Association
Adam Pengilly, British Bob Skeleton Association
Stacey Allaster, Chairman & CEO of Sony Ericsson WTA Tour
US Speedskating Team
Joanne Thomson, executive director, Biathlon Canada
Dr. Jose Antonio Torres Mendoza, Head of Medical Services
Tuzos del Pachuca Soccer Club
Speed Skating Canada, Tom Holland, Director of High Performance, Cross Country Canada
Gordy Sheer, marketing director, USA Luge Team
Todd Suhn, Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA)
Derek Parra, Olympic Gold and Silver Medal U.S. Speedskater
Werner Berger, Expert Mountain Climber
Jose Antonio Rivera, Professional Boxer
Meaghan Mikkelson, Canada Women's Hockey

 

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