Mark Flanigan,
B.HSc (Nutrition), B.HSc (Herbal Medicine),
Advanced Diploma (Naturopathy).       

Sports Nutrition

When discussing sports nutrition, there are many different theories about what type of diet is the best for athletes. All sports nutritionists and sports dietitians would have to be in agreement that carbohydrates play an enormously important role. However, how much protein should the average athlete be consuming? The answer to this is different for different individuals. I give my clients a detailed questionaire to determine quite accurately whether they require higher than normal amounts of protein, or standard amounts. This specific nutritional fine-tuning can result in noticeable impovements in performance.

Carbohydrate loading itself is very beneficial prior to an athletic event, but glycogen storage is the reason behind it. During a consultation I will show you how to increase your glycogen loading even more than by consuming simple carbohydrates.

Several herbs can be very beneficial for improving immunity and physical performance. One herb has been shown during a double blind study to reduce lost work days by 40% and decrease general illness by 50% over a 12 month period. This was reported in a 1985 journal report. This same herb has been shown in one study to increase performance of long distance runners by an average of 9%. This was reported in a 1980 medical journal publication.

Other herbs have been shown to be beneficial in improving athletic performance. One of these has shown statistically significant improvement in performance of distance skiers who periodically shot targets at stops throughout a 20 km race. Factors measured were shooting accuracy, arm tremors and coordination, all of which had improved. These factors alone could be very useful for any athlete. Furthermore, the heart rate of the supplemented group was approximately 105% of baseline 30 minutes after cessation of the activity, compared to 128% within the placebo group. This was reported in a Russian State University paper, which was published in 1987.

Animal studies have demonstrated certain herbs to increase the time to exhaustion of swimming mice, and also to increase muscle levels of creatine phosphate and adenosine triphosphate (ATP). Other animal studies show a specific herb has the ability to significantly increase the metabolism of fats, plus increase energy metabolism in the brain during physical activity. These two reports were from a Russian Medical Institute, and published in 1970 and 1969 respectively.

In addition to the herbs listed above, there are several nutrients that can increase performance and endurance. One of these has been shown to measurably reduce lactic acid accumulation after intense exercise.

Click on the Sports Injury link here to view more information about the natural medicine rapid injury healing services offered by Mark.