Fitness: Keeping Up an Active Life

As one of the most important nutrients in the diet, magnesium offers several health enhancing benefits. The body uses magnesium for essential cellular functions such as producing energy, maintaining normal functioning of the nerves and muscles, heart rhythm, immunity and bone health. More than 300 biological processes occurring in the body require magnesium. Thankfully, magnesium is relatively easy to obtain through a healthful diet. However, for some people magnesium absorption may be impaired for a number of reasons such as depleted soils, having intestinal disorders like Crohn’s disease or colitis, and/or as a result of taking certain types of medications.

Curcumin is widely used and well recognized as a highly valued component of the turmeric root. Used extensively in India for cooking and medicinal purposes, it boasts many health promoting chemicals and has been the subject of intense research over the last few years for a variety of health benefits.1 The health promoting properties of curcumin have been further investigated to determine how they affect exercise performance. Curcumin is not only a potent antioxidant that helps to protect cells when they are under stress, but it also has the ability to protect and strengthen the cardiovascular system and to boost

Often, the smallest, simplest molecules have the greatest importance. Nitric oxide (NO) is made up of one atom of nitrogen and one atom of oxygen. It is one of the most important molecules able to influence metabolic activities and have diverse effects throughout the body. Previously, it was thought that the main pathway by which NO was produced in the body was from the amino acid arginine, which is what made arginine such an attractive workout supplement for gym-goers, athletes and even heart patients. However, scientists now understand that NO is produced even more effectively through the consumption of nitrates

It has long been known that exercise is a key component in a prescription for a healthy lifestyle. With respect to the athlete, the issue is not whether you are getting enough exercise, but rather how exercise can be potentially harmful when it relates to your immune health. As an athlete, understanding the relationship between exercise and infection is very important for long term success. The “J” Curve Many individuals who begin an exercise routine often note that their immune health is much stronger since becoming athletic. As the athlete progresses in their training, however, there often comes a time

There are many different supplements marketed as performance enhancers in the world of sports nutrition. With athletes trying to find an edge, and opportunistic companies selling the latest fad ingredients, it is very difficult to discern what natural substances are supported by sound scientific evidence and which ones are the flavor of the month. The reality is that many of these “natural” products have little or no evidence supporting their effectiveness or safety. At worst, they may be adulterated with dangerous and banned substances. Despite the pit falls in the world of sports nutrition, good evidence is emerging to show

Every day, we are bombarded with advertisements for new weight loss diets,  supplements, and exercise routines. The vast majority of us spend our entire lives struggling to maintain a weight that is healthy or desirable. There are certainly many people that are over-eating or under-exercising for their caloric requirements, and this contributes to obesity and a plethora of other disease states, such as diabetes. However, for some individuals, it doesn’t matter how little we eat, or how much we exercise, be- cause the weighing  scale doesn’t seem to be budge! Weight loss can be quite complex with many contributing factors, and the simple