5 Healing Supplements

Here’s something you may not realize: Recovery from injuries due to indoor or outdoor sports or even too-strenuous workouts can often be hastened with the aid of nutritional supplements. This month, I’d like to talk about the attributes of five supplements – and why they’re super healers.

Vitamin C

Take vitamin C and the healing of fractures as my first example. A double-blind study reported in The Lancet randomly gave 123 adults who had sustained wrist fractures either 500 milligrams of vitamin C or placebo daily for 50 days. Although 22 percent of patients in the placebo group developed “reflex sympathetic dystrophy” (persistent pain along with skin and other changes near the site of the injury) over the next year, it developed in only seven percent of the supplemented group. This indicates that vitamin C may be an excellent adjunct to treatment for bone fractures. (1)

Why does vitamin C work as a healer? For one thing, it helps to build a strong immune system. It is also essential in the production of collagen, which is involved in the building and health of
cartilage, joints, skin, and blood vessels. Parrillo Performance’s Bio-C™ supplement is a powerful choice that delivers high-potency vitamin C. Take one or more tablets daily, preferably with meals.

Bioflavonoids

While we’re on the subject of vitamin C as a healer, let’s talk about one of its best friends: bioflavonoids. These are beneficial particles of plants, many of which are high in vitamin C. Bioflavonoids have powerful antioxidant properties and help to prevent Vitamin-C oxidation in the body – which is why I formulated Bio-C™ with several potent bioflavonoids.

It turns out that bioflavonoids are healers too. Because of their free-radical-quenching and anti-inflammatory properties, bioflavonoids such as quercetin may also reduce the effects of serious injuries. When, for example, athletes were administered citrus flavonoids prior to injury in a series of controlled trials, they were protected against sprains, and recovery time was greatly reduced. (2)

When you take Bio-C™ as suggested above, you’ll get all the healing benefits of these amazing
nutrients.

Creatine Monohydrate

While there have been rumors that supplementation with creatine before strenuous exertion could cause an increase in muscle strains or tears, these rumors have proved to be unfounded. (3) In fact, when, prior to a 30 km race, experienced marathon runners were supplemented for five days with 15 grams of maltodextrin daily with or without 5 grams of creatine, creatine was found to reduce markers of cell damage and inflammation. (4) Moreover, when experienced football players took 0.3 g/kg creatine daily for five days followed by an average of 0.03 g/kg per day after workouts, practices, and games, the incidence of cramping or injury was significantly
reduced. (5)

How exactly does creatine work? Creatine gives your workouts a boost by increasing the availability of usable energy (ATP) in the muscle, extending your lifting intensity and endurance. That means you can push your workouts farther than ever, before exhaustion. You’ll also notice a much greater pump in the muscles you’re working. Creatine supplementation also increases the amount of water in your muscles, increasing the size and leverage of the muscle for greater strength.

So how do you spot a good creatine supplement? Easy, look for pure creatine monohydrate, like our Parrillo Performance Creatine Monohydrate Powder™. It provides your muscles with extra nutrients to help them go longer and get stronger. Parrillo Performance sought and obtained the finest quality creatine available and rather than cut the powder with filler (a common practice in the industry) Parrillo offers pure, undiluted, uncut creatine. To optimize the creatine effect, we recommend the athlete take one 5 mg scoop four times a day for a week to “load” Creatine Monohydrate into the system and then drop back to a scoop twice a day thereafter to commence the “maintenance phase”. Gaining ten pounds of lean mass is commonplace and this supplement has carved a permanent place on the shelf of every serious bodybuilder. Creatine is a “must have” supplement for all serious weight trainers.

Glucosamine

Sports may cause damage to the cartilage of the kneecap, and glucosamine sulfate taken daily appears to speed the healing process. (6) In a double-blind study of 106 competitive male athletes following acute knee injury, subjects randomly received either glucosamine 1500 mg daily or placebo. After 28 days, patients from the glucosamine group, as compared to those in the placebo group, demonstrated significant improvement in knee flexion and extension. (7)

Glucosamine and its companion nutrient chondroiton help relieve joint pain and assist in the rebuilding of damaged joints, tendons, cartilage, and soft tissue. The Parrillo Joint Formula™ contains both nutrients, along with shark cartilage and green sea mussel, two other necessary nutrients for healthy joints. Take one or two tablets three times daily, and for best results, use in conjunction with The Parrillo Performance Nutrition Program. One caution: Do not use this product if you are allergic to shellfish.

Glutamine

The most abundant amino acid in your body, glutamine is stored mostly in your muscles, although rather significant amounts are found in your brain, lungs, blood, and liver. This important amino acid serves as a building block for proteins, nucleotides (structural units of RNA and DNA), and other amino acids and is the principle fuel source for cells that make up your immune system. We add glutamine to many of our protein powders and glutamine is also one of the amino acids found in our Ultimate Amino Formula™.

Under certain conditions – including injury and intense exercise – the body’s tissues demand more glutamine than the normal amount supplied by diet (which is five to 10 grams a day) and more than can be synthesized normally by your body. (8)

Glutamine is the favored fuel of your immune cells. This means you need it when you’re ill, stressed, or recovering from surgery. During such times, the demand for glutamine exceeds its production and the body’s nitrogen stores become rapidly depleted — a sign that muscle protein is being broken down. This is a problem since glutamine is required for healing internal tissues and manufacturing muscle protein. Patients hospitalized for surgery, trauma, or infection often receive supplemental glutamine in their feeding solutions.

Researchers have also discovered that many athletes are deficient in glutamine – a shortage that makes them more vulnerable to infections. One group of investigators measured plasma levels of glutamine in runners following their participation in a marathon. For about an hour after the event, glutamine levels declined, but slowly returned to normal within about 16 hours of the race. But during this period, the runners’ lymphocyte (white blood cell) count declined. Interestingly, lymphocytes rely on glutamine for growth. (9)

In a separate study by the same group of researchers, athletes supplemented with 5 grams of glutamine right after exercise and again two hours later. Only 19 percent of the glutamine-supplemented athletes reported infections during the next week, while 51 percent of those who took a placebo got a cold or other infection. (10)

Studies like this one have led researchers to believe that the increased incidence of colds, infections and other illnesses among athletes after intense exercise sessions may have something to do with the glutamine/lymphocyte connection. Thus, supplementing with glutamine may fend off infections that can sideline your training. (11)

Clearly, glutamine has numerous benefits for any athlete who wants to maximize performance, muscle repair, and immunity. Generally, a protein-rich training diet such as that recommended by the Parrillo Nutrition Program™ should prevent your glutamine levels from dipping too low. However, supplemental glutamine provides extra insurance, plus a windfall of other benefits. What’s more, if you’re the victim of frequent colds or infections, consider supplementing with this amino acid.

Each capsule in our Ultimate
Amino Formula™ contains 103 milligrams of glutamine. We recommend that you take two or more
capsules of this supplement with each meal. That should supply a gram or more daily – which is appropriate for athletes and active individuals. We also add extra glutamine to our Hi-Protein™ powder and Optimized Whey™ protein powders. Both heat and acid destroy glutamine, so you should not take it with hot or acidic foods, such as vinegar.

Glutamine supplementation is well tolerated. Glutamine safety studies have been conducted using healthy volunteers who took doses of 0.75 gram per 2.2 (1 kilogram) of body weight. No side effects occurred at those doses. People with liver or kidney disease should not supplement with glutamine, however, because it can aggravate these conditions and interfere with their
treatment.

References

(1) Zollinger, P.E., et al. 1999. Effect of vitamin C on frequency of reflex sympathetic dystrophy in wrist fractures: a randomised trial. The Lancet 354:2025-8.

(2) Broussard, M.U. 1963. Evaluation of citrus bioflavonoids in contact sports. Citrus in Medicine 2:2.

3) Watsford, M.L., et al. 2003. Creatine supplementation and its effect on musculotendinous stiffness and performance. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research 17:26-33.

(4) Santos, R.V., et al. 2004. The effect of creatine supplementation upon inflammatory and muscle soreness markers after a 30 km race. Life Science 75:1917-1924.

(5) Greenwood, M., et al. 2001. Cramping and injury incidence in collegiate football players are reduced by creatine supplementation. Journal of Athletic Training 38:216-219.

(6) Bohmer, Ds, et al. 1984, Treatment of chondropathia patellae in young athletes with glucosamine sulfate. In Bachl, N., et al, eds. Current Topics in Sports Medicine, Urban & Schwarzenberg.

(7) Ostojic, S.M., et al.2007. Glucosamine administration in athletes: effects on recovery of acute knee injury. Research in Sports Medicine 15:113-24.

(8) Miller, A.L. 1999. Therapeutic considerations of l-glutamine: a review of the literature. Alternative Medicine Review 4: 239-248

(9) Antonio, J., et al.1999. Glutamine: a potentially useful supplement for athletes. Canadian Journal of Applied Physiology 24: 1-14.

(10) Tuttle, D. 1997. Glutamine: athletic benefits times three. Let’s Live, September, 71-73.

(11) Castell, L.M. 1996. Does glutamine have a role in reducing infections in athletes?” European Journal of Applied Physiology 73: 488-490.