COMMENTARY

Sports injuries have increased exponentially over the past decade. This significant increase has occurred despite excellent advances in footwear, training techniques, chiropractic and medical care. Knee and ankle injuries, muscle strains and sprains, and the breaking down of cartilage and connective tissue all occur as sophisticated training methods push increasingly stronger muscles beyond the capability of the connective tissues (tendons, ligaments, cartilage, disks) to hold them securely to bone and other muscles. Clearly, exercise challenges the stress points of the body. Unyielding artificial surfaces (Astroturf) further accentuate the anatomical stress. Significant numbers of million-dollar professional careers have been terminated by 180-degree turns on these unforgiving surfaces.

Several nutritional needs present themselves: vitamin C complex for collagen repair, calcium for muscle tone and bone density, trace minerals for ligamental strength, vitamin E complex to combat stress and enhance repair. These factors are often conspicuously absent from the diet due to several reasons: ascorbic acid supplements, if used exclusively for vitamin C, lack the rutin or bioflavonoids needed for blood vessel integrity. Processed dairy products render calcium less available, and this is not counteracted by reliance on insoluble and/or inassimilable forms of calcium supplements. Depleted soils yield foods devoid of many trace minerals, and processed, canned, milled, and overcooked foods lack the vitamin E complex. While controversy about the importance of nutrition and athletics continues among the experts, two trends persist: more sports injuries occur, requiring expensive surgical procedures; and more professional athletes take nutritional supplements and consult with nutritional-minded health professionals.

Organically grown foods, which utilize healthy soil conditions rather than chemical fertilizers and pesticides to support growth should be emphasized on the training tables of all serious athletes. Calcium-destroying counterfeit foods such as processed, sugar-rich snacks and drinks should be eliminated.

TYPE OF ACTIVITY

Sports injuries

PROTOCOL

OBJECTIVES: To promote the repair and healing of sports-related injuries; assist in strengthening vulnerable anatomical areas and systems.

1. LIGAPLEX I (4-6 per day): Connective tissue repair and toughening. Shortens and strengthens ligaments and tendons. (For long-term chronic injury, use LIGAPLEX II).

2. CALCIUM LACTATE (9-12 per day): Ionizable free calcium for maintaining tone, strengthening, and repairing muscle and connective tissue.

3. GLUCOSAMINE SYNERGY (3-6 per day): Glucosamine sulfate for repair and regeneration of collagen tissue.

4. CALCIFOOD (2 tbsp. of the powder or 6 wafers per day): Cold-processed raw veal bone. Contains minerals, trace minerals, and amino acids, connective tissue and collagen.

5. WHEAT GERM OIL PERLES (4-6 per day): Vitamin E complex for repair of muscle strains or tears.