Supplements Flashcards
What is a supplement?
A food, food component, nutrient or non-food compound that is purposefully ingested in addition to the habitually consumed diet with the aim of achieving a specific health and/or performance (ie. something that is added to the diet)
Are supplements increasing?
Yes, almost doubled in size. Huge marketing
What are low and high risk supplements?
Pre workout supplements are higher risk than ones in the general food chain (ie. muesli bars)
What is WADA?
World anti doping agency, they post a list of banned substances
What are the categories of banned substances?
- Banned at all times
- Banned in competition
- Banned in certain sports
What does strict liability mean?
The athlete is solely responsible for anything that goes into their body (can’t say it was an accident)
What does third party batch tested men?
- Someone independent to the company tests it. This doesn’t stop contamination happening, it reduces the risk
- Check for each batch number
- Informed sport means every batch is tested
- Informed choice mean not every batch is tested
What is the supplement regulation?
- There is no global regulation system
- Supplements can be bought on the internet but this means you’ve got no chance of knowing if there’s anything in there that shouldn’t be
What are the advantages of supplements?
- Indirect performance benefit
- Direct performance benefit
- Placebo effect
(athletes are always looking for something extra)
What are the disadvantages of supplements?
- Cost
- Side effects
- Contamination
How do you minimise the risk of supplements?
- Assess the need, assess the risk
- Choose a product with proven efficiency
- Ensure the product is made to high quality standards
- Ensure the product has been tested for banned contaminants by a recognised sports anti-doping lab
What is Food first?
An evidence based approach that enables individuals to eat intuitively and to consume a variety of foods that assist in achieving good health, training and performance
What does food first, but not always food only mean?
It’s better to get it from a source of food, but its not always possible or practical
What are the four categories of supplements?
- Functional foods
- Formulate foods and sports drinks
- Single nutrient or food component
- Multi ingredient products
What are functional food supplements?
Foods enriched with additional nutrients or components outside their typical nutrient composition
eg. Protein up and go
What are formulated foods and sports drinks supplements?
Products providing energy and nutrients in a more convenient form than normal foods for general nutrition support
eg. sports gels, optimism shake
What are single nutrient or food component supplements?
Single nutrients or other components of foods or herbal products provided in isolated or concentrated forms
eg. creatine
What are multi ingredient supplements?
Products containing various combinations of the other supplements that target similar conditions
eg. berocca
What is the supplement decision matrix?
A series of questions that you use to figure out of the supplement should be used. If the answer is ever no, you don’t use the product. If all answers are yes, you may consume it
What is ATP?
- Adenosine Tri Phosphate
- The energy currency of the body
How do we get energy from food to power muscle contractions?
- Foods digested
- Absorbed in the small intestine
- Nutrients travel to cells
- Nutrients utilised to create ATP
How do we regenerate ATP?
- When ATP breaks down to ADP + inorganic phosphate (Pi), energy is released
- Energy is made when ADP + Pi make ATP
What are the 3 energy systems?
- Phosphocreatine
- Glycolytic
- Aerobic
What is creatine?
- A molecule that is produced in the body form amino acids
- Stores high-energy phosphate groups in the form of phosphocreatine
- These phosphate groups are donated to ADP to regenerate it to ATP
- Creatine is found in some animal based-foods and is most prevalent in meat and fish
What is the hierarchy of evidence?
- Understand what the type of study is and which is better than the other
- The highest in the hierarchy is the systemic review, very precise in terms of looking for evidence
What is the AIS ABCD Framework?
Focuses on sports foods and individual ingredients rather than specific supplement products and brands
What is group A in the ABCD Framework?
Permitted for use by identified athletes according to best practice protocols (strong scientific evidence for use)
What is group B in the ABCD Framework?
Considered for use by identified athletes within research or clinical monitoring situations (emerging scientific support, needs further research)
What is group C in the ABCD Framework?
Not advocated for use by athletes within supplement programs, may be permitted for use by identified athletes (scientific evidence not supportive of benefits or not enough for an informed opinion)
What is group D in the ABCD Framework?
Not to be used by athletes (banned or at high risk of contamination) - check WADA for updates
What are other factors to consider when taking supplements?
- Costs/finances
- Negative effects. eg creatine causes weight gain
- Displacement of other nutrients
- Availability
- Beliefs
- Past experience
- Baseline diet
- Dosing protocol
What is the loading dose (short) for creatine?
5g creatine, 4x day for 5 days
What is the loading dose (long) for creatine?
3-5g creatine for 20 days
What is the maintenance dose for creatine?
3-5g creatine (single dose) daily
What is the washout for creatine?
Saturated muscle takes approximately 4 weeks to return to baseline levels
