Well, I have been. Especially after my workouts…I feel totally drained and exhausted! I have been trying to find out what I could take to help. I have tried eating more starchy carbs after my workouts and that hasn’t seemed to help. I talked to a fellow trainer (a bodybuilder) this past weekend about this and he suggested I try trace minerals. So of course I had to do some research:

What are trace minerals you might be wondering….well here is what I found on the Trace Minerals.com

What are trace minerals?

You may collect silver coins, wear a platinum ring, or have a gold filling. You’ve likely sipped tea poured from a copper kettle, eaten a cookie from a fancy tin container, or traveled on an airplane made of titanium. But did you know that these elements and many others — in very small, balanced trace amounts — are critical to your health? Although trace minerals are no longer as common in the foods you eat, they exist plentifully in their proper proportions in the mineral-rich waters of the earth’s oceans and seas.

Why Is Absorption so Important?

You cannot benefit from minerals unless you can absorb them. The absorption of minerals primarily takes place within the small intestines. As food matter passes through the intestines, minerals transfer into the blood stream through the walls of the intestines. This can only happen if the minerals are ionically charged. Although stomach acid helps ionize the minerals in foods, a mineral supplement should contain already naturally ionized minerals to be fully absorbed.

Why Ionic Minerals?

Minerals that are absorbed in their ionic form are in true liquid solution and have either positive or negative charges. They also have unique properties that distinguish them from each other and allow them to freely take part in biochemical communication throughout the body. These communications help nutrients move to those areas of the body that are in most need of their help. Imbalances of any of these ions or certain trace ions in the body . . . can lead to dysfunction in the conduction of electrical messages. This dysfunction quickly leads to a general body disturbance and loss of ability to maintain somewhat stable internal conditions.

Here is what I ordered from Vitacost.com along with the Supplement Facts - Trace Minerals Electrolyte Stamina

	Supplement Facts Serving Size: 1.00 Packet ( 6.20 gram ) Servings per container: 32.00 Amount Per Serving % Daily Value Calories 14   Total Fat 0   Sodium 340 mg 14.2% Total Carbohydrates 2.2 gram 0.7% Sugars 2.4 grams   Protein 0   Vitamin C (as Ascorbic Acid) 1200 mg 2000% Vitamin B2 (Riboflavin) 1 mg 59% Vitamin B1 (Thiamin HCL) 450 mcg 30% Vitamin B6 (as Pyridoxine HCL) 10 mg 500% Vitamin B3 (as Niacin) 5 mg 25% Vitamin B12 (as Cyanocobalamin) 30 mcg 425% Pantothenic Acid 3 mg 30% Folic Acid 20 mcg 5% Calcium (as Calcium Lactate) 60 mg 6% Magnesium (as Magnesium Oxide and ConcenTrace®) 106 mg 27% Zinc (as Zinc Oxide) 3 mg 20% Selenium (as sodium selenate) 35 mcg 50% Manganese (as Manganese Citrate) 1 mg 50% Chromium (as Chromium Chelavite) 10 mcg 8% Chloride (from ConcenTrace®) 18 mg 1% Potassium (as Potassium Citrate and ConcenTrace®) 201 mg 6% Boron (as Boron Amino Acid Chelate) 10 mcg * Alpha Lipoic Acid 1 mg * ConcenTrace® (Special electrolyte trace mineral blend0 100 mg * *Daily value not established.

Other ingredients: Fructose, citric acid, sodium bicarbonate, concord grape flavor, stevia. Plus over 72 naturally occurring trace minerals and elements from ConcenTrace&reg.

I am going to give them a try and see if they help. I will keep you posted!

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