Supplementation and Performance for Wheelchair Athletes: A Systematic Review

Area of Science:

• Sports Nutrition
• Exercise Physiology
• Rehabilitation Science

Background:

• Wheelchair athletes have unique physiological demands.
• Optimizing performance in wheelchair sports requires specific nutritional strategies.
• Evidence for nutritional interventions in this population is developing.

Purpose of the Study:

• To systematically review nutritional interventions and supplements aimed at enhancing performance in wheelchair athletes.
• To identify specific supplements and dietary strategies with potential benefits.
• To evaluate the quality of evidence for these interventions.

Main Methods:

• Systematic review of intervention trials.
• Included studies focused on high-performance wheelchair athletes.
• Analyzed interventions related to food, beverages, and supplementation.
• Included studies primarily on athletes with spinal cord injury.

Main Results:

• Four studies examined caffeine supplementation, with one also assessing sodium citrate.
• Two studies investigated vitamin D supplementation.
• One study each evaluated creatine monohydrate and carbohydrate supplementation.
• Athletes consuming caffeine showed performance improvements, though not conclusively.

Conclusions:

• Current evidence on nutritional interventions for wheelchair athletes is limited.
• Caffeine supplementation may offer ergogenic benefits, but requires further investigation.
• More high-quality research is needed to establish evidence-based recommendations for wheelchair athletes.