Your body is smart. Really smart. It was designed to keep you healthy. But with age or other lifestyle factors, such as the stressors athletes are faced with, sometimes things don’t work as well as they used to or they are run down. USANA jumpstarts your body’s health-promoting processes by working with the innate cellular intelligence your body was designed with. This is a whole new approach to smart supplementation: going beyond providing support to using nutrients to activate what your body already does to keep you healthy. As a result, could make you a better athlete

1. Fuel up with CellSentials

The CellSentials® (Vita-Antioxidant & Core Minerals) are designed to provide an essential foundation of optimal nourishment.

Vita-Antioxidant is an excellent source of vitamins B6 and B12, thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, biotin, pantothenic acid and folate. The vitamins in Vita-Antioxidant are essential to many aspects of our health, including:

• Metabolising fats, proteins and carbohydrates, which plays a role in maintaining energy levels
• Supporting healthy immune function
• Supporting healthy brain and nerve function
• Supporting normal cardiovascular health
• Antioxidants help defend your cells against the oxidative stress caused by sunlight, pollution and stress, which can all prematurely age the skin.

Core Minerals is an excellent source of magnesium. Magnesium is a cofactor in more than 300 enzyme systems that control various natural physiological processes in the body, including:

• Metabolising glucose and protein synthesis;
• Supporting the production of cellular energy;
• Producing protein, and the synthesis of DNA and glutathione.

It is important for proper calcium utilisation, which contributes to the structural development of bones.

“On paper, my daily food intake is usually pretty good. But the reality is that the ‘food’ I buy from the supermarket doesn’t have all the nutritional value it once would have. With chemicals and preservatives many food has questionable nutrient content. This is why I take CellSentials® to help filling the nutritional gap and getting the nutrients it needs to keep healthy so I can keep fighting fit.” – Michelle Duffield, Triathlete

2. Biomega

Omega–3 fatty acids are considered necessary as humans cannot produce these fatty acids; for that reason, it needs to be gained through supplementation or diet. Fish oils are an excellent source of omega-3 fatty acids that offer numerous health benefits for athletes, such as:

• Support healthy joints
• Support healthy cardiovascular function

Recent studies have shown an unexpected prevalence of vitamin D deficiency in both Australia and New Zealand. Emerging evidence suggests many protective benefits of vitamin D, in addition to its role in bone health. For Australians to achieve optimal levels of vitamin D without putting themselves at greater risk from increased sun exposure, there would be an increased requirement for dietary sources of vitamin D. As vitamin D is a fat soluble vitamin, BiOmegaprovides an ideal delivery medium for vitamin D, to ensure a sufficient daily intake.

USANA’s BiOmega^TM is free of trans-fatty acids, and is guaranteed to be virtually free of heavy metals, organic contaminants and pesticides. Each capsule also contains mixed natural tocopherols to minimise oxidation of the omega-3 fatty acids.

“As an elite athlete, I have to push my body to its limits every day. It’s important to stay alert and keep my body healthy. Taking USANA’s Biomega, provides support for healthy brain function and joint protection. This allows me to train at an optimal level, and allows my body to fully recover.”  – Brianna Beahan, Hurdler

Thus of course leading into our third top USANA supplements for athletes:

3. Gain resilience with USANA’s Vitamin D

Vitamin D is involved in several physiological functions and helps maintain our health in various ways.  Once you begin to list the benefits this fat-soluble vitamin does, you might begin to question if there is anything it doesn’t do.   This amazing vitamin assists in the absorption of calcium. Calcium plays an important role in bone growth and development, immune function, and as we age, muscle mass and strength.

Vitamin D helps maintain a healthy functioning immune system.  This is very significant for athletes with a deficiency in Vitamin D, as they have a tendency to be frequently sick, as they have an intense training schedule. Sick athletes are not winning athletes. Powerful and high quality training could be bettered by improving your immune and bone health.

Diet is a secondary source of vitamin D in that most foods contain only small amounts of this nutrient. It is estimated that average intake of vitamin D for most Australians is less than 100 IU per day from diet alone, leaving a gap in vitamin D nutrition for those with insufficient sun exposure. USANA’s Vitamin D is formulated with maximum strength to help you bridge the vitamin D deficiency gap in your dietary consumption. It provides you with 1000 IU per tablet to support optimal intake of vitamin D.

4. Proflavanol C100

Do you remember playing sport as a kid and your parents would be on the side lines feeding you oranges during half time? Well, Vitamin C does have amazing benefits. It aids in repairing and regenerating tissues, protects you against heart disease, assists in the absorption of iron and decrease your “bad” cholesterol.

Supplementation of vitamin C was found to improve components of the human immune system such as antimicrobial and natural killer cell activities and lymphocyte proliferation. Vitamin C contributes to maintaining the integrity of cells and protects them against reactive oxygen species generated during the respiratory burst and in the inflammatory response Proflavanol® C100 provides superior antioxidant protection with a synergistic blend of grape seed extract and Poly C™.

The two layers of grape seed extract and Poly C are distinctly visible in ProflavanolC100. This technology also supports product stability. This technology is proprietary to the pharmaceutical industry, but USANA is the first nutritional supplement manufacturer to use this technology, to the best of our knowledge.

“There’s a number of things in life that yes, if we really had to, we could live without ? BUT how much better is life with them?! Examples can include: coffee, dark chocolate, best friends, and for me Proflavanol C100 ? I NEVER travel without them. I (99% of the time) take them every day, but trust me, I damn sure know when I’ve forgotten. It’s PACKED with vitamin C + Grape Seed Extract = SO MANY ANTIOXIDANTS. It helps and improves cardiovascular health and skin but, the real winner is the KILLER immune system boost” 

– Hayley Chapman, Pistol Shooter

5. CoQuinone 100

Coenzyme Q10 powers athletic performance. When athletes train, their bodies re on a high demand schedule, they are required to perform better and better each time. Intense training means the bodies Coenzyme is rapidly decrease and the body is aching for more Coq10! Also, as we age, the ability to absorb and synthesise CoQ10 diminishes and the amount of CoQ10 retained in tissues decreases.

USANA’s commitment to quality, using only the best ingredients in the right amounts and proper formulations for optimal bioavailability, can be seen at its best in CoQuinone 100™. CoQuinone 100 contains a full 100mg of CoQ10 and 40mg of alpha lipoic acid per capsule. USANA’s unique formulation provides these important antioxidants in a natural mixture of lecithin and vegetable-derived glycerin monooleate in a base of medium chain triglycerides.

“Coquinone 100 is crucial to my training program as it will help me recover and push myself at training every day to make sure I perform at the my best during competitions”

– Sawan Serasinghe, Badminton

6. Procosamine

Avoid chronic joint injuries and maintaining healthy joints is crucial for athletes of all stages and ages. Nothing can disrupt an athletes training ability as much as lingering joint injuries.

USANA’s Procosamine® helps to reduce joint inflammation, reduce swelling and increase joint mobility associated with arthritis not just because of the glucosamine it contains, but also due to its added blend of key joint-supporting minerals.

Meriva Bioavailable Curcumin. Curcuminoids in turmeric (the bright yellow spice that gives a golden glow to Indian curries and curry powder) contains potent anti-inflammatory antioxidants. Traditional curcumin from turmeric isn’t absorbed well (isn’t able to enter cells easily). So, in order to deliver any real benefits, you would have to consume very large amounts. Scientists suggest around 10 grams (around two teaspoons) daily to achieve blood concentrations that correspond to pre-clinical studies. USANA’s Procosamine contains patented Meriva®Bioavailable Curcumin to enhance curcumin’s health benefits. The curcunin is wrapped in a protective lecithin (fatty substance) layer which helps to prevent it from breaking down in the stomach allowing for better absorption in the small intestine. The Meriva Curcumin complex allows for 29-times better absorption than standard forms of curcumin.

“For me, good nutrition is the key to me performing at my best and when I don’t have it, I know I cannot perform at my optimum.  USANA’s Procosamine has played such an important role in my growth and development as an athlete over the past few years really allowing me to train consistently without getting sick or run down.” 

– Deon Kenzie, World Number One Track & Field

References:

Nutrition and Dietetics, 2006, Vol. 63(4)

Vitamin D and adult bone health in Australia and New Zealand: a position statement;

MJA 2005; 182 (6):281-285+

AR, et al. Lipoic acid as a potential therapy for chronic diseases associated with oxidative stress.

2004. Curr Med Chem 11(9):1135-46.

Sreejayan, Rao MN. Curcuminoids as potent inhibitors of lipid peroxidation. 1994. J Pharm

Pharmacol. 46(12):1013-6.

D’Ambrosio E, et al., Pharmatherapeutica, 1981; 1:504.

Stoner GD, Mukhtar H, J Cell Biochem, 1995; Suppl 22:168-80.

Sreejayan R, J Pharm Pharmacol, 1994; 46:1013-16.

Barnes MJ, Kodicek E. Biological hydroxylations and ascorbic acid with special regard to collagen metabolism. 1972. Vitam Horm 30:1-43.

Vitamin supplements should not replace a balanced diet. Always read the labels. Use only as directed.

Credits: Usananews.com.au Part 1 & Usananews.com.au Part 2