ABSTRACT
In many cases, multi-nutrient supplements are recommended in an effort to remedy the insufficiencies, but caution must be exercised to avoid potential adverse interactions and to avoid missing a nutrient or two in a specific formulation of a supplement. In general, snack foods provide sufficient amounts of calories from macronutrients but proportionately much less of the micronutrients. The concern about excessive intakes is the potential interaction between two nutrients that results in an insufficient intake of one of the micronutrients. Many athletes rely heavily on fast foods and snack foods without proper attention to obtaining balanced intakes of nutrients, especially minerals, in particular the plant foods. This chapter provides brief reviews of several macrominerals that have been found to be either insufficiently or excessively consumed by athletes. Vegetarians have no trouble getting adequate amounts of potassium, because this electrolyte exists primarily in the intracellular space of foods.
