If you are sick, you can’t train. At the very least you can’t train with the intensity, you do when you are healthy. And just as important when you are sick your body’s ability to recover is non-existent.
Tremendous benefits of taking a simple multivitamin capsule every day are emerging from the scientific literature. A recent study of residents in North Carolina has revealed that people who took a daily multivitamin suffered less illness and showed a lower rate of absenteeism from work than those receiving a placebo.
In this study, a group of 130 adults took a multivitamin/mineral supplement or placebo every day for one year. The capsule contained amounts of vitamins and minerals very similar to those found in most commercially available supplements.
Results showed that the participants receiving the placebo reported more infectious illnesses over the study year than did participants receiving the multivitamin and mineral supplement (73% versus 43% of those receiving vitamins). Infection-related absenteeism was also higher (57%) in the placebo group than in the treatment group.
Remember, this study was not performed on folks that push their immune systems to the limit with intense training. If you exercise intensely, your body has a much greater demand for nutrients, and if you exercise intensely every week, you need a potent multivitamin/mineral supplement.
This appears to be a low-cost health insurance policy and an easy way to keep your training intensity going strong, your recovery optimized and sick days to a minimum.
Annals of Internal Medicine
