Nutrition and dietary supplements I

This article, written by our team member Zuzana Vojtášová, is not intended to be a test or assessment of dietary supplements provided to our members, take it rather as a guidline of proper nutrition for sportsmen in general.

I guess everyone is Slovakia has come accross the trade mark Kompava sometimes during his/her sporting career. Kompava is providing refreshments in many and various sporting events all around the country. I’m bringing you a brief information about nutrition and dietary supplements used by our riders.

As for me personally, I’ve known Kompava since my sporting beginnings what was some 7-8 years ago. Until I started doing sports, I didn’t have special need of any other supplements than standard vitamins and minerals. I used to buy everything I needed in pharmacies. What I, as a sportsmen, appreciate in Kompava the most, is the fact that it is 100% doping free. They make sure that their products don’t contain any substance listed on the Prohibited List published by the World Anti-Doping Agency. This is not allways true for other products sold in our market, especially when talking of supplements imported from USA where the market is less restrictive. Our Elite Men team participates several times a year in UCI races with frequent doping controls. In last year’s Tour de Guadeloupe, UCI 2.2 race, I was going to take a short swim in the ocean before my breakfast. I met a UCI commissaire right at my door asking me to bring all our riders to a blood control. At 6AM. So the confidence that the products we use are doping free is essential for our peace of mind.

Everyone new to dietary supplements, and I’m not talking only of cyclists, but of sportsmen in general, will look primarly for the best alternatives of refreshment during sport. Me personally, I prefer drinking plain water, but taking into account the mineral and energy loss during a physical activity, drinking plain water is actually one of the worst alternatives. You can easily hurt your body and dehydrate it by drinking plain water as it doesn’t stay in one’s body without being attached to anorganic salts, the most numerous of them being sodium. Sodium, again, cannot be processed by the body without additives such as glucose. That is why we need to eat and drink in a more complex way, eating only salt just like the deer do in wintertime, will not do it for our nutrition.  Sport drinks are necessary for an energy, minerals and water refuelling. They are by far the fastest –and most easiest digestible- source of calories. During an endurance-type activities, energy needs to be refilled also in form of food.

There are more types of sports drinks to choose from in Kompava portfolio. You can choose the one that fits you best in terms of a different proportion of carbohydrates, minerals, salts and aminoacids needed for a muscle recovery and protection. I like to take AcidoFit, both during a sports activity or when I’m at home recovering - I’m sure I refill my shortcomings of salts. I tend to get cramps, so having sufficient intake of minerals is essential for me. I also prefer this drink when riding as it doesn’t ‘explode’ in my bidon just like some other effervescent tabs tend to do. AcidoFit is also a good alternative to take along when travelling, it restores balance in your body in case of digestion and intestinal problems.

For those who prefer normal sport drinks, there is either Hypofit with enriched volume of vitamins and mineral complex and Energofit enriched with amino acids and vitamin B complex.

Talking of drinks for sportsmen, I definitelly do need to mention the best recovery drink tested for centuries – beer. Beer is very rich in all sorts of nutrition substances, sugars and enzymes but as alcohol slows down protein synthesis, I advise going for the non-alcoholic version. Even the Glucose Index above the highest reference value of sugar (100) rates beer as really one of the best recovery drinks after a sports activity.

Our muscles consume energy by every move they make. Energy needs to be refilled in the form of nutrition, more precisely by sugars, proteins and fat. These three groups should be represented in our nutrition intake in the following ratio: 55-60% sugars, 30% fat and 20% proteins. These values are only informative as each sports activity is demanding in a different way plus one needs to take into account his/her somatotype. There also are differences between men and women to consider with women needing less protein in general as the share of muscles in their body is lower compared to men. In case of a surplus intake of protein, it will be stored in the body in form of body fat.

Our muscles consume energy for every move they make – this energy comes from sugars stored in muscles in form of an amyloid - glycogen. Fat serves as a standby energy source and also acts as a protection custion. Proteins are mostly used for body recovery and rebuilding function. If there’s a lack of energy coming from sugars, body can also switch to the mode of energy production from fat and proteins. 

CARBOHYDRATES/SUGARS

Human body runs on energy derived from food that we consume – this energy should come predominantly form carbohydrates so that we spare the energy stored in proteins and prevent body from switching to catabolism. There are more types of carbohydrates though. It’s necessary to know a so called Glycemic Index (GI) of food that tells us how fast the sugars it contains will be dissolved in the bloodstream in form of glucose. It’s a reference number to plain sugar (ref.100) and describes the speed by which a food is processed and nutritions distributed through the blood system. High GI (cca above 70) increases the amount of glucose dramatically – and thus can be usefull in a race close to the finish line or in case of urgent need after a burn-out or exhaustion. Before a race itself, during a training and in normal day-to-day life, we should try to focus on food with lower GI which provide our body with consistent energy supply. It’s impossible to tell a general GI of different food as it depends on various factors – there is a big difference if the food is raw or cooked, in the way it is cooked (al dente pasta has lower GI than an overcooked one), in fruit it is strongly dependent on its ripeness and so on.

In case of a glycogene shortage in the body, nervous system is the first one to be hit as it consumes a huge amount of glycogene in order to function well. That is why if exhausted or tired in a race, we are prone to crash or have coordination problems in general – all due to a lack of energy supply (lack of glycogene in one’s bloodstream). Hitting the wall is what this state of your body is called – when you experience it, you will understand why.

As for me personally, I have to be very cautious about the use of gainers and various protein supplements (we well talk of these later on) due to my somatotype. I believe I would make well in fitness contests if I ever focused on it, since I build muscles very easily. When I start training after few days off, I tend to gain 1-2 kilos following my first workouts. This weight increase is caused mostly by water stored in my muscles. If I took a gainer and a protein drink each night to help my body recover, my body would be bloated like a baloon. So as far as my post-race or post-workout recovery is concerned, I prefer more targeted products such as BCAA (we well talk of these later on) and my most favorite Komapva product, Extra Mass Puding which renews my energy loss easily. I never came across a product such as this pudding, I haven’t noticed it in any other trade mark. It’s a perfectly balanced drink combining both simple and complex saccharides, proteins, BCAA and base vitamins enabling the correct digestion and absorption of these nutrition substances. It really is a perfect option of refilling energy and BCAA right after one’s workout. What I appreciate a lot also is its liquid substance and a really tasty flavour – either chocolate or vanilla. Puding comes in handy small sachets, so it’s very convenient to carry it also to races. Preparation itself doesn’t take any longer than 30 seconds in a shaker, just by mixing it with pure water. It’s very delicious when prepared in cold milk though – using dried milk when travelling is an option.

There’s also a typical gainer in Kompava’s portfolio, a Gainer coctail. This coctail contains both carbohydrates and proteins and is enriched with many vitamins and minerals. I try to supplement vitamins and minerals in different ways all through the season, so this feature is not that important to me when deciding which product to get.

FAT
Fat can be found in all our body cells. It not only has energy storage functions but is also vital in absorption of some vitamins (A, E, D, K). The best quality fat for our body comes from plants and vegetables and from fish. Animal fat burdens our body with a high level of cholesterol, but is essential to our organism in small amounts too. Fat is very tricky though – it is transported via blood and lymph-vessels and where it will end its journey and become useful or just store itself in form of body fat is fully dependant on the current state of the body. Fat not being consumed by the body immediately after intake will be stored in form of body fat. I have some bad news for you – fat cells never vanish, all you can do is to decrease their size, but not their number which was set back in time when you were breast-fed and in the following early-youth years, depending on the amount and quality of your food and your life style back then. If you were a fat kid, your fat cells are even now only in their sleeping mode.

There are some general rules to burning fat – sporting in aerobic conditions (since fat is burned only in presence of oxygen), moderate nutrition manners, consuming small meals more times a day, increased intake of proteins and so on. You can also speed up fat-burning by activating your metabolism by supplements. These can be found within Kompava products as well: ThermoFit, L-Karnitín, FitChitosferín. One needs to try their efficiency himself/herself. Burners are often used also by body-builders in their final phase before a contest when they need to get rid of all the excess fat and water stored in their bodies. Many of the products sold in our market do contain effective substances that are listed on the Prohibited List published by the World Anti-Doping Agency so one needs to be careful. Sometimes the effects of these fat burners are contrary – they boost your metabolism so much you even start eating more. Try and see for yourself what works best for you. Many natural products also act as natural fat-burners – green tea, coffee (have you tried Barzzuz coffee yet?) and good news is, also cocoa! A cocoa topping on a 4cm high cream tiramisu somehow doen’t have only the positive effects – find your right balance.

I hope you are not stressed out by now as to what to eat. Eat everything, just find the right balance. After all, your body knows best what it needs. If you feel like drinking beer, it means your body is dehydrated and needs an extra intake of minerals (presuming you are not an alcoholic). No need to drink 5 beers though. If your body lacks sugar and fat, it’s perfetlly allright if it asks for Nutella – again, not the whole jar or Nutella, smaller amount will do it.