IOC consensus statement : dietary supplements and the high-performance athlete
Date
04/2018Author
Metadata
Show full item recordAltmetrics Handle Statistics
Altmetrics DOI Statistics
Abstract
Nutrition usually makes a small but potentially valuable contribution to successful performance in elite athletes, and dietary supplements can make a minor contribution to this nutrition programme. Nonetheless, supplement use is widespread at all levels of sport. Products described as supplements target different issues, including (1) the management of micronutrient deficiencies, (2) supply of convenient forms of energy and macronutrients, and (3) provision of direct benefits to performance or (4) indirect benefits such as supporting intense training regimens. The appropriate use of some supplements can benefit the athlete, but others may harm the athlete's health, performance, and/or livelihood and reputation (if an antidoping rule violation results). A complete nutritional assessment should be undertaken before decisions regarding supplement use are made. Supplements claiming to directly or indirectly enhance performance are typically the largest group of products marketed to athletes, but only a few (including caffeine, creatine, specific buffering agents and nitrate) have good evidence of benefits. However, responses are affected by the scenario of use and may vary widely between individuals because of factors that include genetics, the microbiome and habitual diet. Supplements intended to enhance performance should be thoroughly trialled in training or simulated competition before being used in competition. Inadvertent ingestion of substances prohibited under the antidoping codes that govern elite sport is a known risk of taking some supplements. Protection of the athlete's health and awareness of the potential for harm must be paramount; expert professional opinion and assistance is strongly advised before an athlete embarks on supplement use.
Citation
Maughan , R J , Burke , L M , Dvorak , J , Larson-Meyer , D E , Peeling , P , Phillips , S M , Rawson , E S , Walsh , N P , Garthe , I , Geyer , H , Meeusen , R , van Loon , L J C , Shirreffs , S M , Spriet , L L , Stuart , M , Vernec , A , Currell , K , Ali , V M , Budgett , R G M , Ljungqvist , A , Mountjoy , M , Pitsiladis , Y P , Soligard , T , Erdener , U & Engebretsen , L 2018 , ' IOC consensus statement : dietary supplements and the high-performance athlete ' , British Journal of Sports Medicine , vol. 52 , no. 7 , pp. 439-455 . https://doi.org/10.1136/bjsports-2018-099027
Publication
British Journal of Sports Medicine
Status
Peer reviewed
ISSN
0306-3674Type
Journal article
Rights
© 2018 the Author(s). This is an Open Access article distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Collections
Items in the St Andrews Research Repository are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.