The 'Lymp' in Olympics

I am always struck by how much athletes sacrifice to pursue Olympic dreams. The extent of this desire might best be captured in the published response to Dr. Goldman’s survey. Fifty-two percent of Olympic athletes surveyed said they would take a pill that guaranteed 5 years of record-breaking success, only to claim their very life in five years.

The Olympic coach’s primary job is NOT to motivate the athletes to push the edge. The drive is already there. The primary job is to protect the athlete from going over the edge. “Sleep, eat, rest, drink water - your Olympic body is still human like the rest of ours.”

Without this coaching,

O’lymp’ic dream end in a limp.

I recently attended a conference in Chicago where I got more insights into Olympic nutrition. Much of it is how nutrition controls inflammation and oxidation. Here are 4 practical take home messages for the athlete in all of us.

• Athletes send up to 100 times more oxygen to select muscles while exercising, than when at rest. More oxygen means more damage from oxidation. Vegetables, berries, herbs and spices are nature’s primary antioxidants. Eat them.

• If you sweat, add a pinch of sea-salt to your water. This helps water get where it needs to go to reduce inflammation and oxidation.

• Anyone age 10 or older living above 35 degrees North, roughly San Francisco, Virginia and Spain, should take 1,000 IU vitamin D3 a day September thru March. Vitamin D tells infection-fighting cells to stop. Vitamin D is the key reason arthritis gets worse in winter. Vitamin D is also needed for building Olympic muscle.

• Essential fats decrease inflammation just like aspirin. The body needs anti-inflammatories 24/7. Therefore, unless you are an aspirin junky, protect your cartilage with daily fish oil supplements.

Another type of Olympic athlete was featured on the cover of Time magazine : the centenarian. The title was ‘Live to be 100 and not regret it.’ This too is a story of desire and smart nutrition.

Go for the gold!