Vitamin A
The molecules that make up the category vitamin A are all part of a group of compounds that exhibit the biological activity of retinol. Most dietary vitamin A is obtained from carotenoids or from animal tissues with high vitamin A content. Being a lipid-soluble vitamin, this nutrient in either large or chronic amounts can […]

In 1994, the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act was signed into law. This act classified substances derived from natural sources as food supplements and made many products otherwise classified as prescription drugs available over-the-counter (OTC) at health food and nutrition stores. In what could only be interpreted as a government mix-up, DHEA and other […]

Dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) is a precursor to testosterone. In the biochemical pathway to testosterone, it lies two steps away . DHEA was one of the first prohormones to enter the dietary supplement market after the 1994 DHEA . It is found in wild yams and in the pollen or seeds of the Austrian pine.Because DHEA is […]

The International Olympic Committee’s policy on doping has been instituted partly to protect the athlete’s health; however, high-level athletic competition is often an inherently unhealthy endeavor. If health is a factor then why are certain sports with high injury rates or the potential for serious injury allowed at all? For example, many linemen playing American […]

Carbohydrates are the primary macronutrient ingested in most athletes’ diets. When carbohydrates are ingested, they are broken down into glucose and enter the bloodstream. The body uses blood glucose and stored muscle glycogen for energy during exercise. As the duration of exercise increases, more blood glucose and less muscle glycogen is used for energy. This […]

DHEA was banned from over-the-counter sales in 1985 by the FDA. Because of the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act, DHEA was reclassified as a food supplement. This androgen precursor was first identified in 1934 and is produced naturally by the zona reticularis cells of the adrenal glands. The exact function of DHEA in the […]

Although large amounts of oxygen radicals can act as metabolic toxins causing oxidative stress, nontoxic levels of radicals may be beneficial to cellular communication and cellular defense. Many cellular functions are carried out through the use of intracellular messengers such as camp, diacylglycerols, and inositol triphosphates. Recently, there has been evidence to support the notion […]

For many athletes, and also those who seek physique enhancement, weight loss is often the primary goal of a combined training and nutrition regimen, especially in sports such as wrestling, boxing, and weightlifting, in which stringent body weight requirements necessitate weight loss in many cases. Likewise, in sports such as gymnastics and distance running, in […]

Whether vitamin needs differ among athletic and sedentary individuals has been an intense area of debate. Coaches, athletes, and parents often search for ways to produce bigger, faster, and stronger athletes. In ancient Greece, this was accomplished by using paidotribes or gymnaste (trainers) and later by the advice of Celcus (24 AD).Celcus has written eight […]