What’s in it anyway?

At least we know what the blue pill is for.

Through one of my recent readings I became aware of some supplementation for certain sports. Mainly power/power endurance athletes but the supplements can apply to a range of sport applications.

One thing I would like to note is on antioxidants. Antioxidants help fight cell oxidation and breakdown. Antioxidants are readily found in fruits and vegetables. Blueberries are often packaged with a label saying how full of antioxidants they are, and a lot of people are all over the more recently popularized noni and acai berry. All of them are jam-packed. But what about supplements?

So, I learned that any antioxidant supplement should have at least the following:

Vitamin C

Vitamin E

Selenium

l-Glutathione

These four are the minimum that your body should be receiving. Most of the multi-vitamin or antioxidant supplements have 3 out of 4. Most stores are low in stock of l-Glutathione.

I did manage to find one brand that contains all four antioxidants. Windmill Health Products puts out a Antioxidant Protection Formula which also contains beta-carotine. At least that’s what the label says.

I found Windmill’s products at Wegman’s food stores. It is a “two tablets daily” supplement. One bottle is about a 15 day supply.

Check out what your body needs and make sure what you buy has what it should. Also keep in mind that most daily serving recommendations are for sedentary persons. If you’re active you might need a higher dose.

The more stress you endure the better your nutrition needs to be.

Gregory S. Kowal