Dietary supplements encompass a wide range of products, including essential nutrients (vitamins, minerals, proteins, amino acids, etc.), herbals and botanicals, and specific products with potential for maintenance of health and optimisation of performance. The use of dietary supplements is
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International Olympic Committee Expert Group Statement on Dietary Supplements in Athletes
International Olympic Committee Expert Group on Dietary Supplements in Athletes
Dietary Supplementation Habits and Perceptions of Supplement Use Among Elite Finnish Athletes
Anni Heikkinen, Antti Alaranta, Ilkka Helenius, and Tommi Vasankari
The aim of this study was to evaluate the frequency of dietary supplement (DS) use among elite Finnish athletes in 2002 and 2009. In 2009, the authors also wanted to examine the reasons for athletes’ DS use, whether athletes feel they have experienced benefits from their supplement use, and whether athletes had had an opportunity to consult dietary specialists. Cross-sectional studies were conducted in 2002 and 2009 among Finnish Olympic athletes. Data were collected using semistructured questionnaires, mainly in national team camps. The study population in 2002 was 446 athletes, and in 2009 it was 372. The number of DS users was high in both study years (81% in 2002 and 73% in 2009). Vitamin D consumption was low in both 2002 and 2009 (0.7% and 2.0%, respectively). An increase was found in consumption of omega-3 fatty acids between study years (11% in 2002 and 19% in 2009; p = .002), and their regular use nearly doubled (8% and 15%, p = .002). For vitamin and mineral users, the main reason for DS use was to prevent nutritional deficiencies, and for nutritional supplement users the main reason was recovery from exercise. Only 27% of all athletes and 30% of DS users had an opportunity to consult dietary specialists in 2009. This survey shows that supplementation rates among elite Finnish athletes are high and there may be over- and underuse of some micronutrient supplements. There is a need for professional nutritional counseling among national elite athletes.
Dietary Supplements for Health, Adaptation, and Recovery in Athletes
Eric S. Rawson, Mary P. Miles, and D. Enette Larson-Meyer
Several dietary supplements, including carbohydrate, caffeine, creatine monohydrate, nitrate, beta-alanine, and sodium bicarbonate, are well-established performance enhancers (see Peeling et al., 2018 ). Additionally, the beneficial effects of protein on the adaptive response to exercise has been
Contaminants in Dietary Supplements: Toxicity, Doping Risk, and Current Regulation
Jesús Zapata-Linares and Guillermo Gervasini
Since ancient times, performance in sports has been tried to be improved by employing a variety of strategies, including the use of ergogenic aids and dietary supplements ( Jovanov et al., 2019 ). In athletes, the use of supplements is far more common than in the general population, with reported
IOC Consensus Statement: Dietary Supplements and the High-Performance Athlete
Ronald J. Maughan, Louise M. Burke, Jiri Dvorak, D. Enette Larson-Meyer, Peter Peeling, Stuart M. Phillips, Eric S. Rawson, Neil P. Walsh, Ina Garthe, Hans Geyer, Romain Meeusen, Luc van Loon, Susan M. Shirreffs, Lawrence L. Spriet, Mark Stuart, Alan Vernec, Kevin Currell, Vidya M. Ali, Richard G.M. Budgett, Arne Ljungqvist, Margo Mountjoy, Yannis Pitsiladis, Torbjørn Soligard, Uğur Erdener, and Lars Engebretsen
Dietary supplements are used by athletes at all levels of sport, reflecting the prevalence of their use in the wider society. About half of the adult US population uses some form of dietary supplements ( Bailey et al., 2011 ) and, though there are regional, cultural, and economic differences, a
Dietary Supplements for Aquatic Sports
Wim Derave and Kevin D. Tipton
Many athletes use dietary supplements, with use more prevalent among those competing at the highest level. Supplements are often self-prescribed, and their use is likely to be based on an inadequate understanding of the issues at stake. Supplementation with essential micronutrients may be useful when a diagnosed deficiency cannot be promptly and effectively corrected with food-based dietary solutions. When used in high doses, some supplements may do more harm than good: Iron supplementation, for example, is potentially harmful. There is good evidence from laboratory studies and some evidence from field studies to support health or performance benefits from appropriate use of a few supplements. The available evidence from studies of aquatic sports is small and is often contradictory. Evidence from elite performers is almost entirely absent, but some athletes may benefit from informed use of creatine, caffeine, and buffering agents. Poor quality assurance in some parts of the dietary supplements industry raises concerns about the safety of some products. Some do not contain the active ingredients listed on the label, and some contain toxic substances, including prescription drugs, that can cause health problems. Some supplements contain compounds that will cause an athlete to fail a doping test. Supplement quality assurance programs can reduce, but not entirely eliminate, this risk.
Awareness and Attitude Toward Use of Dietary Supplements and the Perceived Outcomes Among Saudi Adult Male Members of Fitness Centers in Saudi Arabia
Hanan A. Alfawaz, Soundararajan Krishnaswamy, Latifah Al-Faifi, Halima Ali Bin Atta, Mohammad Al-Shayaa, Saad A. Alghanim, and Nasser M. Al-Daghri
Dietary supplements are generally believed to enhance athletic performance ( Arensberg et al., 2014 ; Williams, 2004 ) or prevent/reverse pathological diseases ( Rautiainen et al., 2016 ). Dietary supplements include a wide range of substances with some serving as essential nutrients, while others
Athletes and Supplements: Prevalence and Perspectives
Ina Garthe and Ronald J. Maughan
Many athletes, at all levels of competition, place great emphasis on the use of dietary supplements, but of all the factors that determine athletic performance, supplements can play only a very small role. Compared with factors such as talent, training, tactics, and motivation, nutrition has a
“Food First but Not Always Food Only”: Recommendations for Using Dietary Supplements in Sport
Graeme L. Close, Andreas M. Kasper, Neil P. Walsh, and Ronald J. Maughan
individualized dietary strategy to meet those goals, by the manipulation and periodization of fluid and nutrient intake, while also considering the strategic use of appropriate dietary supplements and sports foods.” Although there is no universally accepted definition of what dietary supplements and sports foods
Dietary Supplements for Athletic Performance in Women: Beta-Alanine, Caffeine, and Nitrate
Molly J. Murphy, Blake R. Rushing, Susan J. Sumner, and Anthony C. Hackney
Dietary supplements marketed as “ergogenic aids” are increasingly popular among international and U.S. collegiate and elite-level athletes. Ergogenic dietary supplements are promoted with claims of enhancing performance by improving strength, endurance, or other physiological attributes, though the
