Supplements

Vitamin and mineral supplementation continues to be a contentious issue amongst health professionals. The common catch-cry of the medical community is that vitamins and minerals are adequately available from our food. It’s hard to appreciate the credibility of this advice, when it is delivered from a profession that receives negligible nutrition training. In Australia, this claim contrasts in stark hypocrisy against laws prescribing the mandatory fortification of bread with thiamine and salt with iodine. The inconvenient reality is that food ‘ain’t what it used to be. Whilst sustainable agricultural practices such as biodynamic farming aim to restore our soils to health, we have considerable work to do before this option is universally adopted and available to everyone. Thanks to our current insidious exposure to environmental pollutants, we may also require higher doses of nutrients than any of our predecessors. Whole Food vs Synthetic Supplements Designing a Supplement Program

SPEEDO LZR RACER - the world's fastest swimsuit Ryan Lochte (USA) swims in the new Speedo LZR RACER Image Gallery (2 images) February 14, 2008 Following three years of research that included input from NASA, tests on more than 100 different fabrics and suit designs and body scans of more than 400 elite swimmers, Speedo has launched its most hydro-dynamically advanced - and fastest - swimsuit to date. The new suit has 10% less passive drag (meaning the drag present when the swimmer is gliding through the water after a dive or turn) than Speedo’s 2004 FASTSKIN FSII and 5% less passive drag than the FASTSKIN FS-PRO® - which has seen 21 swimmers break World Records since its release in March 2007. The specially engineered, highly flexible fabric called LZR PULSE™is ultrasonically welded so as to appear seamless. The LZR RACER’s unique design also provides swimmers with up to 5% more efficiency** in terms of their oxygen intake, enabling them to swim stronger for longer. About the Author Related Articles

IQ2 Debate: Is it OK for Athletes to Use Performance Enhancing Drugs? 50min We’re right on the money with this IQ2 Debate. Is it OK for athletes to use performance enhancing drugs? The national drug body ASADA has been staring down the AFL and the NRL clubs in Melbourne and Sydney but up to this point there’s very little clarity about who took what and exactly what's illegal. There's defiance, anger, disbelief and a whole bunch of confusion as to what is performance enhancing. Is a performance enhancing drug one that helps mask the pain of an injury: helps you heal better, faster so you can get back on the field? Some punters might recall Laurie Connell and some notorious races in Perth way back in the 1980’s. But most of the public are still mystified by what’s legal and illegal and the media haven’t been all that enlightening. What’s wrong with a bit of chemical fine tuning of the athletic body? This IQ2 delivers moral outrage and some enlightenment and takes the debate further than anything published this far in the media.

In Focus: The Drug Testing Process Fifa alarmed at widespread 'abuse' of painkillers 4 June 2012Last updated at 21:24 ET By Matt McGrath Science reporter, BBC World Service Fifa medical officer Professor Jiri Dvorak talks about his research into the use of painkillers at recent World Cups Fifa's chief medical officer has said the "abuse" of painkillers is putting the careers and long-term health of international footballers in jeopardy. Dr Jiri Dvorak found that almost 40% of players at the 2010 World Cup were taking pain medication prior to every game. Ahead of Euro 2012, Dr Dvorak has urged football to wake up to the problem. He told the BBC that younger players are imitating the seniors and taking painkillers far too frequently. Fifa's medical team asked team doctors to provide a list of medications that players were taking ahead of each game in the 2010 World Cup. Previous surveys at international tournaments established that many players were using large numbers of pain killing and non steroidal anti inflammatory drugs (nsaids). Continue reading the main story “Start Quote