Eating and Supplementation

Eating is how we fuel the body.  Eating nutritiously is like putting high octane fuel in your car's gas tank.  Eating poorly, in both amount and quality of food, is like filling your car's gas tank with poorly made gasoline.  With high octane fuel you extend the life of your car...and so it is with your body.  Eating nutritiously and exercising extends the life and it's quality.  Athletes and serious exercisers often want to know about dietary supplementation.  The first rule of effective supplementation is to build a solid foundation of a nutritious diet.  This foundation will make any supplementing you do way more effective than otherwise.  Poor diet simply makes supplementation a waste of money.  Teens should limit their use of supplementation until their bodies have matured.  All teen athletes can benefit, however, from additional protein if need exceeds the amount that can adequately be derived from nutritious food sources and a multi-vitamin.  Additional supplements should only be used after consulting a professional that can teach you what to use and how to use it based on your exercise or training needs.