Serious athletes don't need reminding of the importance of adequate nutrition and sports supplements.

What they do need is reliable, unbiased and up-to-date information on dietary Best Practice - particularly nutritional sports supplements, a subject on which it's rare to find independent, evidence-based advice.

Taking the wrong sports supplements is not just an unnecessary expense. It can actually undermine your performance - and even damage your long-term health.

Get all the facts you need for optimum nutrition!

Nutritional Supplements - Boosting Your Performance is a timely guide for serious athletes written by Peak Performance's resident nutrition guru, Andrew Hamilton.

In this 95-page workbook Andy dissects the major current debates in sports nutrition, analyses the very latest scientific findings - then spells out in plain English their significance for the serious athlete. …

It's a rare opportunity to assess the latest sports nutrition thinking for yourself, and decide how best to integrate it into your training and conditioning.

Read our brand new report today and here are some of the facts you'll learn:

• which common supplements really work, and how they benefit you. And… which ones may be a complete waste of your money.

• What's behind the three brand new supplements that have the sports science community in such a lather - could they really be as good as they appear?

• which natural foods can boost your body's immune systems and keep respiratory and other illnesses at bay - even during the most challenging training periods. Bottom line: you can train harder without fear of losing valuable time because of colds and flu.

• why iron deficiency is so common amongst athletes - and why you may be suffering from this performance-inhibiting ailment without you or your doctor being aware of it.

• how you can adjust your daily diet to make sure you get the most out of your food intake - and boost your sports performance.

Good nutrition is just as important as good training techniques. Click here for all the latest sport nutrition research!

Iron Deficiency and Anaemia in Athletes - why blood tests often fail to detect this common problem

Most athletes know that iron is a mineral required for the formation of the red blood cells used to transport oxygen to hard-working muscles. And that insufficient iron causes anaemia, which is characterised by fatigue, listlessness and a general lack of energy.

They also know that a proper diet aimed at maintaining iron status, and checking red blood cell or haemoglobin (Hb) levels, are vital for peak performance.

However, most athletes are far less aware of the fact that iron is one of the most difficult minerals to absorb, and that sports players are especially vulnerable to iron depletion through training-induced losses, especially if their event involves endurance work.

To make matters worse, the latest ways of measuring iron indicate that that it is perfectly possible to have a healthy blood Hb count while at the same time suffering from depleted levels of tissue iron. And, if that weren't enough, recent research has demonstrated that this tissue iron depletion impairs the ability of the body to adapt to endurance training.

In Nutritional Supplements - Boosting Your Performance we address the central question of how to accurately identify the problem of anaemia. Recent studies show that conventional blood tests may be inadequate measures of iron status. Consequently, athletes may be iron deficient at a cellular level - unknown to them, their coaches or even their medical advisors.

We report on a new US study that looks at the implications of tissue iron deficiency for both sports performance and post-training adaptations.

And we reveal a NEW marker of iron status that is a more accurate indicator of iron levels in athletes than the blood tests doctors typically prescribe.

We also set out several easy steps you can take to maintain an optimum iron status - and we explain why swallowing iron supplements in tablet or capsule form could do you more harm than good.

Training isn't everything your body needs. Nutritional Supplements - Boosting Your Performance will give you the edge!

A New Nutritional Supplement to rival Creatine?

Did you know there's a dietary substance containing a mixture of amino acids and ketoacids that looks set to challenge creatine's position as the supplement of choice among strength-power athletes? Now you can read all about this promising newcomer in Nutritional Supplements - Boosting Your Performance.

Unlike creatine, which requires approximately 5 days of loading to produce improvements in high-intensity work, this rival supplement appears to have an ergogenic effect within minutes of consumption.

We give details of a recent American research project in which track cyclists were engaged in repeated bouts of anaerobic exercise after having taken a dose of the test nutrient. They were able to perform at a higher work output, and also noted a significant delay in the onset of muscle fatigue.

Scientists are now considering whether the effects of this nutrient might be further enhanced by its being given in combination with creatine.

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Essential Fatty Acids - the secret of conserving carbohydrate while shedding excess mass

Nature or nurture? There is an age-old debate about whether performance is primarily 'in your genes' or develops in response to training. The common consensus is somewhere in-between: we inherit a set of genes that determine our potential, but it's our training and nutrition that allow us to reach that potential.

New evidence suggests this fatalistic approach to our genetic make-up is misplaced. Fascinating research is emerging from the world of nutrition to suggest that essential fats in our diet can exert significant control over key metabolic genes in our cells, particularly those involved with fat storage, fat burning and glycogen synthesis.

In plain English this means that, while you might not be born with the ideal genetic make-up for your chosen sport or event, correct fatty acid nutrition could help to 'reprogramme' your genetic code!

There are two principal essential fats: alpha-linolenic acid (sometimes called omega-3) and linoleic acid (omega-6). These two fats are 'essential' because their chemical structure means that they can be used to make hormone-like substances called prostaglandins, which go on to regulate a host of other functions in the body.

However, these fats cannot be synthesised by the body, which is why we rely on getting them 'ready-made' from the diet.

Nutritional Supplements - Boosting Your Performance reports on several studies that examine the central role of essential fatty acids (EFAs) in enhancing thermogenesis (the burning of excess fat to produce heat), thereby assisting the body in losing weight - just what most athletes are after!

And we reveal the best food sources of EFAs, along with the current dietary recommendations on daily calorie intake of EFAs for optimum health.

Of course, some athletes will want to use supplements to boost their dietary intake of EFAs. So we also set out current Best Practice in this area, particularly the specific storage requirements that apply to EFAs because of their chemical fragility.

Finally, we explain why you would do well to avoid off-the-shelf seed oil or fish oil supplements in your quest for an adequate daily EFA intake.

Which supplements are right for you? Find out!

Two new dietary supplements that could be the 'Holy Grail' for master athletes and other competitors

There has been a recent explosion of scientific interest in two hitherto-overlooked dietary supplements, with a large number of studies now underway on humans.

The first is a sulphur-containing nutrient that, because it is readily soluble in water and fat, is able to work effectively in almost any part of the body, including the brain. In the mitochondria, this nutrient can act both as an antioxidant, capable of recycling other antioxidant nutrients such as vitamin C and vitamin E, and as a coenzyme for key metabolic enzymes involved in energy production.

In addition to its role as an antioxidant, this nutrient also raises the levels within cells of a substance called glutathione, which is critical for neural function, and aids in glycolysis, the first stages of breaking down carbohydrates for energy.

The second substance carries fatty acids from the cytosol (the main body of the cell) into the mitochondria (the energy-producing furnaces within cells) so that these fats can be oxidised for energy. It is also involved in the production of the key brain neurotransmitter acetylcholine, and is able to donate its acetyl group in a number of other biochemical reactions.

Why all the scientific excitement over these two substances?

In a nutshell, it's their potential to seriously improve sports performance.

Preliminary research on lab rats indicated that these two under-researched supplements, when taken together, can significantly reduce exercise-induced oxidative stress in athletes and others.

• One study suggested that the ingestion at bedtime of a specific combination of these two nutrients (500mg + 25-100mg), after a 3-4 hour fast, can significantly boost nocturnal growth hormone release, thereby enhancing the recovery and repair processes that occur during sleep and which are vital to hard-training athletes.

• Another research project found that supplementation could be a useful aid for high-altitude endurance athletes.

• And a third showed a reduction in the markers of chronic age-related inflammation typically seen in human cells - something that could be of enormous benefit to master athletes engaged in top-level sports activity.

We should emphasise that the scientific research on humans is still at an early stage, and most of the available evidence relates to studies on lab animals and racehorses. However, preliminary results on human subjects look very promising.

If you are tempted to 'jump the scientific gun' and supplement these nutrients anyway, the good news is that they appear to be relatively non-toxic, even at very high doses.

The only caveat is that one of these two supplements, when taken in high doses, is known to enhance sensitivity to insulin, which could lead to a drop in blood sugar. For this reason, it should be taken with food.

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Antioxidant Vitamins - can they actually be bad for you?

Oxygen. It's amazing stuff. Thanks to its special chemical reactivity, it provides us with the energy required to sustain life, including the ability to power movements and muscular contraction.

However, the oxygen molecule is a double-edged sword. For this same chemical reactivity can also wreak cellular havoc by means of the free radicals that are produced unavoidably as a consequence of harnessing the chemical energy of oxygen within the body. The damage created by free radicals is now thought to be one of the root causes of degenerative diseases, inflammation and the ageing process in general.

In recent years, there has been much speculation that athletes, who not only consume more oxygen than others to fuel their training but also frequently train at or near their maximum oxygen uptakes, might be at increased risk of free radical-induced damage, or 'oxidative stress'.

That's because athletes don't just process a larger volume of oxygen than their sedentary counterparts - they also process it at a higher rate. During training, the rate of oxygen processing by the mitochondria can rise by a factor of 20, placing exceptionally high demands on antioxidant defence systems.

The fact that free radical generation does increase during vigorous exercise is no longer in doubt. However, there's still considerable confusion about the implications of this increased free radical generation.

In Nutritional Supplements - Boosting Your Performance we report on recent sports science research findings that clarify the role of anti-oxidant nutrients in combating the effects of intensive exercise regimes. The research shows which nutrients have a positive effect - and how best to take these supplements.

Importantly, a new study reports that some antioxidant nutrients, far from being synergistic, may actually work against one another. We identify these antioxidants for you and tell you how best to integrate them into your daily nutrition regime.

Moreover, we report that certain vitamins, commonly taken for anti-oxidant purposes, actually appear to worsen the situation by promoting cellular damage when taken in high doses. You'll find out which vitamins to watch out for, and what are the recommended doses.

Finally, we examine the role that a fruit and vegetable-rich diet can play in combating free radicals - and, crucially, how to tell if a particular fruit or vegetable is high in antioxidants.

How to Bolster Your Body's Natural Immunity - we dispel some of the myths

Athletes constantly live on a knife-edge between overreaching and overtraining. That new programme might shed valuable seconds off your PB, but if it proves too much and you come down with a viral infection you stand to lose fitness, not gain it.

Building and maintaining immunity should be thought of as a vital part of any athlete's programme, particularly as the existence of post-exercise immuno-suppression is now well established. But what can athletes do to maximise their immunity and reduce the risk of infection and illness?

Nutritional Supplements - Boosting Your Performance provides a timely, evidence-based reassessment of some of the most popular dietary supplements for athletes.

Take, for example, a well-known (and costly) amino acid supplement that is widely consumed by endurance athletes. New research findings conclude that this is not the 'magic bullet' athletes had hoped it might be.

We also put a popular herbal remedy under the microscope, reporting on several recent studies that indicate this substance does not reduce the incidence of upper respiratory tract infections.

We also report new findings on the effects of probiotics on post-exercise immuno-suppression, and identify several practical, no-cost dietary and lifestyle steps you can take to boost and maintain your immunity.

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Nutritional Supplements - Boosting Your Performance is the latest in a series of special reports from Peak Performance, the sports science newsletter. This book is not available elsewhere.

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Nutritional Supplements - Boosting Your Performance is published by Electric Word plc, publishers of the Peak Performance newsletter, Sports Injury Bulletin and Successful Coaching.

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