Blood-Building Minerals
And what of the minerals other than iron? Zinc and copper have both been added. Zinc was included because it works with B6 in many functions. Copper is essential in small amounts to form hemoglobin.5 Cytochrome oxidase also contains copper, so copper is needed in the energy-producing respiratory cycle.6 I believe zinc and copper should be in an 8 to 1 ratio; In-vigerol is balanced to match this. Zinc deficiencies have also been reported to cause anemia.7
Manganese is a common mineral deficiency. It’s important in the metabolism of protein (hemoglobin) and nucleic acids (RNA and DNA). We have included manganese because of its role in the formation of thyroid hormone (thyroxine). Thyroxine is vital in maintaining body temperature. With a drop in temperature, red blood cell formation decreases rapidly; thus, low levels of thyroxine may aggravate an anemic condition. Manganese has other benefits. It activates enzymes necessary for the utilization of choline, Vitamin C, biotin and thiamine. These all play a role in iron metabolism.
Molybdenum is a trace element essential to copper metabolism. There is a relationship between the ratios of copper, iron and molybdenum. It is involved in the conversion of purines to uric acid; thus it’s important in energy metabolism (ATP).
Overt Vitamin C deficiency (scurvy) causes anemia. The conversion of folactin to folinic acid requires vitamins C and B12. As mentioned before, folic acid deficiency causes megaloblastic anemia. Vitamin C regulates the respiratory cycle, and thus the energy production in mitochondria. It increases iron absorption and the movement of plasma iron to tissue storage sites. And Vitamin C acts to keep iron in the reduced state so that it can bind to its plasma transfer proteins (transferrin).8
Invigerol also provides proteins — 200 mg. of free amino acids containing all eight essential ones. Why? Because Joe Weider and I know that iron cannot produce hemoglobin without protein. In fact, all iron in the body is combined with protein. The protein in Invigerol includes 10 mg. of the amino acid isoleucine.
Chronic anemia can be produced in rats by feeding them a diet deficient in isoleucine.9 When isoleucine defi-
ciency was corrected, growth improved and the anemia disappeared. In protein-deficient children, anemia may be unresponsive to iron, yet it can be remedied by increasing protein intake.10 Since desiccated liver is a particularly rich source of protein, iron, and other vitamins and minerals, we’ve also made it part of the Invigerol formula.
If you suspect you have any type of anemia, you should consult your family physician immediately. But to avoid anemia and boost your energy and power for consistent, rugged workouts, you should make certain that your blood is well fortified. Invigerol is designed to do just that. I believe it makes other iron supplements obsolete.
A bodybuilder depends on his or her blood to deliver the necessary nutrients throughout the body. If your blood’s not doing its job, neither can you. □
BIBLIOGRAPHY
- 1. Hospital Practice, March 1980, pg. 66.
- 2. “Minerals, Kill or Cure,” pg. 91-107.
- 3. Hospital Practice, March 1980, pg. 66.
- 4. Hospital Practice, March 1980, pg. 66.
- 5. Hospital Practice, March 1980.
- 6. Conn and Stumpt, Outlines of Biochemistry, pg. 321-324.
- “Minerals, Kill or Cure,” pg. 91-107.
- Pfeiffer, Mental and Elemental Nutrients.
9. Schroeder, Trace Elements and Man.
10. Pfeiffer, Mental and Elemental Nutri
ents.
LISA LYON
(Continued from page 56)
at Gold’s Gym to celebrate their agreement with Caesars Palace to co-promote last September’s American Female Bodybuilding championships. There Lisa had met some of the more muscularly endowed members of the gym.
“I couldn’t believe what I saw,” she said. “It’s physiologically impossible for a woman to develop muscles such as I saw at Gold’s. Those women must be taking steroids.”
She refused to accept the idea that some women have a better disposition for muscle development than others and therefore they are able to build large muscles without taking drugs.
Only half the premise was true, she said. Some women were naturally bigger than others. But there is a big difference between a big woman and a woman who resembles a man. Lisa said the women bodybuilders she
sees are not only big but manly, with massive arms, pectorals and thighs. “Women simply do not have the hormones to develop muscles like men, naturally.”
But she believes women have the right to do with their bodies exactly what pleases them. She feels like a mother whose sons have taken partners she does not approve of. No matter how that mother feels, she must respect her sons’ right to choose their wives without interference from her.
“I helped to create the sport of female bodybuilding,” says Lisa. “I was free to build the kind of body I like. I was finally accepted by the public. But had they spurned me, I still would have continued training my way.
“Other women have the same right to develop the kind of body that makes them feel good. They can use weights to enhance their natural form, or they can go the way of the female bodybuilding champions that I saw on television the other day.
“There is a definite abuse of drugs in bodybuilding these days,” said Lisa. “It was bad enough when only the men used steroids. But now it’s horrifying to discover that female bodybuilders have joined the drug queue. It’s too awful to contemplate. Bodybuilding is supposed to be about survival, about improving the species. Don’t these people care about impotence and sterility? What about the risk of having mentally retarded children? And these are just some of the possible side effects of steroid abuse.”
While recognizing the right of women to do as they want with their own bodies, Lisa nevertheless feels a certain responsibility. She had received popular acclaim from other women when in fact she expected resentment and resistance. After all, this was an era of competitive women. They could have been catty at her public appearances. They could have envied her success. Instead Lisa had received much appreciation and admiration from other women. And many had followed her example.
“Out of love,” she says, “I feel duty-bound to let women know they are risking their physical and mental well-being when they turn to drugs to accomplish things Nature never intended their bodies to do. Big muscular shoulders have always been a hallmark of the male physique. But now some women are bent on developing deltoids that few men had before the age of steroids. It’s so sad.”
When female bodybuilding was first organized as a sport, Lisa was Chairperson of the International Federation
