Nutritional Ergogenics
HLTH 213
Lecture 10
Chapter 9
Nutritional Ergogenics
I. What is an ergogenic aid?
A. Anything that enhances a person’s ability to perform work.
B. In the case of athletes, anything that improves performance.
C. Ergogenic aids can take many different forms (Table 9.1).
1. Nutritional
2. Physiological
3. Psychological
4. Biomechanical
5. Pharmacological
Author Note: Have the class come up with as many examples for each type of ergogenic aid as possible.
II. What are dietary supplements?
A. They are a type of nutritional ergogenic aid.
B. The Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act (DSHEA) is the legislative act passed in 1994 that helps regulate the dietary supplement industry.
C. According to DSHEA, a dietary supplement is a product (other than tobacco) intended to supplement the diet and must contain one or more of the following dietary ingredients: vitamin, mineral, herb, amino acid, dietary substance intended to supplement the diet, and/or a concentrate, metabolite or extract of any of the previously listed ingredients.
D. Supplement use among athletes makes up a large percentage of total supplement sales.
E. The majority of athletes use supplements in hopes of achieving an edge on the competition.
F. Supplements are not under the control of the FDA since they are considered neither a food nor a drug. Therefore, supplements do not need FDA approval in order to be marketed and sold in stores. In addition, many supplements are untested in regard to effectiveness and safety.
G. The regulations governing claims allowed on supplement labels are under the jurisdiction of the FDA, but monitoring is sporadic and infrequent.
H. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) monitors the accuracy of advertising on supplement labels, in print advertising, and in commercials.
I. The manufacturing practices of dietary supplements are under the control of the company making the product. As a result, large variability can exist between the same product made by different companies or even within the same product made by the same company. Companies that follow good manufacturing practices and undergo an extensive verification process by the United States Pharmacopeia can carry the USP verification seal. Name brand dietary supplements and/or those displaying the USP seal are most likely to be accurately labeled and of higher quality.
III. What is doping?
A. Doping is the practice of enhancing performance through use of foreign substances or other artificial means. It has become prevalent in sport, and presents risks to the health of athletes as well as the tenets of fair play.
B. The monitoring and detection of doping in athletics is under the auspices of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). Each country has its own anti-doping agency that operates under the umbrella of WADA. In the United States, it is USADA.
C. Athletes and sport nutrition professionals should be familiar with and have access to the WADA prohibited substances list. Failure to do so can be devastating to an athlete’s reputation and their ability to participate in competitions.
D. Inadvertent doping should be a concern for athletes taking dietary supplements because of the lax regulations in manufacturing and labeling.
IV. What are some of the commonly encountered doping substances?
A. Doping substances used by athletes range from natural herbals to chemically engineered compounds. WADA divides doping agents into nine different categories: stimulants, narcotics, cannabinoids, anabolic agents, hormones/related substances, beta-2 agonists, anti-estrogen agents, diuretics/other masking agents, and glucocorticosteroids.
B. For the purposes of this book, the various doping agents were categorized into the following functional groups:
1. Anabolics: substances that enhance the body’s ability to build tissue (see Table 9.3).
2. Prohormones and hormone releasers: substances that are easily converted to hormones once in the body or substances that increase the natural release of hormones by the body (see Table 9.4).
3. Fat reducers: substances that increase the body’s ability to mobilize and utilize fats for energy, decrease appetite, or block fat absorption in the digestive tract (see Table 9.5).
4. Anticatabolics: substances that decrease the breakdown of body tissues (see Table 9.6).
5. Vitamins and minerals
V. What types of dietary supplements and nutritional ergogenics are commonly used by various athletes?
A. Table 9.7 covers the proposed actions and ergogenic potential of various nutritional ergogenics commonly used by endurance athletes.
B. Table 9.8 covers the proposed actions and ergogenic potential of various nutritional ergogenics commonly used by strength/power athletes.
C. Table 9.9 covers the proposed actions and ergogenic potential of various nutritional ergogenics used by team sport athletes.
Author Note: Divide the class into groups of three or four students and tell them that they are unscrupulous trainers with the goal of turning their client into the greatest endurance athlete ever. Without regard to rules, have them list all the different ergogenic aids (don’t restrict it to only nutritional ergogens) that they would use to help their athlete become number one. Then repeat this critical thinking process using a strength athlete as the client.
VI. Where can information on nutritional ergogenic aids be found?
A. Numerous websites and publications can be consulted in order to get more information on the ever-growing list of nutritional ergogenics (Table 9.10). It is imperative that the sport nutrition professional be aware of these resources so that they can stay informed about and/or be able to review the various nutritional ergogens, their actions, their safety, their research basis, their drawbacks, etc.
VII. What tools are available to research information on ergogenic aids?
A. Since books and some websites can become outdated very quickly in this ever-evolving area, sport nutrition professionals should also know how to search the literature so they can find the latest information related to specific nutritional ergogens.
B. Library databases such as Medline, CINAHL, and SportDiscus can be invaluable tools for getting the most up-to-date information.
Author Note: Assign students different ergogenic substances and have them practice searching for recent information (i.e., within the last 2 years) on the substance. Have them print out their search results and bring the results to the next class.
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