Athletes have greater nutritional requirements than the general population. Although real food should be the first means of meeting those needs, nutrition and dietary supplements often play an important role, and their use has risen sharply in recent years.
Demand has created countless sports-supplement brands, but uncontrolled market growth has also increased the risk of negligence. Cases of athletes failing anti-doping tests despite claiming not to have knowingly used prohibited substances are well known and increasingly common. US swimmer Jessica Hardy, for example, missed the Olympic Games after testing positive for clenbuterol, a substance prohibited by the World Anti-Doping Agency. She denied intentional doping, and later analyses appeared to support her account: one of her nutritional supplements unexpectedly contained clenbuterol. Cases like this demonstrate the importance of proper sports-supplement controls, because contamination can affect an athlete's legal position and health.
A recent investigation [1] conducted at the University of Alicante and published in Nutrients confirmed the current risk of unintentional doping by examining undeclared prohibited substances in dietary supplements commonly used in sport. An analysis of 23 studies covering protein powders, creatine, multivitamins and energy drinks found an alarming contamination rate of 12-58%. Small amounts of stimulants such as ephedrine or anabolic substances such as testosterone, androsterone or nandrolone—prohibited by the World Anti-Doping Agency and potentially harmful to health—may be present because of poor quality control, cross-contamination during manufacturing or processing, or deliberate adulteration.
In many cases, the manufacturer itself tests the supplement and unsurprisingly declares it free of prohibited substances. This was true of the supplement used by Jessica Hardy. However, athletes must understand the risk of consuming a nutritional supplement that has not been tested by an independent organization. Athletes and support staff should exercise caution and recognize the importance of appropriate certification for every product used. Mobile applications such as NoDopApp, developed by the Spanish Agency for Health Protection in Sport (AEPSAD), make it quick and easy to determine whether a substance appears on the List of Prohibited Substances and Methods in Sport. When choosing supplements or dietary products, certification by an independent organization is preferable to testing by the manufacturer itself. This is the case with Informed-Sportcertification, a dietary-supplement testing program that verifies the absence of contamination by substances prohibited in sport and confirms that the athlete's product comes from a tested batch certified free of doping substances.
References
- Martínez-Sanz JM, Sospedra I, Ortiz CM, Baladía E, Gil-Izquierdo A, Ortiz-Moncada R. Intended or unintended doping? A review of the presence of doping substances in dietary supplements used in sports. Nutrients. 2017;9:1–22.
AUTHOR
Pedro Valenzuela
Researcher in the Physiology Unit at the University of Alcalá and the Performance Monitoring Unit at the Sports Medicine Center (AEPSAD, Madrid High Performance Center).
Website: www.fissac.com
