Advanced nutrition: absorbing Stuff from team FLEX

Flex, August, 2002

Brian Rowley

CALCIUM CONUNDRUM

Q: I'm confused about the different kinds of calcium. How much am I supposed to get each day, and what's the best way?

A: Then best method of getting calcium is through M. foods that are naturally rich in it, such as skim milk, yogurt, cottage cheese and hard cheese. Other foods such as salmon, sardines, white beans, tofu and collard greens also contain significant amounts of calcium. Generally, bodybuilders, especially those on mass-gaining diets, have an easier time getting enough of this important mineral in their diets than the general public does, due to the sheer volume of food they ingest. If you drink three eight-ounce glasses of skim milk each day, you've nearly met the adult Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA). Each eight-ounce glass contains 300 milligrams (mg) of calcium, and the RDA for adults is 1,000 mg (teens 1,300).

However, FLEX still recommends a daily calcium supplement, simply to cover your bases. No bodybuilder eats the same healthy meals each day. Some days you cheat, some days you inadvertently shortchange yourself of certain important vitamins and minerals. Bodybuilders especially should make sure to get enough calcium. Ninety-nine percent of the calcium in your body is stored in your bones and teeth, making them strong. The other 1% is stored in your blood and soft tissues. Without that 1% of circulating calcium, your muscles wouldn't contract correctly and your nerves wouldn't carry messages. And that would make building muscle difficult.

Very few single-pill multivitamin/multimineral supplements contain more than 10-20% of the RDA for calcium; however, all decent vitamin packs contain at least 750 to 1,000 mg of calcium. Both calcium carbonate and calcium citrate forms are acceptable, but make sure to divide your doses for better absorption. To test the solubility of your brand of calcium supplement, simply drop a tablet into a glass of warm water for 30 minutes. If it hasn't broken down by that time, it isn't going to do much better in your system.

You may have noticed a profusion of "calcium fortified" products, such as cereals, orange juice and ice cream in your supermarket lately. Go ahead and purchase those products in place of the unfortified version if you like, but just be sure you aren't buying a pint of calcium-fortified ice cream and thinking it's an acceptable part of your bodybuilding diet because of the extra calcium in it. In addition, more is not better once you reach a certain intake, putting you over the "tolerable upper intake level" of 2,500 mg of calcium.

Erin Newman

SARCEV'S SECRETS TO SUCCESS

Nutrition tips from IFBB pro Milos Sarcev

Q: What is your opinion of bodybuilders?

A: I was among the first in our sport to start using ZMA, and I think it's an excellent supplement for all levels of bodybuilders.

About 10 years ago, I was offered a free comprehensive blood analysis, identical to one that had been done for about 50 superstars in various other sports. The workup looked at everything -- the mineral status in my plasma and red blood cells, hormone levels, liver enzymes, hematocrit, etc. After undergoing the analysis, I was offered a supply of pharmaceutical-grade minerals to make up for any deficiencies the test revealed.