Do you often feel like you are needlessly fatigued?

Maybe you cannot run up hills like you used to be able to do? 

Are you dragging yourself through your workouts?

If this sounds familiar, you certainly want to consult with your doctor and get your blood tested to rule out anemia. Because you are an athlete, ask your doctor to measure your serum ferritin. That’s your stored iron. The iron in your blood can be at a normal level but if your iron stores are depleted, you can feel needlessly tired during exercise.

• An estimate 50% of female athletes have iron-deficiency, as indicated by low serum ferritin stores. (In the general population of women, about 14% are iron deficient.)

• A study with college-age male runners suggests that 21% of male cross-country and distance runners had low serum ferritin.

Just think how much better all of these athletes could perform if they were not iron-deficient!

These days, many athletes are avoiding red meat (an excellent source of iron), and they have stopped eating iron-enriched breakfast cereals. That is, they have traded their Kellogg’s Raisin Bran (enriched with iron) for an “all natural” brand of cereal, such as Kashi, that has nothing added to it—including no iron. No wonder their iron stores are low!

To prevent anemia, you want to enjoy iron-rich foods on a daily basis. Red meat is one of the best sources of iron, but if you are a non-meat eater, other common sources of iron include dark meat chicken (legs, thighs) and iron-enriched breakfast cereals. Include a fruit and/or vegetable (rich in vitamin C) with each meal to enhance iron absorption. Taking supplemental iron (as in a multi-vitamin/mineral pill) can help reduce the risk of becoming anemic if you do not eat red meat or iron-enriched breakfast cereals.

Be wise, eat well,

Nancy

For more information: Nancy Clark's Sports Nutrition Guidebook

Football, tail-gating, beer … you know the scene. Parties with binge-drinking are a dangerous part of today’s culture. Scary.

Little wonder an estimated 1,700 college students succomb to alcohol-related deaths each year and an estimated one-third are “at risk for problem drinking.” Whether or not you are a college student, this AUDIT (Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test) can help you assess if you have a drinking problem.

Be wise,

Nancy

Please circle the answer that is correct for you

1. How often do you have a drink containing alcohol?

• Never •            Monthly or less •            2?4 times a month •            2?3 times a week •            4 or more times a week

2. How many standard drinks containing alcohol do you have on a typical day when drinking?

• 1or2 • 3or4 • 5or6 • 7to9 •            10 or more

3. How often do you have six or more drinks on one occasion?

• Never •            Less than monthly • Monthly • Weekly •            Daily or almost daily

4. During the past year, how often have you found that you were not able to stop drinking once you had started?

• Never •            Less than monthly • Monthly • Weekly •            Daily or almost daily

5. During the past year, how often have you failed to do what was normally expected of you because of drinking?

• Never •            Less than monthly • Monthly • Weekly •            Daily or almost daily

6. During the past year, how often have you needed a drink in the morning to get yourself going after a heavy drinking session?

1• Never •            Less than monthly • Monthly • Weekly •            Daily or almost daily

7. During the past year, how often have you had a feeling of guilt or remorse after drinking?

• Never •            Less than monthly • Monthly • Weekly •            Daily or almost daily

8. During the past year, have you been unable to remember what happened the night before because you had been drinking?

• Never •            Less than monthly • Monthly • Weekly •            Daily or almost daily

9. Have you or someone else been injured as a result of your drinking?

• No •            Yes, but not in thepast year •            Yes, during the pastyear

10. Has a relative or friend, doctor or other health worker been concerned about your drinking or suggested you cut down?

• No •            Yes, but not in thepast year •            Yes, during the pastyear

Scoring the audit

Scores for each question range from 0 to 4,with the first response for each question (eg never) scoring 0, the second (eg less than monthly) scoring 1, the third (eg monthly) scoring 2, the fourth (eg weekly) scoring 3, and the last response (eg. daily or almost daily) scoring 4. For questions 9 and 10, which only have three responses, the scoring is 0, 2 and 4 (from left to right).

A score of 8 or more is associated with harmful or hazardous drinking, a score of 13 or more in women, and 15 or more in men, is likely to indicate alcohol dependence.

1Saunders JB, AaslandOG, Babor TF et al. Development of the alcohol use disorders identification test(AUDIT): WHO collaborative project on early detection of persons with harmful alcohol consumption — II. Addiction 1993, 88: 791–803.