Training For An Athletic Activity? Here's Why You'll Want To Monitor 2 Key Nutrients

Your physical performance can tank if you aren’t supplying your body with enough of the right nutrients. So you should prioritize monitoring your nutritional status – by checking your levels of important vitamins, for example – if you’re training intensely for an athletic activity.

What nutrients in particular should you track? Here are 2 important ones that we offer at-home tests for.

Vitamin D – which your body makes when sunlight strikes your skin – is involved in muscle function [2]. Research studies suggest that vitamin D supplementation can give aerobic performance a boost [3]. There’s also evidence that high levels of vitamin D can reduce the amount of time needed for recovery [4]. On the other hand, low amounts of vitamin D might increase the risk of bone injuries [5].

These are all good reasons to regularly make sure your vitamin D levels are high enough – especially considering that vitamin D deficiency is very common.

B vitamins are critical in energy metabolism because they regulate the buildup and breakdown of carbohydrates, fat, and protein [6]. And two types of B vitamins – B9 and B12 – are important for the body’s production of healthy red blood cells [7]. Fatigue can occur if you’re deficient in these B vitamins, and low levels of B vitamins may make exercise-related bone injuries more likely [8].

How You Can Track A Key Nutrient From Home

Regularly tracking nutrients might sound like a hassle. After all, you might have to interrupt your training schedule to visit to a clinic or a lab.

Fortunately, with the Everlywell at-home Vitamin D Test you can measure your personal vitamin D level and compare it to healthy ranges.