Essentials of Nutrition for Sports

If you need to know about a substance, visit the US Anti-Doping
Agency website at

http://www.usantidoping.org

or call the USADA drug

hotline at 800-233-0393.

If ingested substances are going to improve performance, it is

usually because strength, oxygenation, or anaerobic tolerance is improved. The following is a list of the most common purported ergogenic aids, their properties, side effects, status (banned or not, legal or not, need for prescription), and my recommendations as to their use.

Let me be clear: If a substance is

banned, illegal, or dangerous, it

cannot be recommended.

Most banned substances do not have a beneficial effect on

performance. That is because very few substances, banned or not, improve performance. Very few s

ubstances have been shown to

improve performance over time.

Most newly promoted ergogenics prove disappointing.

Occasionally a study looks promising. More often than not, follow-up studies show little, if any effect.

Indeed, if you were a betting man/woman and always took the

position that the latest thing was useless, you would probably end up ahead.

For information about ergogenic quackery, see page

133

.

Knowledge and Frequency of Use

Many studies of athletes have shown that they have important

deficiencies in knowledge about supplements.

Supplements are used by over 90% of athletes in some sports.

Intakes are higher in men than in women. In high school and college, progressively more athletes use supplements as academic class (freshman through senior) advances. The most popular supplements are vitamins and minerals, creatine, and protein powders.

Vitamin and mineral intakes over 10 times the US

Recommended Daily Allowances (RDA) are common. Excessive RDA intakes are more likely to hurt

, rather than help, performance.

A sample of competitive bodybuilders found that their urine and

blood supplement levels were high enough to place them at high risk for nutrient toxicities.

A study a few years ago found that in one high school about 20%

of male and 1% of female athl

etes used performance enhancing

substances. When asked whether they

would take such substances if

they would guarantee a college scholar

ship but take 20 years off their

lives, 6% said “yes.”

Substance abuse among high school athletes is higher than for

the general high school population. In one study, more than one-fifth of athletes reported having been drunk and 25% having been drinking and driving in the last month.

Studies show that about 50% of college students take or use

aspirin, caffeine, rubdown ointments, sports drinks, or vitamins to help with sport performance.

US college wrestlers widely use supplements. Almost 40% take

creatine, 30% protein powders, 5% androstenedione, 15% caffeine, and 5% ephedrine. The NCAA

bans some supplements.

About 80% of Navy Seals take nutritional supplements. 20% of athletes in one study used supplements, but were unable

to explain why—for what purpose, or what they were hoping to achieve.

Nutrition for Sports, Essentials of 110