Which Nutrients Does the Muscular System Need?
by JEREMY HOEFS Aug. 14, 2017
The human body is made up of various systems including the skeletal system, digestive system and the muscular system. While each body system works together, each system requires specific nutrients for proper function. The muscular system, for example, uses macronutrients such as vitamins and minerals for general processes and muscle function while micronutrients such as carbohydrates and protein provide an essential energy source along with the building blocks for growth and development.
IT’S IMPORTANT TO BLOOD TEST FOR DEFICIENCIES!!!
Electrolytes
Electrolytes receive exposure by athletes and the role they play in maintaining a proper water balance while supporting normal muscle contractions. Electrolytes are charged ions when mixed with water and include sodium, potassium, magnesium, calcium and chloride. During physical activities such as running, electrolytes, especially sodium and potassium, are lost through sweat. When the electrolyte levels drop, muscles may decrease performance or stop working completely resulting in a cramp. Electrolytes can be replaced by eating foods with these minerals or drinking electrolyte-enhanced sports drinks.
Energy
The muscular system utilizes different energy sources depending on the intensity and duration of the activity. Muscle glycogen, however, is the most important energy source used by the muscular system. Glycogen can be stored in the muscles by consuming carbohydrate-dense foods such as whole grains, fruits and vegetables. After athletic events or exercise, replacing glycogen stores is essential to recovery. According to the American College of Sports Medicine, consuming chocolate milk within 30 to 60 minutes of exercise can increase muscle glycogen content.
Development
Protein consists of individual amino acids that provide the building blocks for muscle tissue. As a result, the muscular system uses the amino acids and protein to develop, repair and grow new muscle tissue. Consuming the appropriate amounts of protein based on your dietary requirements, body size, fitness goals, age and sex is essential for proper muscle growth and development. You should consume 1 to 1.5 grams of protein per kilogram of bodyweight. For example, if you weigh 77 kilograms, you should consume between 77 and 115 grams of protein daily.
Overall Function
Additional macronutrients play an important role in maintaining regular muscle and body functions. These macronutrients can generally be received by consuming a balanced nutrition plan.
The Harvard School of Public Health recommends consuming a plant-based diet consisting of fresh fruits and vegetables, healthy fats, whole grains and lean meats.
If these foods can’t be consumed due to food allergies or other dietary complications, taking a daily multivitamin can provide the additional nutrients needed by the muscular system.
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Major minerals are found in the body in amounts greater than 5 g, while the trace minerals exist in quantities less than 5 g. This difference in amount says nothing about importance, as all minerals contribute to essential bodily functions. A deficiency of a few micrograms of one mineral can be just as harmful as a deficiency of several milligrams of another. Both types of minerals are chemically indestructible.
Major Minerals
The major minerals include calcium, phosphorus, sulfur, sodium, potassium, chloride and magnesium. All of the major minerals play roles in maintaining body fluid balance, however each has unique functions, too. Calcium is essential for healthy bones, muscle contractions, blood clotting, hormone secretion and enzyme activation. Sodium, along with potassium, regulates body fluid volume. It also plays a role in muscle contraction, nerve transmission and helps to maintain acid-base balance. Magnesium is involved with energy production, muscle contraction, blood pressure regulation and heart and lung functioning. Magnesium is needed to help prevent dental caries by holding calcium in teeth enamel. Most of the body’s phosphorus is found in the bones and teeth. but it also helps with energy production. Sulfur is needed as a component of some amino acids, the building blocks of protein.
Trace Minerals with Known Requirements
The trace minerals, or minor minerals as they are sometimes called, include iron, zinc, iodine, selenium, copper, manganese, fluoride, chromium and molybdenum. Requirements have been established for each of these. Most body iron exists either as hemoglobin in the red blood cells or myoglobin in the muscle cells. Iron is needed by enzymes in order to make amino acids, collagen, hormones and neurotransmitters.
Zinc is important for proper enzyme activity, immunity, body protein synthesis, taste, wound healing and reproduction. Iodine is part of the hormone thyroxine, which helps to regulate metabolism. Selenium is an antioxidant that helps to protect cells from oxidative damage. Copper is a component of hemoglobin and collagen. Manganese works together with enzymes that regulate different body functions. Fluoride also helps to prevent dental caries. Chromium works together with insulin for energy production. Molybdenum is a component of various enzymes.
Trace Minerals with Unknown Requirements
Scientists know there are other trace minerals which are needed to support human life, yet the exact amounts required are still unknown. These include arsenic, boron, nickel, silicon and vanadium.
Your body requires a wide variety of vitamins, minerals and other nutrients to function optimally. Vitamin B-6 and vitamin B-12 are two of eight B vitamins your body needs. While these vitamins work together, they also provide their own benefits individually. If you consume a well-balanced diet, you’re likely getting enough of these vitamins. A B-6 deficiency is rare, according to the Office of Dietary Supplements, but older adults and vegans are at risk of a B-12 deficiency.
B-6 Benefits
A wide variety of foods supply vitamin B-6, including chickpeas, fish, potatoes, bananas, cottage cheese, poultry and meat. B-6 plays a role in cognitive function, and it is also involved in more than 100 enzyme reactions. Along with B-12, B-6 helps control homocysteine, a substance that when high is linked to an increased risk of cardiovascular disease.
B-12 Benefits
You get B-12 from fish, cheese, dairy, meat and eggs, as well as from fortified cereals. Vitamin B-12 plays a crucial role in energy metabolism and the production of red blood cells. Because B-12 helps your body convert carbohydrates from what you eat into fuel, low levels of the vitamin can lead to fatigue. You also need B-12 for healthy nerve function, so a deficiency may lead to nerve damage. In addition, vitamin B-12 promotes healthy neurological function and DNA production, and it’s also needed for normal brain function.
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What Are the 3 Vitamins and 3 Minerals That Keep Your Body and Cardiovascular System Healthy?
by KAVITHA SIMHA Aug. 14, 2017
You want to live an active, productive life and have strong bones and teeth, with bright, sparkling eyes, soft skin, good digestion and overall perfect health. Vitamins and minerals make this scenario possible. Although a host of vitamins and minerals perform crucial tasks in the body, three vitamins and minerals are essential for your overall health — and also help keep your heart healthy.
The Three Vital Vitamins and Minerals
The three vitamins that are vital for heart and overall health are vitamin D, folic acid — which is also known as vitamin M or B9 — and vitamin C. The three vital minerals — calcium, magnesium and selenium — prevent chronic diseases and aid in cardiovascular health. You only need these vitamins and minerals in small quantities, but to stay healthy, you should consume these compounds through your diet on a daily basis, since your body cannot synthesize them.
Why They’re Important
Vitamin D and calcium are bone-health nutrients. Without vitamin D, calcium from foods would not be absorbed in your intestine. Folic acid helps form red blood cells and prevents certain congenital defects in the fetus. Vitamin C facilitates healthy skin, bones and teeth, and also helps your body absorb iron from foods. Magnesium is a mineral and is involved in functions like digestion, absorption, protein synthesis and nerve health. Selenium is a trace mineral distributed widely in foods and protects cells from damage.
Heart Health Benefits
Apart from bone health, vitamin D can help prevent chronic diseases like cancer and cardiovascular disease. Folic acid helps reduce the risk of heart disease by lowering the level of an amino acid called homocysteine in your blood. At high levels, homocysteine can damage coronary arteries by increasing formation of blood clots. Both vitamin C and selenium act as scavengers, mopping up substances that damage the healthy cells and play a curative role in diseases resulting from atherosclerosis. Calcium and magnesium regulate heartbeat and blood pressure.
Eat a Nutritious, Varied Diet A diverse diet provides all nutrients, according to the “Journal of Nutrition.” Whole grains, eggs, low-fat dairy products, liver, fresh fruits and green leafy vegetables provide all the vitamins and minerals needed for your body. Since an excess intake of these nutrients can be toxic, it is important to not go overboard with supplements or natural food sources. You only need supplements if you do not consume enough of these vitamins and minerals in your diet but supplements are not a substitute for a healthy lifestyle and diet. The USDA states that you should eat the recommended amounts from each food group in nutrient-dense forms, as the best approach to building a healthy eating pattern.
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For Example:
The Effects of Consuming Too Much Copper
by LYNNE SHELDON Oct. 03, 2017
Copper is necessary for several bodily functions, but you only need a small amount of it each day. While rare, consuming too much copper can lead to toxicity, which is characterized by many adverse symptoms. An inherited condition known as Wilson’s disease can also result in an excess buildup of copper within the body. Never add more copper to your diet without first checking with your health care provider.
Symptoms and Risks of Too Much Copper
If you consume too much copper, the effect can be poisonous. Symptoms include nausea, vomiting, headaches, dizziness, diarrhea, stomach pain and a metallic taste in your mouth.
If you then develop a copper toxicity, this rare occurrence can lead to heart problems, jaundice, coma and potentially death. Using copper cookware or water that comes from copper pipes can also result in copper toxicity. You can have your water tested for copper content and avoid using unlined copper cookware to reduce these risks.
Excess copper interferes with zinc, a mineral needed to make digestive enzymes. Too much copper also impairs thyroid activity and the functioning of the liver. If severe enough, a person will become an obligatory vegetarian. This means they are no longer able to digest meat very well. Conversely, if one becomes a vegetarian for other reasons, most likely one’s copper level will increase. Vegetarian proteins are higher in copper, and lower in zinc.
At times, the vegetarian orientation is health-producing. In many people, however, restricted diets do not work well. Fatigue, spaciness and other symptoms begin to appear. Many people, including the author, felt they were becoming more spiritual on a vegetarian diet, when in fact it was just copper poisoning! The taste for meat often returns when copper is brought into better balance.
Some people with high copper dislike all protein. They crave high-carbohydrate diets. Protein feels heavy or causes other symptoms. Eating protein stimulates glandular activity. This releases stored copper which causes the symptoms. However, these individuals usually need to eat protein. The symptoms will eventually disappear.
Copper-toxic individuals may also be drawn to sweets or salty foods due to adrenal insufficiency. Some sea salt is often beneficial. Sweets, including fruit juices, provide a temporary lift but may worsen the condition.
Reduce exposure to sources of copper.
Antagonists such as zinc, manganese and iron compete with copper for absorption and utilization. Vitamins B6 and folic acid may also be helpful. Selenium and cysteine may be helpful. Research indicates copper may be excreted by binding with glutathione and metallothionine which require these nutrients.
Chelators of copper include vitamin C, molybdenum and sulfur-containing amino acids. These bind and remove copper. More powerful chelators may be used, but can have side effects.
Enhance the eliminative organs, such as the liver, skin and colon.
Balance body chemistry, enhance energy production and improve adrenal gland activity. To support the adrenal glands, avoid sweets, eat protein with each meal, and supplement your diet with vitamins A, C and E, manganese, zinc and B-complex vitamins. Animal protein is very helpful due to its higher content of zinc, B-vitamins and sulfur amino acids including cysteine and taurine. Adrenal glandular substance is also frequently helpful.
Reduce fear and stress. Methods range from a change in location or work to meditation, therapy, more rest and other changes.
Copper imbalances have been associated with a number of pathological conditions, including cancer. Scientists have found copper in drinking water — given at the maximum levels permitted in public water supplies — accelerated the growth of tumors in mice. On the other hand, reducing copper levels reduced tumor growth. Immediately before cancer relapse, the levels of EPCs and HPCs significantly increase. This indicates that targeting EPCs with copper depletion is viable. Copper is one of the key components of enzymes that control tumor microenvironment, as well as appearing to have a role in how cancer cells migrate.
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In general terms, Cachexia is described as the physical wasting due to massive weight loss and muscle mass or atrophy caused by a preexisting disease. The disease causes severe weakness and a loss of weight, fat, and muscle. The condition called Anorexia (lack of appetite) often occurs during the same time as Cachexia. More often then not cachexia is what kills the cancer patient ? BREAST CANCER DIET FOR TNBC!!
https://nutritionfacts.org/video/how-not-to-die-from-cancer/