Do Endurance Athletes Need Vitamin Supplements?

As a general rule, athletes take better care of themselves than most people. They eat better (remember I said, in "general"), smoke less, get more exercise, and hopefully understand the benefits of preventive medicine (proper screenings, annual checkups, etc.).

So the question becomes, do athletes need to take vitamins? The answer, if you follow the scientific literature, is absolutely. In fact, athletes need more vitamins and minerals than the average person. The reason is quite simple. Athletes lose more essential nutrients through sweat, and due to increased oxygen consumption they are also more likely to suffer from oxidative stress.

What is oxidative stress? When we exercise we obviously utilize more oxygen than when we are at rest. That additional oxygen helps deliver important fuel to the muscles and lungs, but it also produces dangerous free radicals. Free radicals are a by-product of the metabolism of oxygen. They are unstable oxygen molecules that go searching for an extra electron in order to help them become stable. Those needed electrons can come from many sources including DNA, cell membranes, and LDL cholesterol. When that happens, bad things can result including heart disease, cancer, arthritis, Alzheimer's, and depressed immunity.

Do not take your immunity for granted. Ever wonder why so many runners and triathletes train for months leading up to a big race and then just days before the event they get sick? That is not a random occurrence. David Nieman, Dr.P.H., the director of the Human Performance Laboratory at Appalachian State University in North Carolina, conducted a study of more than 2,300 runners at a marathon in Los Angeles. He found that about 13 percent of the runners got sick either right before the race or in the weeks shortly thereafter. Only 3 percent of a control group of runners who did not participate in the marathon became ill.

It seems your mileage also has something to do with your immunity, or lack thereof. Runners that trained more than 96 kilometers (about 60 miles) per week doubled their odds of getting sick compared to those who were training less than 32 kilometers (about 20 miles) per week.

Why? It might have something to do with oxidative stress and the production of free radicals. A study in Ulm, Germany, found that DNA damage (a result of oxidative stress) significantly increased following bouts of intense exercise. The researchers also found that much of that DNA damage could be countered by high doses (1,200 IU) of vitamin E.

That is when antioxidants come into play. They help counter oxidation. There are hundreds of antioxidants in the world, but the key vitamins can be remembered by the acronym "ACE" — vitamins A (best when consumed as beta carotene), C, and E (best when taken in the natural form, d-alpha tocopherol, as opposed to the synthetic form, dl-alpha tocopherol). Be sure to note which form of vitamin E you are taking. To find out, you will probably need to read the fine print on the back of your vitamin bottle. The "d" form of alpha tocopherol is more expensive but it is three to five times better absorbed than the synthetic form (dl). An easy way to remember is that "d" stands for delivers, and "dl" stands for delivers less.

So if you are an athlete, which vitamins, and how much of each, do you need to be taking? It is a multi-billion dollar industry and there are plenty of choices. But when Dr. Cooper was unable to find a product specifically formulated for runners and triathletes that he found effective, pure, and potent, he developed Cooper Complete Elite Athlete. If you are running more than 30 miles a week, or exercising at a high level (five hours or more, at least 80 percent of your predicted max heart rate as defined by 220 minus age multiplied by 0.8) then the Elite formula is for you. If you aren't hitting those numbers then consider either the Cooper Complete With Iron or Iron Free formulations.

Why Cooper Complete? For many reasons. First of all, it was developed by Dr. Cooper, the "father of aerobics" and founder of Cooper Clinic in Dallas, and four colleagues from three leading universities. In 1997, the first Cooper Complete formulation was developed based on published, scientific data. Everything in the Cooper Complete vitamins (25 ingredients) is there for a reason, and in the levels shown to be beneficial. All Cooper Complete products are guaranteed for purity and potency, and the three adult formulations are protected by two U.S. patents.

But the main reason you should consider Cooper Complete is that it works. Both a pilot study and double-blind, clinical trial have shown Cooper Complete to be highly absorbed and to positively impact the oxidation of LDL cholesterol, as well as lower blood levels of homocysteine (high levels of which are associated with heart disease, stroke, colon cancer, and Alzheimer's) and C-reactive protein*. *"These statements have not been evaluated by the FDA. These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent disease."

C-reactive protein (CRP) is a measure of inflammation. It is probably the hottest topic in medicine right now. Recent studies by Paul Ridker, M.D., of Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, have shown that elevated levels of CRP may be more important than high levels of LDL cholesterol in terms of predicting future coronary events.

This could be especially important to athletes since the immune pathways and inflammatory pathways are similar. Anecdotally, many high level athletes tell us they recover faster when they take Cooper Complete Elite Athlete. The reason could very well be because Cooper Complete lowers inflammation. In a double-blind, clinical trial of almost 200 subjects, Cooper Complete lowered C-reactive protein by almost 25 percent (presented January 21, 2003, at the Nutrition Week 2003 scientific conference in San Antonio, Texas).

Remember, the Journal of the American Medical Association (June 19, 2002) is now recommending that all adults take a daily multivitamin. JAMA pointed out, "Our North American diet is sufficient to prevent overt vitamin deficiency diseases such as scurvy, pellagra, and beri-beri. However, insufficient vitamin intake is apparently a cause of chronic diseases such as cardiovascular disease, cancer, and osteoporosis." It is clear, even if we eat as well as possible, we will not be able to get the level of most nutrients science shows we need. And elite athletes should be especially concerned with finding appropriate vitamin supplements to help them perform at their best.

To learn more about Cooper Complete nutritional supplements, please click here.

By Todd Whitthorne, president and COO of Cooper Concepts, Inc.

This article originally ran in the June issue of Runner Triathlete News.