As a child how many times did you hear: “eat your
fruits and veggies!”? As an adult, particularly as an
athlete, eating fruits and vegetables is one of the only
significant ways to get some of what the body needs
from its food. Why? Because organically grown, antioxidant-
rich fruits and vegetables represent one of the
only nutritious food sources readily available. Unfortunately,
getting your well-balanced daily servings of nutrient-
rich food is a difficult task as most commercially
processed foods are stripped of nutritional value and,
worse yet, potentially full of toxins due to overuse of
fertilizers, pesticides, and herbicides. Th is combination
of over-processing and contamination not only fills our
restaurants but also our supermarkets with high-calorie
and/or high-glycemic and low-nutrient food options.
Therefore, you have to be more diligent than ever to
make quality food choices. And, as an athlete, to ensure
peak performance and to ward off chronic degenerative
diseases, you need to appropriately supplement a well balanced,
whole food-based diet for optimal nutrient
levels.
In the world of serious and professional sports, supplements
are arguably one of the most misunderstood
and overwhelming topics. Adding to the confusion is
the constant influx of the “next best thing” products,
making too-good-to-be-true claims. Because athletes
are always looking for an edge, they are often easy prey
for the billion-dollar supplement industry marketing
gurus. So what exactly are supplements? Are they
replacements for whole foods, as some manufacturers
would have you believe? By design, supplements should
supplement, filling in the nutritional gaps of a quality
diet. Generally, these nutritional gaps are seen as a lack
of vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. However for
athletes, a lack of foods that enhance metabolism and
prevent catabolism are also viewed as deficiencies.
The RDA and Optimal
Levels of Intake
When examining nutritional deficiencies you need to be
aware of the void between the Recommended Dietary/
Daily Allowance (RDA) and Optimal Levels of nutrient
intake of vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. The
RDA suggests standard intake levels to meet the minimum
nutrient requirements for the majority of healthy
individuals. In contrast, optimal levels are generally
much higher than the RDA, and are based on what your
body needs to function relative to your activity level
and to avoid chronic degenerative diseases, like heart
disease and cancer. In some cases, optimal nutrient levels
can be as much as thirty times greater than the RDA.
Because of strenuous physical demands, athletes consistently
require optimal levels of most nutrients. However,
to meet the optimal nutrient levels in some cases
would require eating a substantial amount of foods rich
in the needed nutrients. Th is is just not possible in most
situations. Consequently, adding a high-quality multivitamin
and mineral complex to your diet can ensure
optimal levels of nutrients for recovery from intense activities
and to boost your body’s immune system.
Another obstacle to filling nutritional gaps is an athletes’
schedule. Many times fast food, caffeine, and long
gaps between meals are the common daily routine. Athletes
need foods that will sustain their energy over long
periods, not create roller coasters of blood sugar highs
and lows. As such, you should always try to avoid high-glycemic
carbohydrates, regardless of the time of day.
The glycemic index (GI) measures a food’s immediate
effect on blood sugar (2). The GI is based on a 1 to
100-point scale with pure glucose at 100. Refer to the
table 1 to view ratings on representative foods. High-GI
foods of 70 or more, like white bread, potatoes, jelly beans, and corn
flakes are converted to glucose quickly (2). While low-GI
foods of 55 or less, such as rolled oats, apples, pasta, and yogurt are
converted slowly (1). Making good quality low-
GI carbohydrate choices throughout the day can
maintain your energy levels naturally and eliminate
the need for caffeine and other stimulants.
| Representative Food | Glycemic Index Rating |
| Glucose | 100 |
| Sucrose (table sugar) | 61 |
| Fructose (fruit sugar) | 19 |
| Cake Doughnut | 76 |
| Bran Muffin | 60 |
| Corn flakes | 92 |
| Apple | 38 |
| Baked Potato | 85 |
| Spaghetti | 44 |
| Banana | 52 |
| Carrots | 47 |
| Orange Juice | 52 |
| Bagel, white | 72 |
| Skim Milk | 32 |
| Spinach | 0 |
| Peanuts | 14 |
In addition to the GI, athletes should be acutely
aware of the importance of protein in the building
and repair of muscle. High-quality protein
sources contain at least twice as much protein as
fat. For example, a meat source with 10 grams of
fat and 20 grams of protein is considered high
quality but another protein source with a 10 to
10 ratio is considered only moderate to low quality.
So chunk light tuna in water with 15 grams
of protein and less than one gram of fat is an
excellent source. Conversely, your typical fast food
cheeseburger with 20 grams of protein and
a whopping 50 grams of fat is a poor source.
Although whole foods should be your primary
source of quality calories, due to the demands
of your schedule combined with many of the
obstacles outlined above, the right foods will
not always be accessible. Th is makes nutritional
supplements a necessary adjunct to your diet.
Th ere are many meal replacement shakes and
nutrition bars marketed to athletes but they are
not all alike. Look for products that are low GI,
low fat, high fiber, and protein rich. Just keep
in mind when supplementing your meals and
snacks that you are striving to maintain a well balanced
diet that consists of quality proteins,
low-glycemic carbohydrates and a multitude of
fruits and vegetables.
The Use of Supplements by Athletes
Despite research and supporting evidence that
supplementing a healthy diet is necessary to attain
optimal nutrient levels for sports performance,
many athletes still avoid supplements
altogether or simply jump from one product to
the next with marketing trends. There are three
primary reasons for this phenomenon:
• Misconceptions about dietary needs.
• Fear of banned substances.
• Lack of sports-certified products.
As mentioned previously, many athletes are not
aware of the difference between the Recommended
Dietary/Daily Allowance (RDA) and
optimal levels. Nor do they know the extent of
over processing and its nutrient-depleting affect
on foods. Also, safety is always a top concern
for athletes. Among those who understand the
need for supplementation, many are scared off
by fear of banned substances. Unfortunately,
this fear is not unwarranted as quality control
in manufacturing of nutritional supplements
has only been loosely regulated since the implementation
of the US Dietary Supplementation
and Health Education Act of 1994.
As a result of the act, there are currently no US regulations
that enforce minimum standards of practice, no
requirements for pre-market approval, no post-market
surveillance, and no site licensing or
product licensing required for the manufacturing
of dietary supplements in the US (3). This
leaves quality and content basically unregulated,
resulting in a supplement market flooded with
ineffective products due to lack of proper formulation
& dissolution properties and products
with contents that do not match labeled ingredients.
In December 2007 the results of a study overseen
by Informed-Choice, a nonprofit coalition
of dietary supplements, and conducted by HFL,
a British company, were released to the press.
(1), Of 52 supplements purchased and tested by
HFL, a quarter of the supplements contained
traces of steroids and 11.5% had banned stimulants.
This study came out only five years after the International Olympic Committee (IOC)
sampled 240 supplements purchased in America,
revealing 18.8% contained steroids.(1) We can
never be sure if the companies are intentionally
adding banned substances in hopes of boosting
product effectiveness, or if the machinery is just
not properly cleaned between different productions.
Regardless, the results are products that
unsuspecting athletes assume are safe additions
to their training and recovery programs, but
could cause positive banned-substance tests.
Over the last decade banned substance testing
has increased at all levels of competition, including
high school, collegiate, and professional
sports. Th is elevated level of testing has made
supplement use a “buyer-beware” business and
prompted numerous sports organizations to
institute certification standards. For example,
the National Football League (NFL) and Major
League Baseball (MLB) have both adopted a
certification program for supplements that relies
on the independent testing company NSF. NSF
Certified for Sport™ nutritional supplements
are tested for accuracy in labeling as well as
banned substances. Under NFL and MLB policies,
teams can not supply players with uncertified products;
however, players are free to make
individual purchases of uncertified products at
their own risk.
Use of only certified products greatly eases athletes’
anxiety over choosing supplements but it
also greatly limits supplement options. Currently,
there are as few as 20 certified products listed
on the MLB approved list and only three multivitamins.
Ideally, athletes should not deviate
from certified products; however, due to limited
availability you might elect to take uncertified
products. In that case, it is wise to consume only
those products that have voluntarily followed
the Good Manufacturing Process that reflects
the pharmaceutical model and are considered
pharmaceutical grade as opposed to merely FDA
regulated.
Although athletes should always take a foodbfirst
approach to their diet, less than adequate
food sources and demanding schedules have created
a need for quality supplementation to enhance
performance, speed recovery, and prevent
chronic degenerative disease. Yet the quality and
safety of nutritional products will continue to
be a major concern until more stringent production
standards are imposed across the supplement
industry. Until then, you should make a
concerted effort to use only those products from
companies like USANA that are willing to self impose more
stringent regulations and meet certification requirements
to set themselves apart from the rest
of the market. As a matter of fact, USANA offers a $1 million guarantee
that if you use their products, you will not test positive for any banned
substances. Check it out HERE.
Nonetheless, you should always
closely monitor your diet and make whole food
choices that consist of a balance of fruits and
vegetables, low-glycemic carbohydrates, and
high-quality protein.
