The last post on Supplements surely elicited “feedback”, more like “fallout” as it may be, depending on the ages of readers and their “sources”. This additional post will address my “safe” recommendations for supplementation of an athlete’s diet based on the “individual” NEEDS of each athlete.
First, and foremost, let me state again that athletes
who have a well-balanced diet, with adequate amounts of quality protein (mix of
egg, whey, meats, fish, milk) for their size and sport ‘s training
requirements and optimal levels of carbohydrate and fat for fuel and the
all bodily systems’ maintenance, DO NOT
NEED TO USE PROTEIN SUPPLEMENTS.
Before addressing the other types of supplementation that have
been shown to be of value to athletes, I would love to direct your
attention to Dr. Mosley’s statement: "Almost every single nutrient imaginable has peer reviewed
publications associating it with almost any outcome"---Dr. Michael Mosley,
Science Journalist
This brings me to a point that I needed
to make in my last post with a more clear and concise recommendation: “critical
evaluation of a product’s ingredients label AND manufacturer’s
reputation” should precede any purchase and ingestion of a supplement.”
In addition to CRITICALLY READING
LABELS FOR INGREDIENTS, the ingredients should be checked by accessing both
World and USA Anti-doping Agency lists of banned substances AT>>> http://www.usada.org/substances/prohibited-list/ AT>>> AND
http://www.usada.org/substances/prohibited-list/athlete-guide/ http://www.usada.org/substances/prohibited-list/athlete-guide/ BEFORE
purchasing and ingesting ANY supplement.
THE most critical evaluation SHOULD focus
on EACH ATHLETE’S dietary intake to ASSESS if there is indeed a lack of Macro
or Micronutrients that can be corrected with a simple addition of foods that
are high in the nutrients deemed to be lacking in the diet.
There are, however, supplements that
have proven to be of benefit to hard training athletes, regardless of how
balanced their diet may be. These can be divided into supplements for ENDURANCE
ATHLETES and STRENGTH-POWER-SPEED ATHLETES.
SUPPLEMENTS FOR ENDURANCE SPORTS
Since ENDURANCE Sport athletes burn
incredible amounts of energy on a daily basis, which tend to stress their
recovery and regeneration processes in addition to replacing vital nutrients in
the quickest and most efficient methods. Regardless of the hundreds of
advertisements and wide array of products that are marketed to ENDURANCE
athletes, only a limited number of supplements HAVE ENOUGH “QUALITY,
PEER-REVEIWED RESEARCH” TO SUPPORT their inclusion in the daily diets of
athletes.
These include: 1) Carbohydrate-Electrolyte Solutions, 2) Caffeine and 3) additional Protein
and Carbohydrate foods or Carb-Protein bars, powders or drinks for
consumption within 1-2 hours post-exercise/training.
In addition, Endurance Sport athletes
may wish to use buffering agents for
performance enhancement during competition. It is best to try these buffering agents during training before
using them in competition. However, consistent use during training is not
recommended as the bodies adaptation to training may be comprised if buffering agents are consistently used
in training, thus limiting the body’s ability to enhance it’s own buffering
capacity through training.
Sodium
Bicarbonate and Sodium Citrate and Beta-alanine have
proven to be effective and safe buffering
agents. In addition, Beet Juice and
leafy green vegetables added to the diet may provide effective raising of nitrogen
levels which have been shown to make endurance type activities MORE EFFICIENT
(by reducing the oxygen cost of muscle contraction).
SUPPLEMENTS FOR STRENGTH-POWER-SPEED
ATHLETES
Strength-Power-Speed athletes can improve performance with
1) enhancement of strength levels, 2) gain in lean tissue mass and 3)
improvements in anaerobic power capacities. Supplements that have proven to be
safe and effective for these purposes include creatine, buffering agents (discussed above), caffeine and additional dietary protein.
In my previous post on Supplements, caffeine intake of 1-3 mg/Kg of body weight taken prior to exercise
proved to increase work capacity in both ENDURANCE and POWER exercise
performance. So-called Energy Drinks,
even with caffeine levels that fall within the 1-3 mg/Kg recommendations,
should be carefully studied for “other” sources of “stimulants” that are added
to caffeine TO PRODUCE A HIGHER STIMULANT EFFECT ON THE Central Nervous
and Neuromuscular systems. Many of the combinations of stimulants in Energy
Drinks have caused serious heart reactions, muscular tremors, etc. and should
be avoided.
Addition dietary Protein,
a proven benefit to Power-Strength athletes, may be of value in powder form or
additional protein foods added to
the diet depending on whether the diet meets the recommended allowances of 1.5-1.8 grams/Kg body wt./ day for
Strength-Power sport athletes.
Since creatine
was covered in detail with the additional article added to my last post I will
only add a few comments here. Creatine
is present in sufficient amounts of most red
meats and some seafood sources. Therefore, those athletes whose diet
contains consistently high intakes of these two sources, may not benefit from creatine supplementation.
However, in my experience with collegiate and high school
females (16 years with collegiate female sprinters/hurdlers/throwers/jumpers),
I found that the female athletes
benefitted to a much greater degree than males. This may have been due to
either low intake of red meats and
seafood AND/OR lower caloric intakes
in general. I HIGHLY recommend creatine
supplementation for female Strength-Power-Speed athletes IF taken in the right
quantity and at the appropriate time.
Creatine should
be taken after workouts with
ingestion of a carb-protein liquid (chocolate milk is fine) or mix of
carb-protein foods. My most recent
collegiate, female sprinters/hurdlers/throwers used Muscle Milk, as it was easy to transport or have on hand for use
directly after workouts and had the appropriate mix of carb to protein ratio. Creatine dose after workouts should be
3-4 grams for sprinters, hurdlers, jumpers and 5-6 grams for throwers (mainly
larger body mass types) PER day for 30 DAYS. I advise no creatine supplementation for a week before resuming the above
protocol. This washing out period allows for the body’s adaptation process to
enhance the enzymatic qualities
necessary to utilize creatine
quicker and more efficiently (creatine
kinase utilization).
The greatest recommendation I can give concerning training
and competitive performance enhancement IS TO ADOPT A CONSISTENT AND BALANCED
DIET by including 5-7 servings of fruits
and vegetables (striving to get as many different, bright colored
varieties), 3-5 servings of quality
protein sources, 4-6 servings of “unprocessed,
unrefined carbohydrate sources and 3
servings of foods high in Omega-6
and Omega-3 Fat sources with a ratio of 1:1 or 2:1 Omega-6 to Omega-3.
You can, of course review my posts on FATS and Carbohydrates
for ideas of food sources high in both types of FAT.
Lastly, I wish to WARN against the outrageous claims
and unsafe products that ARE available online and in gyms, fitness center
vending machines, etc. To aid against
all the unsafe and unreliable products that are BEING sold at alarmingly high
rates, I am providing a list of web-based resources that you can check that I
have found credible.
Remember to always
check the WADA and USADA web sites given above first, and then use the list
below to further evaluate before buying any supplement. ALSO, AVOID SUPPLEMENTS
THAT ARE MANUFACTURED IN CHINA. I buy German Creatine because of it’s reliably
high and HPLC tested quality. China has been a consistent source of “tainted”
supplements and should be avoided as a source of ANY type of supplement.
Web sites belong to
Nutrition or Supplement or Fitness Products SHOULD not be used to evaluate or
buy supplements!!! Use those below AFTER CHECKING WADA/USADA sites.
Bottom line; you cannot rely on what others tell
you when it comes to putting something into your body…no matter how ripped,
cut, massive or impressive they may be.
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