Ganoderma
Antioxidants, Free Radicals and Sports Nutrition
As you know, I am a physician.
It's part of my profession to keep
abreast of what's happening in medical /health research. Being
retired helps, because doctors simply do not generally have the
"extra time" to devote to the scientific literature.
But I do. And I love it.
I am one of those individuals who
really enjoys .brace yourself.chemistry. When I'm done, you should
be excited too, especially if you are interested in sports
nutrition and antioxidants, though not necessarily in that
order.
Sports nutrition is a vast industry with emphasis on optimizing
per*formance. Off hand, I can think of quite a few categories
involving sports nutrition:
sports nutrition and supplements for athletes,
sports nutrition and athletic per*formance,
sports nutrition and body building,
sports nutrition and endurance training,
sports nutrition and special diets in a variety of sports,
sports nutrition and strength training,
sports nutrition for running, jogging, walking, skiing,
swimming
There's even Rocky Mountain sports nutrition
.the sports nutrition list is endless.
So far, no surprises, huh? Well, here's one for you.
Did you
know when you exercise intensively you INCREASE the freeradical
burden in your body? If you're a serious sports enthusiast, you
should know that.
But.the real news is what science is finding out about that
freeradical burden of yours. You should pay close attention.
Suddenly, chemistry gets real personal.
Everyone of us has, what may be called, our antioxidant protective
capacity. That means our bodies normally utilize antioxidants to
protect us against the harmful impact of freeradicals.
First of all, what are antioxidants? They are molecular substances
which offset freeradical damage to the body.
Antioxidants, "quench"
freeradicals (for lack of a better metaphor) neutralizing their
damaging effects on the cells of the body.
Antioxidants are found in foods such as cranberries, green tea and
even chocolate.
Antioxidants are found in vitamins such vitamin C and E.
Antioxidants are found in carotenoids such as beta-carotene.
Antioxidants are found in many substances supplied by the body such
as glutathione.
Antioxidants are found in many herbs and enzymes.
The impact of antioxidants is boosted by glyconutrients to
offset fre*e radicals in your body.and, as a result of your
athletic exertions.
Antioxidant capacity must be provided in your sports nutrition
regimen or you could be "robbing Peter to pay Paul" with your
workouts. As you will see, without a glyconutrional presence in
your sports nutrition, the healthful gains made by your physical
workouts will be offset by your own freeradical burden.
Fre*e radicals, sports and sports nutrition
Fre*e radicals are those chemical species which contain one or more
unpaired electrons, capable of independent existence. They for*m in
the body due to a variety of reasons as offshoots of cell*ular
activity or as products introduced to the body from the
outside.
As an analogy, think of running a car engine as the cell*ular
production and the car emissions a the freeradical production. The
engine produces products which cannot stay inside the car without
further damage. They simply must be neutralized and expelled.
Freeradicals cause damage by reacting with many substances in
your body.
It is estimated that upwards of 200,000 freeradical
attacks occur in our bodies daily.
When freeradical damage is done, the body can remove the
compounds formed by its cell*ular repair system. However, if the
body cannot handle the freeradicals (with antioxidants for
example), nor remove the compounds, disease can be the result.
Contrary to popular opinion, freeradicals do not circulate
throughout the body.
The half-life of most fre*e radicals varies in
a range of a few nanoseconds to about 7 seconds duration. That
means they will react within the "neighborhood" (a few Angstroms or
microns near where the increase in freeradicals occurred) .organs,
connective tissue, circulatory or nerve tissue, bone or lymphatic
material are all candidates for freeradical attack.
Wherever they for*m, they will damage the surrounding areas,
unless prevented by the body.
So the body does NOT have the luxury
of just filtering away any circulatory fluids to find the fre*e
radicals. The body's defense systems must be.well.fairly
omnipresent to neutralize the effects of fre*e radicals.
The
antioxidant protective system must be healthy.
Since they are highly reactive substances, they react with all
sorts of cell elements readily. But, when they do react with your
body cells, they can damage the cells and even kill them. Often,
the damage from freeradicals can CHANGE the cell*ular structure
enough to cause DISEASE such as cancer, diabetes, arthritis, heart
disease and a host of others.
The type of disease that occurs is dependent upon which of the
freeradical defenses in the body weren't functioning properly and
where the free radical attacks occur.
The body has pretty sophisticated antioxidant defense systems.
But, the body CAN get overwhelmed in its antioxidant protections
against such freeradicals.
Indeed, unless antioxidant enhanced sports nutrition (with
glyconutrients) are used to offset the increased freeradical
burden, the BODY will suffer as a result of intensive sports
training, stress, and competition.
Glyconutrients VITAL to sports nutrition .
Studies comparing marathon runners who did and did not take
glyconutritional sports nutrition supplements were undertaken. The
results were reported by the Proceedings of the Fisher Institute
For Medical Research ( August 2003, vol.3, no.
1). The results
"demonstrated strikingly different patterns." Antioxidant
protection appeared to be powerfully enhanced against fre*e
radicals with glyconutritional supplementation. Thus, the body was
protected for several days after the marathon run.
However, when glyconutritional sports nutrition was NOT used,
the damaging effects of the fre*e radical burden appeared to remain
in the body for about five days. Thus, the subject "consistently
excreted higher concentrations of freeradical byproducts." as
compared to that of the glyconutritional subject. It should be
emphasized that the subject studied WAS TAKING other antioxidants,
though not glyconutrition.
Despite that fact, the above cited
results were obtained.
That's another way of saying when glyconutritional supplements
were not used, the freeradical burden upon the body was not lifted.
Antioxidant protection does appear to be (significantly)
strengthened with glyconutritional sports nutrition. Such
antioxidant protection appears to be of benefit for athletes
overall, including training, stress, competition and dietary
issues.
The glyconutrional revolution in sports nutrition and therapy is
just beginning. More studies are being done. More results are
coming in concerning freeradicals and the capacity of the
glyconutrients to boost antioxidant affect against fre*e
radicals.
Sports nutrition is about to see a new revolution.
Better still. I believe it is quite probable, with
glyconutrition, sports PER*FORMANCE is about to see a revolution in
all fields.
Dr. Robert Gamble is retired from a very successful
medical/surgical career.
His articles are designed to encourage
people about the exciting discoveries surrounding glyconutrition.
Visit www.glycoshare.com or write sharethegift@glycoshare.
com
or.
call toll free: 1866.735.5871
Dr.
Robert Gamble is retired from a very successful
medical/surgical career spanning three decades. He is now active in
researching medical issues such as glyconutrition. and offers his
insights for public benefit. If you appreciated this article, he
asks that you visit www.
glycoshare.com or write
sharethegift@glycoshare.com or.Call Toll Free: 1.
866.735.5871
.