Bio substrate microelement concentrations in young men — residents of the Far North — under increased physical exercises

BACKGROUND: High-level athletic competitions necessitate more strenuous physical activity and this upsets the body’s chemistry balance. Numerous mechanisms are in place during sports to adapt to regular physical activity, but as a result, the body is progressively stressed out as it experiences a high loss in the bio-elements associated with intense exercise.

AIM: to thoroughly analyze the chemical profiles of athletes residing in the city of Magadan, who have achieved great sporting success, and to identify the unique features of microelement concentrations in subjective samples (hair, whole blood).

MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study was conducted to analyze elemental pictures of high-level athletes in the city of Magadan who were between the ages of 19 and 25 (n=29). Age-matched men who showed usual levels of physical activity comprise the control group (n=22). Different biological substrates (hair and whole blood, among others) were examined to determine the most informative substrate for the identification of the most common types of chronic elemental imbalance. This was considered particularly important for further prevention of typical region-related disorders in the body chemistry by increasing functional reserves. Eighteen macro- and microelements were examined via atomic emission and mass spectrometric methods with inductively coupled argon plasma.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: The athletes examined in the present study exhibited higher levels of Ca, Co, Fe, Se, and Zn in their hair samples and showed higher median concentrations of blood Na and P, and an excess levels of blood Mn, when compared with the subjects who had moderate levels of physical activity and whose blood examination showed higher values of K, Mg, Co, Fe, Se, the deficiency of Co, Cu, Zn, and Fe, and excess of Mg and Se.

CONCLUSION: However, data obtained in the present study did not enable us to explicitly draw inferences regarding sports-induced changes in the body microelement profile. In some cases, the elemental profile of athletes is similar to that of residents of Magadan and they show a typical northern type of deficiency in essential elements expressed in the hair. Notably, the frequency of hair deficits is frequently higher in young men who experience no increased exercise levels. Excessive toxic elements or heavy metals were not identified biological substrates examined in the present study. It was our understanding that long-term assessment of the athletes’ elemental imbalance — which is formed under intense physical activity — can be performed through spectral hair analysis. This is attributable to the fact that it is an accumulative bio substrate that shows no day-to-day fluctuations under changeable functional or psychoemotional states, as well as nutrition preferences.