The best vitamins & minerals for endurance athletes

Do you enjoy pushing yourself to the limit when it comes to sports?

Then you are definitely a fan of endurance sports. Whether it's running, cycling or swimming, endurance sports are incredibly important for your health and should definitely be part of your exercise routine. It improves fat burning, strengthens the immune system, improves blood count and significantly reduces the risk of heart attack. 

And one thing is clear: your body can achieve better results if it has all the nutrients it needs for sports at its disposal. Healthy nutrition is therefore the be-all and end-all. But sometimes a healthy diet is not enough to cover all your nutritional needs.This is because endurance sports create an additional demand for vitamins and minerals, some of which are very high. Therefore, the supply of micronutrients in endurance sports deserves special attention.

We tell you which minerals and vitamins are particularly important for endurance athletes!

1. B vitamins

B vitamins play a crucial role in energy metabolism. You should take the B12 vitamin in particular every day, because the body cannot produce it on its own. It is involved in numerous metabolic processes: In cell division, blood formation, energy production, in the building of cell membranes, in the building of myelin sheaths, which serve to protect the nerves in the central nervous system and in the brain, in the building of hormones and neurotransmitters, and in the detoxification of homocysteine and nitric oxide. As you can see, this vitamin is a real all-rounder! 

For athletes, vitamin B12 is also interesting because of its function in the formation of red blood cells. A deficiency can lead to anemia via a maturation disorder of the red blood cells. Symptoms of anemia are general weakness, fatigue and palpitations. This is mainly due to the reduced transport of oxygen to the organs and to the working muscles. Especially in athletically active people, this lack of oxygen transport particles (red blood cells) must be compensated due to vitamin B12 - deficiency.

Discover our B vitamin complex ! It provides you with all the important B vitamins and supports you perfectly during training!

2. Iron

You should definitely not underestimate iron. 

It ensures that the oxygen we breathe in finds the fastest way to our muscles. Only in this way can they function well. If there is not a sufficient supply of iron, the muscles do not receive enough oxygen, which is quickly felt by competitive athletes in particular. However, amateur athletes should also pay attention to their iron intake, because they can also have an increased iron requirement.

The more you sweat, the more iron you should take in, because the body loses a large proportion of micronutrients through sweat.

3. Magnesium 

No matter what sport you do, magnesium is very important. Make sure you eat a diet rich in magnesium or take magnesium capsules to ensure that your muscle function is maintained in the long term. 

Top athletic performance is only possible with a good supply of magnesium. We need magnesium not only for the interaction of muscle tension and relaxation. Among other things, the mineral also ensures our energy and protein metabolism or promotes the bounce of our joints. The daily supply of the mineral is absolutely necessary for the organism, since the body cannot produce it itself.

When the energy from our muscles is used up, magnesium ensures that certain enzymes are released and form energy-rich compounds again. The muscle cells can only release their energy optimally when our magnesium depot is sufficiently filled.

Our Fullnesium  provides you with 5 effective forms of magnesium and gives your muscles high quality magnesium perfect for sports. 

4. Vitamin C

You only pay attention to your vitamin C content when you have a cold? Then you should change that now. Because  vitamin C has been shown to help the body absorb more iron. However, most people use vitamin C primarily when it comes to strengthening the immune system. But the vitamin can do more than just support the immune system and iron absorption. It protects cells from oxidative stress, which is very important for athletes. 

5. Vitamin D

Vitamin D supports muscle function and bone health. For endurance athletes, vitamin D should therefore be taken regularly. However, the need for vitamin D must be covered by sunlight, which is not always easy for many people, especially in areas with less sunlight. For athletes, it can be difficult if they do not practice their sports outdoors. 

Supplements can help as part of a balanced sports diet for optimal intake of vitamin D. Check out our naturalvitamin D and add it into your health routine!

6. Calcium, sodium, potassium

Calcium not only ensures strong bones, but also smooth muscle contraction during sports. Both magnesium and calcium deficiency can lead to muscle cramps. Sodium and potassium are essential for regulating water balance, which is heavily stressed during endurance sports. Sodium and potassium deficiencies quickly develop themselves through sport, because these minerals are sweated out in large quantities.

The more sport, the greater the additional need for nutrients

Sports are physically and mentally demanding. This is because many sports require not only physical strength but also a great deal of concentration. Both the physically demanding activity and the required attention drain energy. Endurance athletes in particular also lose many minerals when they sweat. Therefore, it is important to eat a balanced diet and support an active lifestyle with supplements.

Don't let any deficiency slow you down and improve your training with all the important vitamins & minerals!