When you train regularly, your vitamin needs can increase because these are key pieces in the reactions that take place in your body to produce energy and synthesize new tissues, as in the case of muscle hypertrophy.
However, evidence indicates that these additional vitamin requirements can be perfectly covered with an adequate intake of nutrient-dense foods.
So if vitamins are so important for energy and tissue production, will taking vitamin supplements increase my performance during training?
The answer is no, vitamin supplementation does not increase performance , except in cases where there is a previous vitamin deficiency.
Vitamin deficiencies can appear when diets are not complete or when energy intake is very low; this deficit could affect the ability to train or increase the risk of injury and illness. In these cases, once the deficiency has been diagnosed by a health professional, the use of a vitamin supplement could allow you to regain normal performance. To prevent future vitamin deficiencies, it is essential to determine the factor that has caused it.
Antioxidant vitamins
Supplements of antioxidant vitamins C and E, whose function in the body is very important in protecting us from oxidative damage, are very popular.
The practice of exercise produces an increase in oxidative stress in our body, but at the same time, people who practice sports also develop more powerful antioxidant defense systems.
The consumption of foods rich in antioxidants such as fruits and vegetables, within a varied diet, can contribute to maintaining an adequate antioxidant status.
The chronic consumption of antioxidant supplements in high doses not only does not improve performance, but it can even harm the beneficial adaptations that occur in our body when we train. This is because the molecules that produce oxidative stress, free radicals, also help signal numerous beneficial adaptations to training.
Recent evidence supports that the specific supplementation of antioxidant vitamins could be beneficial in those workouts that, due to their high intensity, duration and / or conditions, produce very high levels of free radicals that can become harmful.
Vitamin D
Vitamin D deficiency affects a large part of the population. The main source of this vitamin is sun exposure and in addition to playing a fundamental role in bone health, it is increasingly being attributed more relevance to muscle function.
Different factors such as, for example, living in countries with fewer hours of sun, training and competing mainly “indoors” or in the winter months, can increase the risk of being deficient in vitamin D and, therefore, harm both health and sports performance.
Supplementation with vitamin D to correct diagnosed deficiencies must always be monitored, since excessive levels can become toxic.
Other considerations
In vegetarian diets, by excluding foods of plant origin, the supplementation of vitamin B12, always under professional supervision, becomes essential. At other stages of life, such as during pregnancy or in illness, there are special needs for vitamins.
In conclusion, vitamin supplements are not necessary for training , unless we have a diagnosed vitamin deficiency. A varied, sufficient and balanced diet can, in general, cover the increased vitamin needs caused by training.
Dr. Helios Pareja Galeano and María Martínez Ferrán are researchers at the European University in the Research Group on Exercise Physiology and Nutrition
