19 yo, shin splints and wasted leg muscles.

[Ratatopo]

You are probably are not getting enough sodium. This is the issue that comes up in people who start to eat better. Natural whole foods are all low sodium. This is why 50 year olds seem to have more endurance than you. Its not endurance. Its just you don't get enough sodium so your muscles can't do what you want them to do.

Most people eat a lot of processed foods which are all high in sodium. This is why stopping coffee helped, because caffeine increase sodium excretion through kidneys even more. Problem is if you do endurance sports of any kind, you will notice the hyponatremia more because your muscles need to contract hundreds of times over hours.

Without enough sodium, you will not be able to contract muscles properly because sodium is needed to send signals from the brain to the muscles to contract. Also your muscles will swell because they will fill with fluid as the fluid in your blood will be attracted to the salt inside your cells, instead of staying outside your cells in the blood where it should be.

You may be shaking salt on your food every meal but thats probably not enough. You need to get way more sodium especially for endurance sports where you are active for a long time and you need even more if your sweating a lot on top of it. The large muscles in the leg suffer the most because they need the most signal to contract because of their size. Also you shouldn't be using eggshell powder at all since you drink 3 cups of milk a day. That is more than enough calcium, eggshell is pointless. You need way more salt, you can try eating pickles with your meals, and even gatorade while you are playing. And you should try to add more salt in the food you cook. It will not affect the taste as much when you add salt when cooking.

I will try eating more salt and see what hapless, I have been having some in the morning, some with food and some before playing. Thanks

 

[redsun]

I will try eating more salt and see what hapless, I have been having some in the morning, some with food and some before playing. Thanks

I would also suggest using potatoes in your diet for more potassium. You are getting some from juice and milk and those other things but you need to be especially diligent when you exercise to get potassium as well. Potassium is needed to make the muscles relax properly. Without it, they will not work properly either since before a muscle can contract again it has to relax. If they cant relax fast, they will not contract again fast either. Basically the whole contraction-relaxation process will be very slow without enough sodium or potassium for different reasons.

 

[BeanSprouts]

Issues like less than ideal hair for my age and some skin issues, suffered from digestion issues but it has improved with this lifestyle. I digest dairy well.

The shin splints happens if I play 2 days in a row. Overtraining like @BeanSprouts said but I feel like at my age this stuff doesn't happen.

Rereading your initial post, I'm almost certain it's overtraining. You mentioned doing up to 5 hours a day of soccer, then you hit puberty, where your body is now rapidly growing and it couldn't handle all the stress you were putting on it. Moving a 160-pound body for 3+ hours a day is different from a 90-pound kid doing the same thing. I don't know what your current schedule looks like, but if it's anything like your routine as a kid, it's overtraining. You say you think it can't be overtraining because you're only 19, but that's not how it works. Anyone can overtrain.

If you just step off the gas and give yourself some total rest days, I'm sure these symptoms will subside. If you're cramping up, it might be sodium, but I really think it's just a lack of rest. I know how being 19 is; you just want to do stuff every day instead of chill.

 

[jmparret]

Reading about the potassium and sodium is very good for muscle action is important. I suffered from SIBO caused by thyroid and low stomach acid. SIBO complications caused lactose intolerance. Now i have to get my system working better and one of the things i am doing is taking potassium citrate and salt. I got he cure for SIBO from this blog (enteric coated peppermint oil). It worked fast. The funny thing is I was using peppermint oil to get rid of mice.
Joe

 

[S.Holmes]

Google says it is. I live in Florida, USA

I have a filter for the drinking water and shower head but I don't know how effective it is

Steam distilling and reverse osmosis are the only ways I know of that remove it. I use a distiller. Health Effects

 

[Peachy]

Issues like less than ideal hair for my age and some skin issues, suffered from digestion issues but it has improved with this lifestyle. I digest dairy well.

The shin splints happens if I play 2 days in a row. Overtraining like @BeanSprouts said but I feel like at my age this stuff doesn't happen.

Shin splints are really common in the teen years. I remember the kids sidelined with them when I did high school track. Right now you just need the day in between to heal up and stick to light activity, as frustrating as that may be. Glad your digestion has improved!