Digging into Dietary Supplements

Our “Performance Nutrition Pyramid” details foundational principles of sports nutrition, starting with Adequacy, Balance and Consistency and then dialing in the Details of “nutrient timing” around training sessions and finally Ergogenic Aids or Dietary Supplements. Let’s be clear- dietary supplements are not at the top because they are the most important. They a piece of the puzzle after the other layers of the pyramid have been set up. Without laying the foundation, we are simply supplementing an inadequate, unbalanced and/or inconsistent fueling strategy and ultimately probably wasting money.

In short- figure out your food first. “Food first” but not necessarily “food only.” There can be benefits to dietary supplements as long as there is a systematic and thoughtful approach to supplementation. Some common dietary supplements that our clients ask about include vitamins and minerals, omegas, protein powders, creatine monohydrate, amino acids, pre-workouts, collagen and probiotics.

We start with the “Why.” Why do you think you need this supplement? Looking for more energy or trying to increase lean mass? It starts with what we are eating and our consistency. When those boxes have been checked a dietary supplement may be helpful.

Next is “How” to supplement. Supplement safely. Period. What does that mean? Simply stated, government regulations around dietary supplements are not as solid as you may think. There are some parameters in place, but the risks of cross contamination and inaccurate supplement labeling are well documented. For drug-tested athletes (collegiate, professional, Olympic, military) we consider NSF certification to be the gold standard for third-party testing of dietary supplements to reduce risk of producing a positive drug test or taking a product that could potentially cause bodily harm. Even for those who are not drug tested, NSF certified products are high quality options that should be considered and evaluated for their appropriateness related to the goals of the individual.

After working through “Why” and “How” we dig into “What,” and “When” with our clients as part of their individualized fueling strategies. Stay tuned as we will evaluate various types of dietary supplements in future posts….