Vegetarians can take
advantage of health and fitness herbal
supplements to improve performance
What are the health
and fitness issues for vegetarians? If you
are an athlete considering a vegetarian diet, then you
need to know about the right foods, herbal
supplements, and vitamin products for peak
performance. You may have concerns that overall health
and fitness levels may drop. But...the good news is
that vegetarians can still maintain high energy levels
and develop muscle by eating quality vegetarian foods
and by taking specific herbal supplements or vitamin
formulas.
Get your Bs! Vitamin B, and
B12
The first health and fitness issue is to make sure
that you don't end up with any nutrient deficiencies
when you eliminate certain foods, such as meat or
dairy, from your diet. Vitamin B12 is a
nutrient found in meat, eggs, and dairy products. It
helps build red blood cells and nerves. Eating soybean
or soy protein products or or herbal supplements
fortified with B12 should prevent any
deficiency. Riboflavin is another B vitamin that
vegetarians need to look out for. Eat green leafy
vegetables, enriched breads and cereals, and dairy
products to get enough Riboflavin in your vegetarian
diet.
Get enough minerals—calcium,
iron, zinc
The second health and fitness issue is to ensure
you get enough of the minerals calcium, iron, and
zinc. A one-a-day vitamin or herbal supplement
fortified with these minerals can help. If you don't
drink milk or eat yogurt, calcium can be added to the
diet by eating broccoli, collard greens, dark leafy
vegetables, tofu, soy protein milk. You can also get
iron from vegetables and grains, and you can aid iron
absorption in your body by eating vitamin C-enriched
foods (oranges and grapefruits). Zinc intake in a
vegetarian diet can be a problem because certain
vegetables like beet greens, lentils and eggplant,
block its absorption in the body. So, taking a zinc
mineral supplement is a good idea.
Get enough protein—try soy
protein!
The third health and fitness issue is to ensure
that you get enough protein. This is rarely a problem,
however. If you eat dairy products, eggs and cheese,
you'll get enough. If you don't, mix and match foods
at each meal to get the right combination of protein.
For example, combine legumes with grains or seeds. To
avoid the high fat content of some dairy products, try
soy protein products. It's not necessary to take a
vitamin or herbal supplement for protein.
Put it together for all
around health and fitness!
A vegetarian diet has proven benefits such as
long term health and fitness, lowered cholesterol,
heart disease, stroke and circulatory disease
prevention, and cancer prevention, just to name a few.
To add to that, the vegetarian way for athletes means
taking in enough calories to get the energy for high
performance workouts. High calorie beans, potatoes,
yams, pasta, dried fruits, nuts, and seeds are quality carbs and nutrient rich. Aim for 1,800 to 3,000
calories per day. And finally, vitamin and herbal
supplements fortified with vitamin B12 and riboflavin,
calcium, iron and zinc will round out your vegetarian
sport nutrition program. |
