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Nutrition for improved sports performance. Current issues on ergogenic aids
1Department of Exercise Science, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, USA.
Sports Medicine (Auckland, N.Z.)
|June 1, 1996
Summary
Athletes use various nutritional strategies like caffeine, creatine, and high-fat diets to boost performance. Evidence supports caffeine for endurance and creatine/bicarbonate for short bursts, but long-term safety remains unclear.
Area of Science:
- Sports Nutrition
- Exercise Physiology
Background:
- Athletes employ nutritional strategies to enhance athletic performance.
- Recent focus includes high-fat diets, branched-chain amino acids, creatine, carnitine, bicarbonate loading, and caffeine.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review the efficacy and safety of various nutritional modifications for athletic performance.
- To identify substances banned by the International Olympic Committee (IOC).
Main Methods:
- Literature review of nutritional strategies used by athletes.
- Analysis of scientific data on the effectiveness and safety of interventions.
Main Results:
- Caffeine enhances endurance performance.
- Creatine and bicarbonate loading benefit short-term strenuous exercise.
- Insufficient data exists for high-fat diets, branched-chain amino acids, carnitine, and phosphate loading efficacy.
- Acute ingestion is generally safe, but gastrointestinal issues can occur with caffeine and bicarbonate.
- Long-term high-fat diet use may pose health risks; long-term safety of other interventions is not established.
Conclusions:
- Caffeine, creatine, and bicarbonate show performance benefits for specific exercise types.
- More research is needed to confirm the efficacy and long-term safety of several popular nutritional strategies for athletes.