In this article, we will guide you through how vitamins affect muscle elasticity and flexibility. We will be also revealing the 4 best vitamins for muscle elasticity.
Often we tend to marvel at the way our body moves, twists and turns without breaking. Even when we engage in strenuous tasks like carrying an excessively heavy load, or engaging in tedious exercise, our body carries us through. Most of these activities we engage in are made possible because of our muscles and joints soundness.
What is Muscle Elasticity?
When you apply force to a muscle, you will notice shrinkage of size. Muscle elasticity is the ability to return a muscle to its original shape and size before a force was applied.
It is also the ability of a muscle to perform physical works by contracting and relaxing simultaneously.
Why is Muscle Elasticity Important?
Maintaining a good muscle flexibility is important for healthy living. That also gives many other benefits too, like:
- You will have enhanced freedom of movement
Good muscle elasticity improves muscles and joints. It will improve the connective tissue around your muscles and joints, thereby giving you freedom of movement whilst enabling you to perform different physical activities.
- Muscle elasticity increases resistance to muscle soreness and injury
- It prevents low back pain and other spinal problems
- Muscle elasticity helps you maintain and have a good postural alignment
- Muscle elasticity helps you maintain and have a graceful body movement.
- It will also help you maintain high motor skills throughout life.
- Having good muscle elasticity helps you stretch accordingly, and it has been proven to be effective in treating painful menstruation.
Tip: This is the complete article on How to Increase Muscle Elasticity.
Importance of Muscle Elasticity for People with Diabetes
People with diabetes constantly battle with high glucose levels. Having good muscle elasticity helps you engage in good stretch exercises that keep you healthy because exercising is an excellent way to support maintaining a balanced glucose level.
Here are some benefits of muscle elasticity for those with diabetes.
- Muscle elasticity helps people with diabetes use their insulin effectively
The major hormone that produces glucose in our body is Insulin. Glucose is the main source of energy to the body. As Insulin is producing glucose, some of them get used while others are stored.
For diabetics, efficient use of the glucose produced by Insulin is important to keep them from having a high glucose level. When the muscles are stretched by engaging in stretch exercises, it enables more glucose to be pumped into the muscle. This will, in turn, keep the glucose level down, and it is very good for diabetics.
- Muscle elasticity helps in absorbing more sugar
When you engage in stretch exercises, it helps your muscle absorb more glucose. When you are done with your training, your muscles keep using glucose, and this will help keep your glucose level down for hours after your exercise.
- Muscle elasticity can help in weight loss
Engaging in exercises can help improve the rate at which you burn calories.
For diabetics, the lesser the calories, the healthier they become. When you constantly long-term stretch your muscle, it will definitely help you burn down your calories and body mass.
- Muscle elasticity helps to reduce the risk of heart diseases
Heart disease is very common for people with type 2 diabetes. Engaging in regular exercise can help reduce some of the risk factors that cause heart diseases like high calories and high blood sugar.
When you exercise regularly, you will lower your blood sugar and your calories, thereby helping you prevent further complications of heart disease.
- Muscle elasticity can help strengthen your bones
Owing to the fact that diabetics have a high sugar level, that glucose usually attaches to the proteins in their bones thereby causing bone weakness and affects their bone structure. This is why people with diabetes very much prone to bone fractures.
Improved muscle activities can help improve your bone strength, thereby reducing your chances of fractures and falls.
Tip: Stick with Type 2 Diabetes Food List.
What Causes Muscles to Loose Elasticity?
Part of our physiological composition entails that as we age, we lose some of our elasticity and flexibility. This can result from loss of water in our spines and tissues, increased stiffness in your joints, as well as the loss of elasticity throughout the muscle tendons and surrounding tissues.
Consequences of Poor Muscle Elasticity
The common problem with loss of elasticity is that it will prevent us from carrying out our normal everyday function. You will no longer feel the need to engage in activities you once enjoyed because you don’t feel flexible enough to do so. This alone can even cause greater loss of function because the body operates on the principle of use and disuse.
When we don’t use our muscle, we tend to lose strength leading to increased loss of flexibility of the muscle.
Although we cannot prevent loss of function and flexibility that comes with aging, we can prevent loss of function due to disuse.
How Can We Prevent Loss of Flexibility?
The most important step towards achieving this is by keeping active. It is normal for you to experience slower walking speed, shortened walking step, back pain and falls. Nevertheless, keeping active can help increase your walking step. This can be achieved by stretching the front hip muscle and engaging in other little stretch exercises.
Roles of Vitamins in Improving Muscle Elasticity and Flexibility
The role of vitamins in maintaining our muscles elasticity can’t be overemphasized. Vitamins play various roles, which includes;
- Vitamins contain antioxidants that help in promoting joint health.
- Vitamins help to repair scarring, which affects muscle elasticity.
- Vitamins contribute to making proteins that are part of joint cartilage.
- Vitamins help in improving the immune system, thereby fighting viruses and bacteria.
- Vitamins help in maintaining muscle elasticity.
- Vitamins help in preventing injuries to tendons.
- Vitamins enhance joint and muscle strength, thereby aiding flexibility.
4 Best Vitamins for Muscle Elasticity
All vitamins in the body have their specific roles. They all function jointly to give perfect heath.
Nevertheless, some of them have an exclusive function of helping to promote muscle elasticity and flexibility
Vitamin D
For your muscle to remain elastic and flexible, you must protect your tendons and ligaments at all cost. Any damage to the tendons or ligaments will immediately halt your muscle elasticity and lead to other complications.
Vitamin D works with calcium to enhance joint and bone strength, thereby leading to flexibility. Taking enough vitamin D will help keep your muscles flexible.
To get an adequate amount of vitamin D, you need to source them from dairy products like milk and yogurts. You can also source them from fish and fish oil.
Also, your body can naturally get vitamin D from the sun once your skin is exposed to morning sunlight. Nevertheless, if you are to settle constantly for this natural source, then you must protect your skin with sunscreens to avoid skin complications.
Vitamin B
Vitamin B is the largest range of vitamins, is made of a complex number of vitamins. They are shown to improve muscle flexibility and prevent certain muscle and bone diseases.
Niacin has been proven to prevent osteoarthritis. Since this vitamin prevents many diseases, it is highly recommended because one of the things that can stop our muscle flexibility is diseases. So once you can fight against diseases, then your chances of having increased muscle elasticity are greatly enhanced.
You can source vitamin B from eggs, soy beans, wheat germs, whole grain cereals, lentils, peanuts, meats, fish, legumes and bananas.
Vitamin B-6 stands out amongst other vitamins in maintaining muscles and joints.
- Vitamin B-6 helps in tendonitis
Tendonitis is a condition in which your tendons and ligaments are inflamed. Tendons and ligaments connect your muscles to bones and connect your muscle to one another.
Once there is tendonitis, muscle elasticity will be greatly affected. Symptoms of this tendonitis includes: pains, stiffness, joint swelling and high sensitivity.
The major causes of tendonitis are overuse of joints, injuries, repetitive movements.
Vitamin B-6 doesn’t cure tendonitis, but It helps to reduce the symptoms, thereby protecting your muscle and aiding elasticity. Nevertheless, if you feel your muscle elasticity is compromised due to tendonitis, it is important that you talk to your physician before taking vitamin B-6.
- Vitamin B-6 plays a role in metabolism
Proteins and amino acids are building blocks for muscles and connective tissues to maintain muscle elasticity.
Vitamin helps in the metabolism of proteins and amino acids, so having enough proteins and amino acids will help prevent injuries and help in the repair of your tendons.
- Vitamin B-6 and your immune system
Virus cells, bacteria and fungus can cause infections in the body. These infections can cause damage to the cells of your tendons and ligaments. They may also cause inflammation and joint stiffness. Your immune system helps in fighting these viruses and bacteria in your body that causes infections.
The role of Vitamin B-6 is to improve your immune system function by stimulating white blood cell production. This white blood cell will help to fight bacteria, fungus and viruses that cause infection.
Vitamin C
Proteins are very necessary for good joint health. When you lack proteins, then you are bound to have complications, especially with your joints. When your joints are affected, then your muscle elasticity is affected too.
Vitamin C contributes to making proteins that are part of joint cartilage. Having enough Vitamin C intake can improve your protein level and also improve the state of your joints. You can source vitamin C from cantaloupe, broccoli, cabbage, citrus, mangoes, cauliflowers, red pepper, spinach, strawberry.
Vitamin E
Vitamin E is said to contain some antioxidant which can help in joint health. Vitamin E can help relieve pains for people with osteoarthritis that can stretch their muscles.
Vitamin E also repairs internal scarring, which affects muscle elasticity and also repairs connective tissues.
Other Useful Supplements To Promote Muscle Flexibility
Asides from vitamins, the are various other supplements that can also improve our muscle flexibility. They can all be gotten easily; our role is just to source them and incorporate them for better flexibility.
Turmeric
Turmeric has anti-inflammatory effects. It also has the ability of circulation-boosting effect. It is a plant very similar to ginger.
Turmeric was originally thought to only serve as a pain reducer, but recent studies have shown that turmeric also has anti-inflammatory effects.
The active ingredients in turmeric is curcumin. It can be found in supplement form or whole root form.
Pains in the muscles and joints generally reduce flexibility because you can’t do anything with your joints as you will experience sharp pain. So taking turmeric will help you reduce the pain and also increase flexibility. A little tunic to your diet can help prevent inflammation and keep your joints in good shape.
Serrapeptase
Serrapeptase is an enzyme. The bacteria that produce it are found in silkworm.
For a long time, Serrapeptase has been used to reduce pains and inflammations in the joints. Serrapeptase also has the ability to break down scar tissues from previous injuries.
Glucosamine
Our joint cartilage naturally has a compound called glucosamine that helps in cushioning or promoting the strength and flexibility of the joints. For people who have arthritis and joint pains, the effect of this glucosamine is reduced, thereby leading to friction in the joints.
Asides from arthritis, aging also reduces glucosamine in our joints. This loss of glucosamine in the joints reduces the cushioning effect, leads to increased pain and inflammation.
To curb this effect, you can source this glucosamine from the shellfish exoskeleton and fermented grain and take it in supplement form. With consistent use of the supplement, the pain and swelling in the joint will be reduced, and the range of motion will be improved.
Glucosamine is sometimes combined with methylsulfunylmethane
(MSM). This MSM is sulphur necessary in the formation of connective tissue. It will further help it reduce pain and improve joint repair.
Wintergreen
Winter green is generally known for its well minty scented oil. But apart from that, it has other amazing benefits as it pertains to our joints and muscles.
For people suffering from muscles and joint discomfort, applying winter green to the skin helps to serve as a counter irritant to save the muscles and joints. As a counter-irritant, it works by causing irritation that helps in reducing discomfort and swelling in the underlying tissue. It had worked in muscle soreness and rheumatism.
Another great benefit of winter green is that it brings about relaxation once it is applied to the skin.
Menthol
Menthol is a herbal oil commonly used in the treatment of so many ailments. This is due to it’s anti-inflammatory and cooling property. It is a natural and effective pain relieve and it functions by bringing a soothing relief to inflamed joints and increasing blood circulation.
Menthol has helped people with arthritis in reducing pain and increasing their joint flexibility. Using menthol will help increase your muscle flexibility once it relieves you of your pain because pain is one major hindrance to muscle flexibility.
Magnesium
Magnesium is a very powerful element in the body. It is responsible for over 300 chemical reactions in the body that occurs every day. It is also very useful in promoting joint health.
It is a natural relaxant that helps in relieving muscle tension, stiffness, and cramping. This will help in relieving the muscles and joints of unnecessary tension and stress.
Magnesium also helps to absorb calcium, thereby preventing calcification in muscles and soft tissues.
It also helps the body to maintain flexibility and movement.
Tip: Here is the full article on Foods You Need To Eat To Improve Muscle Elasticity.
Conclusion
For proper performance of physical exercise and everyday task, muscle elasticity and flexibility is very important. Any compromise with them is a great challenge to our normal functioning. It is very important that you source the vitamins that have been noted to help in the improvement and enhancement of muscle flexibility.
