February 07, 2008
Beijing Air Pollution Has Some Athletes Concerned about 2008 Olympic Games
With the 2008 Olympic Games just months away, reports are surfacing that some athletes are raising questions regarding the potential impact of Beijing's air pollution on their performance.
Beijing is one of the world's most polluted cities and as early as last summer, according to an Associated Press report, the president of the International Olympic Committee, Jacques Rogge, admitted that some Olympic events might be postponed during days of extreme air pollution, particularly endurance events such as cycling.
More recently, the International Herald Tribune reported that athletes themselves have been asking Olympic officials if they should train in areas of poor air quality to prepare themselves for Beijing. According to that report (http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/01/24/sports/smog.php), medical experts associated with the Olympic teams of several nations are working on ways to help their athletes better cope with the impacts of air pollution. Their concerns regarding Beijing's air are based on previous experience. Athletes that have competed in Beijing in recent years have complained that the air quality severely impacted their breathing and hence, their athletic performance.
Despite the efforts of the Chinese government to reduce Beijing's air pollution, efforts that have included relocating factories out of the city, continued growth in the city and the increased use of cars by residents is only making the situation worse, not better. With the Olympic Games scheduled for August 8-24, athletes will be arriving in Beijing to deal with a mix of summer heat and air pollution.
Air pollution is of such concern that according to the International Herald Tribune report, some medical scientists with the U.S. Olympic team have suggested American athletes wear masks during all times that they are in Beijing and not competing. Plans are already underway to provide masks to all U.S. athletes.
In reality, Beijing is only one of many large cities throughout the world where residents deal daily with severe air pollution. Concerns about the impacts of air pollution on athletes also came up prior to both the Athens Olympics and the Los Angeles Olympics. In the modern world, few people, and animals, can escape completely, the impacts of air pollution on their bodies.
Short of humanity as a whole eliminating air pollution, the best thing each individual can do is maintain a healthy immune system and healthy lung function to help protect the body from the toxins in air pollution. In both humans and animals, there are cells that line the bronchial tracts leading into lung tissue. These cells contain hairs on their surfaces that function to remove particulate matter that enters when we breathe. This keeps pollutants from entering our respiratory system.
However, experimental studies have shown that these hair cells can be paralyzed after exposure to chemical pollutants, such as those found in air pollution. When these hair cells are paralyzed and no longer functioning, the result is an accumulation of toxic particulate matter within lung tissue. Proper lung function is then compromised resulting in respiratory symptoms and distress. A vicious cascade reaction takes place and the compromised lung cells produce free radicals called reactive oxygen species (ROS) that lead to lung cell death. These free radicals, however, can be neutralized by the presence of antioxidants with the result that the lung cells are then protected.
Proper nutrition is one way to give the body the protective antioxidants it needs. And when it comes to foods high in antioxidants and other beneficial nutrients, few foods can compare to mushrooms. Mushrooms, particularly medicinal mushroom varieties. contain evolutionary, evolved antioxidants and bioactive nutrients that have the ability to neutralize the free radicals that diminish our health.
It was the desire to provide humans and animals with a simple way to gain the health benefits of mushrooms that led to the development of Mushroom Matrix nutritional supplements. Matrix supplements are whole foods that help provide the nutrition that can protect lung cells from the impacts of the air pollution found in many urban areas. Nutritional support as a method for protecting the respiratory system is most effective when used on a daily basis. This means that the body should have a ready supply of key antioxidants within it at all times to deal with the daily impacts of air pollution.
Used on a regular basis, Matrix supplements can help the body build up its store of antioxidants. The Mushroom Matrix products are produced by Golden Gourmet Mushrooms of San Marcos, California. They are 100 percent certified organic nutritional supplements and are available in formulas for humans, horses and small animals. The Matrix proprietary blends contain up to ten of nature's most powerful medicinal mushroom species and are engineered to address the physiological requirements of both humans and animals in a uniquely efficient and effective manner. More information on Matrix nutritional supplements can be found at www.mushroommatrix.com.
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