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4 Ways Nutrition Impacts Physical Activity and Inflammation

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Published by Gabrielle McGrath, MS, RD, LDN

Growing up, cooking and food was always a big deal in my family. My grandmother and mother cooked dinner almost every single night of the week to make sure all of their children were always nourished with delicious, home-cooked meals. They valued taking care of people and the art of cooking above all else. Their passion for food and cooking inspired me to take cooking classes all through high school. In college, I ended up in a class called “Ecogastronomy.” It is the study of “Farm to Fork.” This course blew my mind. I had never been so intrigued by a course in my life. I soon after found out what a registered dietitian was. “There is a job out there that involves food and helping people be the best version of themselves?! Sign me up!” That was the best decision of my life. I am so proud to be a registered dietitian and I truly believe it brought all of my innate and learned values together into the perfect career path. ---- What do you do at Baze? At Baze, I work on the Business Development team. I help build partnerships with health professionals, businesses, and food companies that align with our mission of ending nutrient deficiencies across the US. I also dip into research, content creation, and marketing. The RDs here wear a lot of hats, which is one of the best parts of being a Baze RD! The future of health that I would like to see looks like: Putting an end to food restrictions due to poor body images, ending food disparities for all, and shifting our country’s focus from disease treatment to disease prevention with the help of personalized nutrition. If you could give Baze users one piece of advice, it would be: Take your vitamins, find a hobby that gets you to move your body, drink more water, eat real food, and be more mindful. A healthy life is far less serious and far more simple than most people think. Who or what inspires you? Many people in my life inspire me including my parents, sister, and mentors. More recently, I have been fortunate enough to be inspired by the people I work with at Baze. I am proud to say that every single person I work alongside is hardworking, optimistic, intelligent, and caring. What are some of your favorite hobbies? Outside of work, I love to do yoga and meditation to work on my mindfulness. When it is nice out, you’ll find me biking, hiking, or at the beach on the Cape. I absolutely love New England snow for ski days as well. I cook and bake any chance I get in my crazy, busy life. Most importantly, I spend a lot of time with my close friends and my big family.

You don’t need an expert to tell you that those aches and pains you’re feeling can affect the way you live your life. Inflammation, lethargy, and general discomfort are often passed off as signs of aging, when in reality they may be indicating a gap in your nutrient intake. 

There are the obvious factors that contribute to decreased inflammation and physical activity like maintaining a healthy weight. What you may not know is that nutrient status also plays an important role. 

physical activity biking

The Baze-ics:

Having energy, strong bones and muscles, and reducing inflammation are keys to feeling your best. To maximize these areas, focus on your essential nutrients especially vitamin B12, magnesium, potassium, omega-3 fatty acids, vitamin D, calcium, and vitamins A, C, and E.

4 Ways Nutrients Affect Physical Activity and Inflammation

4 ways nutrients affect physical activity and inflammation

energy Energy 

  • Main players: Vitamin B12, magnesium, and potassium
  • Deficiencies lead to: Decreased athletic performance, lack of motivation, and feeling tired

Think of your body as a car and micronutrients as the gas for the engine. They fuel your body by breaking down food and helping convert it to energy.

A variety of vitamins and minerals are needed for energy metabolism. 

Vitamin B12, magnesium, and potassium assists in converting food into energy, giving oxygen to your muscles, providing energy to drive many processes in living cells, and helps regulate energy levels. 

When deficient in these nutrients, you may feel tired, worn out, and fatigued.1-6

inflammationInflammation

  • Main player: Omega-3 fatty acids
  • Deficiencies lead to: Joint pain, decreased physical activity, and weight gain

Not only are nutrients your car’s gas, they’re also your oil, coolant, power steering fluid, brake fluid — all the fuel that prevents damage and discomfort. 

Prolonged inflammation is associated with physiological stress on the body, altered glucose and lipid metabolism, and mental stress.4 Nutrient status plays a major role in all of these. Therefore, your nutrient status significantly contributes to your body’s inflammatory responses.

Numerous studies have also found benefits of omega-3 dietary supplementation for people with inflammatory diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, Crohn’s disease, multiple sclerosis, and migraine headaches. There were significant correlations between decreased disease activity and a lowered use of anti-inflammatory drugs in those supplementing with fish oils. 

Additionally, an inflammatory response is often due to stress. This is because there is communication between the central nervous system (stress) and the systemic immune system (inflammation). Many studies have linked prolonged psychological stress to the activation of pro-inflammatory pathways. For example, a study in the Journal of Clinical Psychopharmacology and Neuroscience found that people with anxiety disorders have lower levels of circulating omega-3 fatty acids.7 Another study published in Brain, Behavior, and Immunity demonstrated that omega-3 fatty acid supplementation reduced inflammation and anxiety in medical students during exams.13 

This is all to say, when you’re deficient in essential nutrients like omega-3 fatty acids, your body may not work properly, comfortably, and effectively. 8-13

bone healthBone Health

  • Main players: Vitamin D and calcium
  • Deficiencies lead to: Joint pain, increased fracture risk, and decreased athletic performance 

Running, jumping, or just simply walking can put stress on bones and joints. A focus on certain nutrients, which promote bone health, is needed. 

Vitamin D can either be absorbed from sunlight, from fortified products, or through supplementation. Vitamin D helps the body absorb calcium from the food you eat into your bones. 

Calcium is the key nutrient for building bone and slowing the pace of bone loss. The recommended daily intake for calcium is 1,000 milligrams a day for adults up through age 50 and 1,200 mg a day for people ages 51 and older. To put into perspective, a cup of yogurt has about 350 mg of calcium.14

muscle recovery Muscle Recovery

  • Main players: Vitamins A, C, & E and zinc
  • Deficiencies lead to: Decreased athletic performance, prolonged soreness, and slow down of muscle growth

Vitamins A, C, and E are antioxidants. Antioxidants help reduce muscle damage and speed up recovery after you exercise.

Another key player in muscle recovery is zinc. As the second most abundant trace mineral in your body, it plays a vital role in protein synthesis, DNA synthesis, and cell division. Also, zinc deficiency in males reduces testosterone, an essential hormone for fat burning and the growth and maintenance of muscle. 15,16

Personalized Nutrition Can Help 

fruits and vegetables, diet, nutrition

With the technology we have today, there are new ways to personalize your nutrition so you can put your best foot forward to maximize your energy, mental function, and strength.

A scientifically proven way to accurately know your nutrient status is through an evidence-based blood nutrient test. This will tell you exactly what you are deficient in, how deficient you are, and how much you need to take to reach and maintain healthy levels.

Baze is a next-generation personalized nutrition service that offers you the real science behind supplementation and results that you can feel. Learn more about the science here.

About the Author

Gabrielle has a BS in Nutrition and Dietetics from the University of New Hampshire and a master’s degree in Health and Wellness Management from Merrimack College. She has varied experience in research, counseling, clinical nutrition, nutrition communications and marketing, food service management, and has worked with underserved areas in community nutrition. Gabrielle enjoys a healthy lifestyle through outdoor adventures, practicing mindfulness and compassion, and cooking her favorite dishes to share with friends and family.

References

  1. O’Leary, F., & Samman, S. (2010). Vitamin B12 in health and disease. Nutrients, 2(3), 299–316. doi:10.3390/nu2030299
  2. Combs, G. F. (2012). The vitamins: Amsterdam: Elsevier/ Academic Press.
  3. Durlach J, Pages N, Bac P, Bara M, Guiet-Bara A. Biorhythms and possible central regulation of magnesium status, phototherapy, darkness therapy and chronopathological forms of magnesium depletion, 2002. Magnes Res. (1-2):49-66.
  4. Veronese, N., et al., Effect of oral magnesium supplementation on physical performance in healthy elderly women involved in a weekly exercise program: a randomized controlled trial. The American journal of clinical nutrition, 2014. 100(3): p. 974-981.
  5. Cheng, C. J., Kuo, E., & Huang, C. L. (2013). Extracellular potassium homeostasis: insights from hypokalemic periodic paralysis. Seminars in nephrology, 33(3), 237–247.
  6. Mushiyakh, Y., Dangaria, H., Qavi, S., Ali, N., Pannone, J., & Tompkins, D. (2012). Treatment and pathogenesis of acute hyperkalemia. Journal of community hospital internal medicine perspectives(4);3402.
  7. Su, K. P., Matsuoka, Y., & Pae, C. U. (2015). Omega-3 Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids in Prevention of Mood and Anxiety Disorders. Clinical psychopharmacology and neuroscience : the official scientific journal of the Korean College of Neuropsychopharmacology, 13(2), 129–137.
  8. Sears, B., & Ricordi, C. (2011). Anti-inflammatory nutrition as a pharmacological approach to treat obesity. Journal of obesity, 2011, 431985. 
  9. Galland, L. (2010). Diet and Inflammation. Nutrition in Clinical Practice, 25(6), 634–640. 
  10. Hunter P. (2012). The inflammation theory of disease. The growing realization that chronic inflammation is crucial in many diseases opens new avenues for treatment. EMBO reports, 13(11), 968–970. 
  11. Hansen AL, Dahl L, Olson G, Thornton D, Graff IE, Froyland L, Thayer JF, Pallesen S. “Fish consumption, sleep, daily functioning, and heart rate variability.” J Clin Sleep Med. 15.10(2014): 567-575.
  12. Liu JJ, Galfalvy HC, Cooper TB, Oquendo MA, Grunebaum MF, Mann JJ, Sublette ME. Omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) status in major depressive disorder with comorbid anxiety disorders, 2018. J Clin Psychiatry. (7):732-8.
  13. Kiecolt-Glaser JK, Belury MA, Andridge R, Malarkey WB, Glaser R. Omega-3 supplementation lowers inflammation and anxiety in medical students: a randomized controlled trial, 2011. Brain Behav Immun. 25(8):1725-34.
  14. Laird, E., Ward, M., McSorley, E., Strain, J. J., & Wallace, J. (2010). Vitamin D and bone health: potential mechanisms. Nutrients, 2(7), 693–724. 
  15. Bentley DJ, Ackerman J, Clifford T, et al. Acute and Chronic Effects of Antioxidant Supplementation on Exercise Performance. In: Lamprecht M, editor. Antioxidants in Sport Nutrition. Boca Raton (FL): CRC Press/Taylor & Francis; 2015. Chapter 9. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK299045/
  16. Mullur, R., Liu, Y. Y., & Brent, G. A. (2014). Thyroid hormone regulation of metabolism. Physiological reviews, 94(2), 355–382.

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