BY STEVE BORN
It sure would be great if we could get all the nutrients we need for enhancing our athletic performance—and, more importantly, for enjoying optimal health—from our diet. It would make things much simpler! Unfortunately, in today's increasingly toxic and polluted world, the nutrient density and overall quality of the food we eat continues to decline.
Many people have fallen prey to the myth that a balanced diet provides all the nutrition their body needs, and their health is suffering as a result. The fact is that you cannot obtain all the nutrients your body requires from your diet. Here's why:
- There has never been a single clinical study that documents what comprises a balanced diet, nor one that demonstrates that basic nutrient requirements can be met through whole foods alone.
- An ever-growing body of research shows that food alone does not supply all the micronutrients we need to prevent deficiency, let alone achieve optimal health. Nutritional scientist Bruce Ames bluntly states: “Inadequate dietary intakes of vitamins and minerals are widespread, most likely due to excessive consumption of energy-rich, micronutrient-poor, refined food. Inadequate intakes may result in chronic metabolic disruption, including mitochondrial decay.”1 One research study concluded: "Nearly the entire U.S. population consumes a diet that is not on par with recommendations.”2
- Very few of us have consistent access to fresh, locally grown foods. Much of our diet comes from foods grown far away, picked when unripe, and then sent packing. Nutritional content is questionable and often depleted.
- Even if we could obtain all the nutrients we need from our diet (which we can't), most of us do not consistently adhere to an ideal diet.
SUPPLEMENTATION IS A NECESSITY
With all these things working against us, supplementation is not just a good idea, but a necessity. That said, I am not suggesting that you can neglect your diet, take a handful of vitamin/mineral pills, and have all your nutrient needs covered. Nope, not at all. Supplementation is just that, supplementary, and it is not a substitute for a healthy diet. Supplements only fill in where diets fall short, and fall short they will—given the above-mentioned factors and the high nutrient demands of endurance athletes.
WHERE TO START
To help bridge the gap between the nutrients we're obtaining from our diet and what we need, we recommend daily use of Hammer Nutrition's Premium Insurance Caps. This potent multivitamin/mineral product is formulated to fill in nutrient gaps inherent in the modern diet. Premium Insurance Caps contains vitamins and minerals at Optimum Daily Intake (ODI) amounts, not the bare-bones Daily Value (DV) or Reference Daily Intake (RDI) amounts, which are the minimum amounts needed just to prevent deficiency diseases. Designed to support active lifestyles, yet appropriate for anyone seeking to protect their health and maximize their energy, Premium Insurance Caps is the first stop in any life-enhancing supplement regime.
SUMMARY
At Hammer Nutrition, we emphasize both quality nutrition and supplementation. To optimize athletic performance and overall health, you need to consistently stick to the best possible diet. This starts with eating locally grown organic fruits and vegetables as much as possible. Do this NOT in the hopes of obtaining the vitamins and minerals you need (they’re no longer available in appreciable amounts in foods), but for the myriad health-benefiting nutrients that are unique to that specific fruit or vegetable.
In addition, include whole grains and healthy fats in your diet, make sure your sodium intake is minimal, and avoid packaged, processed foods and junk foods at all times.
To ensure you're receiving the optimal amount of nutrients, augment your diet with a high-quality comprehensive supplement regimen. We believe Premium Insurance Caps is the premium insurance policy you need for your health and athletic performance.
Improve your health, and your quality of life and performance will follow! You will find that regular use of Premium Insurance Caps brings about accelerated athletic recovery, greater fatigue resistance, reduced rates of illness and infection, and a general experience of wellness.
REFERENCES:
1Ames, B. Low micronutrient intake may accelerate the degenerative diseases of aging through allocation of scarce micronutrients by triage. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA. November 21, 2006; 103 (47): 17589-94. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17101959
2Krebs-Smith S, Guenther P, et al. Americans do not meet federal dietary recommendations. The Journal of Nutrition. October 2010; 140 (10): 1832-8. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20702750
