The Athlete

Insulin

Life-saver or killer ?

Athlete's Foot

Tinea is a fungus that can grow on your skin, hair or nails. Tinea pedis is usually called "athlete's foot." ("Pedis" is the Latin word for foot.) The moist skin between your toes is a perfect place for a fungus to grow. The skin may become itchy and red, with a white, wet surface. The infection may spread to the toenails. (This is called tinea unguium — "unguium" comes from the Latin word for nail.) Here it causes the toenails to become thick and crumbly. It can also spread to your hands and fingernails.

How did I get a fungal infection?
You can get a fungal infection by touching a person who has one. Some kinds of fungi live on damp surfaces, like the floors in public showers or locker rooms. You can easily pick up a fungus there.

Jock Itch

When a fungus grows in the moist, warm area of the groin, the rash is called tinea cruris. The common name for this infection is "jock itch." Tinea cruris generally occurs in men, especially if they often wear athletic equipment.

How do I get rid of a tinea infection?
Medicine can be used to get rid of it. You may only need to put a special cream on the rash for a few weeks. This is especially true for jock itch.

A natural alternative is to use neem you can buy neem from most health food shops and comes in an oil and tincutre which has been found to be very effective in the treatment of tinea and other fungal infections.

Athletes Nutrition.

To boost your athletic performance and enable yourself to train to the best of your abilities, you need to sort out your nutrition.

You can significantly improve your performance by eating the right mix of complex and simple carbohydrates. Getting the right balance will give you an energy boost just when you need it and it is not as hard to achieve as it might sound. To be able to do this you will need to work out your foods glycaemic index.

The glycemic index is a ranking of carbohydrates based on their immediate effect on blood glucose (blood sugar) levels.

This is important for an athlete as Low GI foods keep you fuller for longer and Low GI can prolong physical endurance.

A high GI value is70 or more
A medium GIvalue is 56-69
A low GIvalue is less than 55

Information for the informed athelete:

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