Female Tennis Players

Why Our Tennis Players Should Be Taking Supplements

Stories in the press in the last 3 years or so about contaminated vitamin and mineral supplements leading to positive drugs tests have led a number of athletes to abstain from using them, in particular, our tennis elite.

You might assume that this should not be a problem as we are constantly told: a varied diet eaten in amounts that meet the energy requirements of an athlete should provide him or her with all the necessary nutrients required by the body. This concept is quite naïve and will result in giving your opponents the advantage.

Why is a varied diet not enough?

1. Mineral content of our soil – our soil is not as mineral rich as it used to be due to our intensive farming techniques. 2. Less vitamins and minerals in our foods – as a result of intensive farming and the reduced levels of minerals in our soil our foods are less nutrient dense. 3. Loss of nutrients – the longer it takes to eat the food that has been grown, the fewer vitamins they retain as heat, time and light all deplete our foods of vitamins. 4. Absorption – lastly, it is important to note that despite all you’ve been told by the media, you are not what you eat but what you absorb. Many of us are simply not absorbing all the nutrients in our food (yes, I will write another article on just this point!) so despite our best efforts, we are not getting all the nutrients our bodies need to function optimally.

Keeping the above points in mind and putting to one side the needs of serious sportsmen and women, with the best will in the world even a ‘couch potato’ would find it difficult get optimal levels of nutrients eating the foods produced today.

Add to that the stress of exercise, the stress of everyday life and the effect of our polluted environment, all of which are factors that require even more nutrients for our bodies to function properly, and you are left with tennis players who get tired more quickly, get injured more often, recover more slowly, have mood swings, lose mental clarity and alertness and leave the court feeling battered and frustrated.

A large number of studies have shown that antioxidant supplementation protects against free radical damage induced by exercise and pollution. Those taking vitamin C, for example, have shown a lower incidence of upper respiratory tract infections.

Excessive exercise often results in a weakened immune system. Studies on probiotics (the ‘good’ bacteria) show definitive links between probiotics and immunity. As such, the use of probiotics immediately after particularly intense matches may prove beneficial.

Minor deficiencies in magnesium have been found to reduce energy and endurance levels but players are rarely tested or incorrectly tested. Iron deficiencies seen in females, in particular but not exclusively, have a serious debilitating effect on performance but this is rarely detected at an early enough stage so as to limit the negative impact on their game.

The list is endless but the point I’m making is that the use of supplements at certain times, backed up by tests, is critical to any players performance.

What about contamination?

Contamination of supplements is rare or non-existent when using a reputable company. What you want to watch out for are manufacturers who also produce hormones or banned substances on their premises. Cross-contamination is likely and these supplements should be avoided.

However this is the domain of the nutritionist. It is up to us to source the best companies and supplements around as well as testing and subscribing the proper supplementation for a specific period of time. Self-prescribing is rarely recommended although some allowance can be made for particular supplements (and this too will require another article for me to write!)

The final word

I know that some of you are dead against supplements and others can’t seem to live without them. The truth is somewhere in between. No supplement will make up for bad eating habits but even the best diets will require some supplemental support at one time or another.

©2010 Corpotential, All Rights Reserved.

About the Author

For more information on Tennis Nutrition and for a free report and video go to
http://nutritionfortennis.com
Kathryn Bistany is the founder and managing director of Corpotential which is based in London, England. For more information on nutritional consultations, please go to
http://www.corpotential.com

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