Can Overtraining Lead to Mineral Depletion

Dana Green Remedios, Registered Holistic Nutritionist, former personal trainer, former Health Club Manager

• Strenous Exercise itself can deplete certain nutrients, or rather, use them up quickly.

These include the antioxidant vitamins - Vitamins A, C and E (plus glutathione, anthocyanins, proanthocyanidins, polyphenols...)

Oh yes, about the process...basically, for the last 2 decades, we have believed something like this

"It has been postulated that the generation of oxygen free radicals is  increased during exercise as a result of increases in mitochondrial  oxygen consumption and electron transport flux, inducing lipid  peroxidation. The literature suggests that dietary antioxidants are able  to detoxify the peroxides produced during exercise, which could  otherwise result in lipid peroxidation, and that they are capable of  scavenging peroxyl radicals and therefore may prevent muscle damage." Sports Med. 1996 Mar;21(3):213-38.

This has resulted in an idea that too much exercise is 'aging' at the cellular level, in that there is a lot of oxidative stress placed on cells. Antioxidants are thought to reduce oxidative stress. However, that doesn't mean that you should necessarily run out and supplement with astaxanthin or another powerful antioxidant...Because in the last few years it has been discovered that antioxidant supplementation may actually reduce the insulin lowering effects of exercise. So if you are exercising to stay out of the pre-diabetes zone, think twice.

• Perspiration will cause the body to lose minerals, so these are more of a concern if you are a heavy sweater or enjoy Bikram's yoga, or run outside in Arizona.

These include potassium, magnesium, chloride, sodium, bicarbonate and others.

Your body fluids are like seawater - full of these salts, or ions, that we call electrolytes. They get the electro portion of their name because they regulate electrical impulses in our nerves and muscles. Your kidneys regulate them, but if you lose a lot of them through urine and sweat and just replenish with water, they will eventually be depleted.

• The increased rate of metabolism that can accompany regular vigorous exercise would also eventually cause one to generally go through micronutrients more quickly than if one were sedentary.

These include zinc, calcium, leucine, sodium, potassium and more.

They are being expelled in urine and feces and used up in the muscle breakdown/repair/regeneration cycle.

 * * * * *

If you are undertaking regular moderate exercise and eating a fairly nutritious diet without a lot of processed junk, you should be fine...

However, there is a common misconception that "if you exercise, it doesn't matter what you eat" when really, the opposite is true; if you exercise, it matters even more what you eat! So it is good that you are looking into the matter.

To help the antioxidant situation in a healthy way - eat a few more dark Green and Colourful Vegetables daily, and vary your fruits every day, looking for Red cherries and Orange apricots etc, and avoid transfats (which are sources of free radicals and peroxides) such as bakery pastries and deep fried chips.
*Eat lots of (blue)berries, salmon, red beans, and other nutrient dense foods.

To help with the ones lost to sweat, little flavoured electrolyte packages are easy to add to water for after runs in the sun...coconut water is good too, bananas are easy, and try using Real Salt or himalayan salt or Redmond salt every day instead of plain table salt. You'll get all the trace minerals that way.

Overall, eat a balanced, varied, unprocessed, colourful diet. Eat healthy fats daily, such as avocado and nuts, and eat a variety of nutritious grains like millet and quinoa, aim to get plenty of zinc and calcium (get adventurous with bouillabasse and cooked greens) and you will be alright.

If you feel you need to supplement with antioxidants, omega 3s, magnesium, zinc or other things, get some more help from a professional. You might find that a good quality chemical-free protein drink powder or greens powder mixed into water every day you do hard exercise helps you a lot.

Source: https://www.quora.com/Does-too-much-exercise-deplete-certain-vitamins-and-minerals-What-is-the-process-behind-this-depletion

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