powder, such as kamut grass or wheatgrass, also contains a great deal of vitamin K. By the way, wheatgrass is a real healer, because this food contains an extraordinary density of nutrients. Barley grass has many more vitamins, minerals, enzymes and bioflavonoids than other green plants, which is why it is also one of the best known antioxidants. It lowers cholesterol levels, improves the skin's elasticity and also activates the intestinal flora.
The increased need for vitamins among athletes is due to the following reasons:
- Higher energy metabolism
- Higher metabolism and need for proteins, fat and carbohydrates
- More oxidative stress or free radicals through sport
- More susceptible immune system
- Higher oxygen transport necessary
- Higher losses due to sweating
- Higher consumption through muscle work
Not only vitamins are vital for athletes, as minerals also play a considerable role. For example, many competitive athletes lack iron, calcium, magnesium and zinc. The intake of sodium is also often neglected in the diet. By the way, a deficit can be expressed not only in a drop in performance, but also through a higher risk of injury.
Even if you are not a competitive athlete yourself, but only a completely normal recreational athlete, you should absolutely pay attention to a balanced supply with the valuable nutrients. Wrong eating habits, with too much fat or sugar, for example, can lead to health problems and even serious illnesses during sports, stress or other physical and mental strain.
As an athlete, you must also pay attention to the minerals, as an intensive workout also excretes more minerals through the sweat. This can endanger the electrolyte balance in particular, because without minerals we cannot exist at all. In principle, each individual mineral also has a different effect, which, however, can also contribute to the same physical processes. Minerals are actively involved in our metabolism, they support the transport of oxygen and are also involved in the mineralisation of teeth and bones.
Most athletes suffer from a lack of calcium, potassium, magnesium, sodium, iron and also zinc. The risk groups include people who eat an unbalanced diet or who deliberately have to maintain a low weight.
Calcium is one of the most important minerals, which is why a sufficient supply must be ensured as early as childhood. It is mainly involved in building our bones and also our teeth, as well as for blood coagulation. Calcium also supports the regulation of muscle contractions, as the contraction can only take place when the muscle cells are supplied with calcium ions. This mineral makes up two percent of our body mass, with almost everything in our teeth and bones. Only one percent of this is present in the body fluid. If there is a deficiency, our organism accesses the reserves present in the bones. In Germany alone, around seven million people are affected by calcium deficiency. The recommended dose of this important mineral is 1000 milligrams, in competitive athletes the need is twice as high. But children and the elderly also have a higher need. Good sources of calcium are dairy products, pulses and broccoli. Athletes can therefore prepare their vitamin water with mineral water containing calcium, as some varieties even contain 400 milligrams per litre.
Potassium is present in many foods. However, this mineral is particularly necessary for athletes and especially for runners. Our organism depends on potassium to build muscle glycogen. A deficiency leads to general exhaustion as well as muscle weakness. According to the German Society for Nutrition, 2000 milligrams are sufficient to cover daily needs in normal cases. Due to the greater loss of sweat and higher muscle contractions, the dose is somewhat higher in athletes. Relatively large amounts of this mineral are contained in vegetable foods, i.e. in vegetables, seeds, nuts and fruit. The drinking water for athletes can therefore be enriched with apricots, honeydew melons, plums and bananas to provide sufficient potassium. However, it should also be mentioned that potassium can only be optimally absorbed in combination with magnesium. Potassium is also present in meat, fish and cereals. Those who take care of their health and also eat mainly raw foods, in the form of fruit and vegetables, will certainly not be exposed to a deficit of this mineral if magnesium is taken care of at the same time. If there is a lack of magnesium, the intake of potassium is limited. Poor endurance performance can be the case, as well as unnecessarily long phases of regeneration. Potassium also regulates our water balance in the body in cooperation with sodium.
Magnesium is absolutely necessary for the performance of athletes, as this mineral is also involved in the supply of energy. Magnesium also plays a very important role in muscle relaxation, muscle contraction, the effect of hormones and blood circulation. A deficiency leads to painful muscle cramps, tremors, muscle hardening and also to exhaustion. Especially after marathons or hard competitions, magnesium deficiency is widespread. In particularly strenuous sports, the loss due to sweat and urine can even amount to up to three grams per week. No wonder that many athletes come back to magnesium as a dietary supplement. Magnesium citrate, for example in powder form, is particularly suitable for the preparation of special vitamin water for athletes, as it is very well absorbed by the organism and can also bind excess acids. Magnesium is also found in green vegetables, milk and wholemeal products, pulses and also in poultry and liver. Of course you can also prepare your detox drink for athletes with mineral water containing magnesium. The average daily requirement is 350 milligrams. Athletes usually take about 600 milligrams per day and in the case of competitions even more to make up for the deficit more quickly.
Sodium or common salt is present in most foods, which is why recreational athletes should not have any major problems with it. However, high temperatures and extreme physical stress can certainly lead to a deficit. Sodium is vital for us because this mineral regulates our water balance together with potassium and is also involved in the regulation of our acid-base balance. Sodium supports the absorption of water and binds it in the tissues. However, if too little salt is absorbed with the liquid, our organism is no longer able to absorb sufficient liquid for the system of vessels. Sodium deficiency occurs not only when you lose a lot of this mineral through sweating, but also when you consume large amounts of water with glucose that does not contain sodium. In this case, the required sodium ions are removed from the blood and released into the intestine for the absorption of the liquid. The salt concentration is therefore no longer sufficient if athletes drink too much low-sodium water to distribute and control the liquid optimally. If there is a deficit of sodium in the blood, the water flows into the body cells and usually causes them to swell considerably. Understandably, this also reduces the blood supply. This usually results in severe headaches, dizziness and vomiting. In the worst case, drinking too much water after exercise can even lead to death. It is therefore advisable not to drink huge amounts of water after a competition or marathon, but first to pay attention to the quality of the drink. Even isotonic drinks containing small amounts of salt can cancel out the effect of minerals if the organism is really flooded with them. Athletes should therefore prepare their drink with sodium-rich mineral water at important events and also take in glucose in addition to sodium, so that water can really be absorbed from the intestines in sufficient form. It is also advisable to pay attention to the other electrolytes, i.e. calcium, potassium and magnesium.
If you yourself are only an occasional recreational athlete, then you don't need to worry a lot about this, because you will certainly not lose litres of sweat with important vitamins and minerals during your training. In the last chapter we also give you important hints for a correct drinking behaviour especially for athletes.
However, the typical energy drinks are not necessarily advisable, as it is not yet clear to what extent these drinks can really contribute to additional energy. As a rule, these are hypertonic beverages that only unnecessarily drain fluid from our organism and therefore support dehydration during longer periods of stress. It is worthwhile for your health if you prefer your vitamin water or other mineralised drinks when exercising and do not use the energy drinks that are ready to buy.
Useful tips for drinking water properly
So far you have gained a good overview of how you can prepare all kinds of vitamin water to