Four Important Supplements for Women Runners

If you're like most women runners, you live a busy life.  And like most busy people, its pretty unlikely that you're meeting all of your nutritional needs every day. Women runners need to pay special attention to their diet - we simply burn through more of our nutrients than do sedentary women, so it's important that we maximize our intake of essential vitamins and minerals to maintain optimal performance and health.

The supplements industry is a booming $20 billion a year industry in the United States alone, and sports-specific supplements claim to do everything from curing knee pain to improving your race times.  Claims aside, most researchers think that its better to get all of your nutrition directly from the foods you eat, but let's face it - few of us eat a perfectly balanced diet.

So what supplements should you be taking to support your athletic lifestyle?  After checking the research it looks like the following four supplements are the most universally recommended:

Multivitamin
Taking a good multivitamin is essential.  Take it in the morning with your breakfast to ensure you are getting all the nutrients you need - no matter how your day goes.

Iron
Almost universally recommended for women runners, primarily because most women are iron deficient.  This is especially important if you limit your red meat intake as most of us do, and really, really important if you are vegetarian.  Be careful though. Taking too much iron can lead to constipation or loss of appetite.  One option is to see your doctor and ask her advice about how much iron you should take.

Vitamin C
Vitamin C is really good for repairing damaged muscles.  Take about 500 mg a day and limit your intake below 2000mg/day from all sources.  Anything over that could lead to diarrhea, and even if it doesn't, your body won't absorb it and it will simply end up as waste.

Calcium
Runners excrete calcium through sweat and women runners in general tend to consume less than 80% of the recommended daily minimum of 1000 mg daily.  Be careful not to take more than 500 mg of calcium at any one time since some evidence shows that this could have an adverse effect on your kidneys.  Although many practitioners recommend taking calcium in combination with vitamin D, others believe that D should only be taken under special circumstances.  Ask your health care practitioner if you have any concerns about taking calcium on its own. NOTE: For proper absorption, take your calcium 2 hours before or after your iron. 

As always, keep your physician in the loop on what supplements you are taking. 

• Currently 3.0/5 Stars.