By Jonathan Evans
Herbal Information Specialist at The Herbarium
As you have read in this month’s issue, there are lots of over-40 athletes testing their skills in myriad endeavors. It’s a testament to the importance of what staying active can help you achieve. But like any challenge, it comes with some things these athletes must focus on.
Diet and juicing
As would be expected, these folks tend to pay attention to their diets. In my experience, many focus on juices and protein shakes for that extra boost, which is fine. One word of advice with juicing: don’t swig down several ounces of your juice mixture. Chew your juice. Correct – chew the juice.
Chewing the juice releases an enzyme called ptyalin, which kick-starts the process of digesting carbohydrates, making it easier for your body to generate energy from the carbs in the juice. At the same time, it gives your body time to figure out what enzymes it needs to properly digest the juice.
Remember that your stomach does not have teeth and firing down a concentrated drink puts undue stress on the stomach. Think about it, you could not eat the amount of whole food you just juiced in a few minutes.
There’s actually a proper way to consume your juice – take a mouthful, swish it around in your mouth and chew a bit. A four- or 6-ounce glass of juice should take you about 20 minutes to consume.
Maximizing minerals
Here is another thing older athletes should consider. Exercising is using up your body’s materials and you cannot eat enough whole, fresh food with enough trace minerals to keep up with what your body is using. Something has to give. If you are eating as much organic food as possible, congratulations, you are replenishing your body stores in an efficient manner. But aside from calcium – which is found in abundance in the diet – there are not enough hours in the day or space in your belly to eat enough food containing magnesium, chromium, iron, selenium and zinc, to name a few important minerals, to close the gap. And consider this – depending on where your food came from, the land may be depleted of some micro-nutrients. New England soil is famously low in selenium, for example.
I say all this to remind people that a good full mineral supplement is essential for good health, whether you run a marathon or walk around the block for exercise.
Minerals serve a life-sustaining function by helping the body operate properly and remain strong. Minerals build skeletal and soft tissues, and regulate processes – such as heartbeat, blood clotting, internal fluid pressure, nerve reactions, impulse transmissions, muscle contractions, oxygen transport, acid/base balance to keep the body pH neutral, as well as regulating enzyme and hormone systems.
One last thing. If you find a mineral supplement that says the minerals are 100% of the daily value, skip it. The daily value is based on the absolute minimum of a nutrient to maintain cell function. The same is true for vitamin supplements. I don’t know about you, but I do not live in a minimum world.
A nod to knees
Now, let’s talk about you runners. It is especially important to get enough minerals into you to protect your bones and muscles, but what about the joints? All that pounding is taking a toll on the knee joints, among others. There is cartilage in your knees that covers the ends of each bone and allows the bones to move easily within the joint without friction. Hyaluronic acid helps lubricate joints and acts like a shock absorber by holding water in the joint fluid and cartilage.
Hydration, therefore, is important for proper knee function. If you have noticed your knees “creaking” when bending or flexing it could mean the cartilage has dried out. Think of a dry sponge, it is stiff and rigid. Add water and it becomes pliable. The same is true for the knee.
If you have gone beyond the point of stiffness and have cartilage destruction, glucosamine sulfate may help There are three types of glucosamine, but sulfate is the preferred form. This can actually rebuild the cartilage, depending on how far your joints have deteriorated. Many combinations also contain chondroitin, but studies have shown it is the glucosamine that is doing the majority of the repair work.
A final note on magnesium
Going back to minerals, as longtime readers know, I have written extensively on the benefits of magnesium. It is especially important for athletes. Magnesium helps with relaxing muscles. Runners tend to cramp a lot, and besides hydration, magnesium will get rid of the cramps and twitches quickly.
I hope these tips help older athletes maximize their performance, whatever their sport.
-- Jonathan
Send question on botanical remedies to: Nature’s RX: Jonathan Evans at Herbarium258@gmail.com or by regular mail to: The Herbarium, 254 Exchange St., Chicopee, MA 01013. If requesting information, please include a stamped, self-addressed envelope.
