Your Essential Marathon Tool-Kit: Glutathione, Vitamin C and a B vitamin Complex

Marathon runners are a dedicated and focused bunch, pushing their bodies to the limit in an attempt to achieve the ultimate ecstasy of crossing the finishing line.

Strategies for optimizing performance are important and should not be taken lightly. Preparing for the big event shouldn’t just be about building mileage and choosing the right running shoes, you need to be sure you can get the best out of your body and avoid injuries.

Here are some top tips for peak performance as well as the low-down on why Vitamin C, Glutathione and a Vitamin B Complex are an essential part of your training regime.

Optimising performance with vitamins and minerals

For optimum athletic performance, you need to consider your levels of vitamins and minerals. These are vital for energy production, immune function, bone health and particularly for protecting your body against oxidative damage.

Vitamins and minerals are also essential for other physiological processes that allow you to recover and adapt to exercise.

As you increase your exercise in line with your marathon programme your body increases the turnover and loss of these nutrients, which means you must make sure you are increasing the levels in your diet.

Unless you are a die-hard endurance athlete, maintaining the correct balance can be difficult. The right supplements can provide you with vital health insurance.

Essential for energy - B Complex Vitamins

B vitamins play a vital role in energy production as well as helping to build and repair muscles. According to some research if you’re a highly active athlete you may need to double your recommended daily amount of B vitamins.

Vitamins B12 and Folate are particularly important. A deficiency in either of these can lead to anaemia which makes you more susceptible to fatigue and can greatly affect your performance.

Vegans and vegetarians take heed, B vitamin supplementation for you may be essential.

All important Vitamin C

Fighting fatigue and keeping your energy levels up on a training programme is obviously of utmost importance.

Energy production is heavily dependent on several vitamins and minerals in particular vitamin C, which is an essential co-factor in the metabolic processes that produce energy from glucose.

It is also essential for the absorption of Iron which you need to carry oxygen to your cells for energy production. Low iron is a common cause of fatigue.

Neutralise Free-Radicals with Antioxidants

Exercise causes your body to burn oxygen which promotes the release of free radicals. These have the ability to cause oxidative stress that can lead to muscle damage and injury.

Antioxidants are needed to neutralise these effects by removing the damaging molecules or preventing the reactions from happening. The use of antioxidants can provide benefits for performance health and recovery.

Evidence from Research confirms that ultra-endurance athletes have a greater need to protect their bodies from oxidative damage due to the extraordinary volume of exercise they participate in.

Glutathione - powerful antioxidant

You need to choose the most effective antioxidant to manage oxidative stress if you want to maintain adequate muscle recovery and reach your own personal best.

Glutathione gives you a distinct advantage because it provides considerable benefits for counteracting oxidative damage both at rest and in response to exercise.

Glutathione is a powerful antioxidant that is present in every cell in your body. Not only does it neutralize harmful free radicals and reactive oxygen compounds, but it also recycles other important antioxidants such as vitamin C and E, maximising your body’s capacity for tissue protection.

Researchers have identified that prolonged physical exercise depletes glutathione in the body. Studies have also shown that increasing glutathione levels decrease muscle damage, increases strength and endurance, reduces recovery time and alters the metabolism of fat production to muscle development.

One last thing…

Just before you rush out and stock up on supplements, stop and consider the form that you buying. Standard oral supplements are very poorly absorbed by the body due to digestive limitations in the gut.

Efficacy and absorption are key in any supplement, which is why liposomal forms of vitamin C, B-complex and glutathione are the best choice. Altrient products provide maximum bioavailability, way surpassing the efficacy and absorption of any standard supplement.

Ensure you choose supplements that actually get to the cells that need them!

Now you’ve got the necessary tools all that remains to be said is ‘Get set go!’

Jacqueline Newson BSc (Hons) Nutritional Therapy

REFS:

Braakhuis AJ and Hopkins WG. Impact of Dietary Antioxidants on Sport Performance: A Review. Sports Medicine 2015; 45, 7: 939-955.

Bryer SC and Goldfarb AH. Effect of High Dose Vitamin C Supplementation on Muscle Soreness, Damage, Function and Oxidative Stress to Eccentric Exercise. International Journal of Sport Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism, 2006, 16, 270-280.

Chiampas GT and Goyal AV. Innovative Operations Measures and Nutritional Support for Mass Endurance Events. Sports Medicine. 2015; 45, 1: S61-S69.

Lew H and Quintanhila A. Effects of endurance training and exercise on tissue antioxidative capacity and acetaminophen detoxification. Eur J Drug Metab Pharmacokinet. 1991; 16, 1:59-68.

Williamson E. Nutritional implications for ultra‑endurance walking and running events. Extrem Physiol Med 2016;5:13