3405: Sports Supplements and Performance by Nancy Clark on Athletic Nutrition

[00:00:00] Your summer starts now with Memorial Day deals at The Home Depot. It's time to fire up summer cookouts with the Nexgrill 4 Burner Gas Grill on Special Buy for only $199. And entertain all season with the Hampton Bay West Grove 7-Piece Outdoor Dining Set for only $499. This Memorial Day, get low prices guaranteed at The Home Depot. While supplies last, price invalid May 14th through May 27th. U.S. only exclusions apply. See homedepot.com slash price match for details.

[00:00:30] If we knew more about our sleep, what would we do differently? Would we go to bed at a consistent time? Or take steps to reduce interruptions to our sleep? With Sleep Score, Apple Watch measures your bedtime consistency, interruptions and sleep duration. Then, every morning it combines these factors into an easy to understand score from 1 to 100. So you'll know how to take the quality of your sleep from okay to very high.

[00:00:55] Know your sleep score with Apple Watch. iPhone 11 or later required.

[00:01:25] Optimizing your life. Sports Supplements and Performance by Nancy Clark of nancyclarkrd.com. In their effort to enhance energy and optimize performance, many athletes purchase vitamins, herbs, amino acids, and other sports supplements that are reputed to offer a competitive advantage.

[00:01:48] While a few supplements like beta-alanine, creatine, caffeine, and nitrates might play a small role when added to a well-thought-out fueling plan, no amount of supplements will compensate for a not-so-nutritious diet. Fundamental to every high-performance athlete is an effective sports diet. All athletes should be taught from an early age how to optimize their performance using the food-first approach,

[00:02:13] so they know how to best fuel up, fuel during, and refuel after challenging exercise sessions. Once an athlete has finished growing and maturing and has fine-tuned his or her fitness and performance skills, some sports supplements might be appropriately introduced with guidance from a knowledgeable professional. That said, to the detriment of their wallets, many athletic people look for a glimmer of hope from the multi-billion dollar supplement industry.

[00:02:40] Consulting with a registered dietitian who is board-certified as a specialist in sports dietetics could easily be a better use of money. Supplements are popular. A survey of Division I college athletes, which included 89 females and 49 males at Arizona State University, indicated 77% consumed at least one claimed-to-be ergogenic aid.

[00:03:05] Another survey of U.S. Army personnel reports 75% used some type of dietary supplement at least once a week. Protein and amino acids were the most popular, taken by 52% of subjects. Why are so many athletes willing to spend, or is that waste, a great deal of money to buy sports supplements? The glimmer of hope reasons include to improve physical appearance or physique,

[00:03:31] increase muscle mass, optimize general health, and help meet the physical demands on their bodies. Unfortunately, most supplements don't work. Before you spend your money, please educate yourself about each supplement you plan to buy. Where to learn more? For information about performance-enhancing supplements, the U.S. Department of Defense website, Operation Supplement Safety, www.opss.org,

[00:03:59] offers abundant information for anyone who is curious to learn more. The website includes a list of at least 28 unsafe sports supplements to avoid, a list of questions to help determine if a supplement is safe, like does the label have a certified safe seal from Informed Sport or NSF? Is the label free of the words blend, matrix, proprietary, or complex? Does it make questionable claims?

[00:04:26] It also contains an A to Z index with information about specific supplements, with all you need to know about Adderall, apple cider vinegar, caffeine, creatine, energy drinks, ephedra, ketone supplements, nitric oxide, omega-3 fats, pre-workouts, pro-hormones, proprietary blends, and many more. And the website contains information on unusual reactions and adverse effects,

[00:04:52] like nausea, headaches, shakiness, elevated heart rate, mood changes, and so on, as well as information on how to report an adverse event to the Food and Drug Administration and the National Institutes of Health. Another helpful source of information is the Australian Institute for Sports ABCD Classification System. The system ranks sports foods and supplements into four groups, according to scientific evidence and practical considerations

[00:05:20] that determine whether a product is safe and if it effectively improves sports performance. Group A includes specialized products with strong evidence for benefits in specific events, including sports drinks, gels, iron, caffeine, beta-alanine, bicarbonate, beetroot or nitrate, and creatine, among others. Group B deserves further research. It includes food compounds with antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties,

[00:05:50] like tart cherry juice or curcumin, vitamin C, and collagen, just to name a few. Group C lacks scientific evidence to support their use. These include and are not limited to magnesium, alpha-lipoic acid, HMB, branched-chain amino acids, leucine, vitamin E, and many more. And finally, Group D includes products with a high risk of leading to a positive doping test.

[00:06:16] These include ephedrine, DMAA, herbal stimulants, pro-hormones, hormone boosters such as DHEA, androstenedione, tribulus teristris, and so many others. Most supplements don't work. Sports supplements that do work actually improve performance by just a small but potentially valuable amount, despite carefully crafted advertisements that can lead you to believe otherwise.

[00:06:43] Case in point, the popular branched-chain amino acids, or BCAAs, specifically the BCAA leucine, which is known to activate the muscle-building process. Unfortunately, simply activating the muscle-building process is not enough to promote muscle growth. Branched-chain amino acid research indicates they do not provide any benefits above and beyond the amino acids athletes normally consume when eating protein-rich food at meals and snacks.

[00:07:12] To see any meaningful muscle-building effect, you actually need to have many other amino acids present, as happens when you eat real food, as opposed to an isolated amino acid. You also need enough calories, and of course, a good strength training program, plus adequate sleep. Varied responses Even among supplements that work, the response varies greatly from person to person.

[00:07:36] Case in point, beta-alanine, a supplement used by athletes such as sprinters, rowers, and wrestlers to reduce muscular fatigue and improve endurance during high-intensity exercise that lasts between 1 and 4 minutes. The varied responses can be related to not only genetics and biological factors, but also to the power of the mind, the placebo effect, adequate fuel, and enough sleep. Hence, when a supplement does work for some athletes, the response may be due not to the supplement,

[00:08:06] but rather to the athletes getting serious about taking better care of their bodies, eating wisely, and getting enough sleep. So, maybe enhancing sports performance may not need rocket science after all. You just listened to the post titled, Sports Supplements and Performance, by Nancy Clark of nancyclarkrd.com, and I'll be right back with my commentary. If you're a small business, the right hire can be make or break.

[00:08:35] Hoping the right people see your job posting isn't the best growth strategy. When the pressure's on and you need the right hire, this is a job for sponsored jobs. Join the 3.3 million employers worldwide that use Indeed to connect with quality talent that fits their needs. Spend less time searching and more time actually interviewing candidates who check all your boxes. Less stress, less time, more results. When you need the right person to cut through the chaos,

[00:09:03] this is a job for Indeed sponsored jobs. And listeners of this show will get a $75 sponsored job credit to help get your job the premium status it deserves at Indeed.com slash podcast. Just go to Indeed.com slash podcast right now and support our show by saying you heard about Indeed on this podcast. Indeed.com slash podcast. Terms and conditions apply. Need to hire?

[00:09:31] This is a job for Indeed sponsored jobs. From athletic stuff like a full court pickup game, swish, to athletic-ish stuff. Like a half mile stroll. Get those steps in! Head to Sierra or Sierra.com for the brands you want at the prices that let you do it all. From athletic to athletic-ish, Sierra's got it. Dr. Neal Malik here with my commentary. Okay, so what does a nutritious and balanced sports-focused diet look like? Here, the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics

[00:10:00] and the Sports Dietitians from the U.S. Olympic Committee agree on what a balanced sports-focused diet should look like. For the average gym-goer and those that are active most days of the week, the nutrition recommendations don't really change from what we would recommend for most people. Basically, as you look down at your lunch and dinner plates, at least half of the plate should contain green, orange, or red vegetables. About a quarter of the plate should contain some type of whole grain,

[00:10:28] like whole grain breads, pastas, and so on. And another quarter of the plate should contain some lean protein, like turkey, chicken, or fish. Then, on the side, one serving of whole fruit, not juice. What should we be drinking? Water, plain coffee, or plain tea are ideal. So again, nothing really earth-shattering here. Now, for those that are competitive athletes, the recommendations do change a bit, and it depends on whether it's the day of the competition

[00:10:58] and whether there are multiple events in that one day. We'd also modify the diet slightly based on the type of sport an athlete is involved in. For example, an endurance athlete will have different needs when compared to a weightlifter or a sprinter. But when it comes to, let's say, protein, Nancy Clark, today's author, was absolutely right. It's better to get proteins from whole foods, which contain different numbers and quantities of amino acids,

[00:11:24] rather than trying to focus on just one amino acid, like leucine, and expecting big results. Also, when should we consume that protein? Studies are finding that consuming protein regularly throughout the day is more important than trying to cram it all in after a workout, for example. Now, I know this is all starting to sound a bit complicated, but that's why there's this entire nutrition specialty dedicated to sports nutrition. So as today's author again, Nancy Clark, said,

[00:11:53] if you want more specific information, speaking to a registered dietitian with this specialty is worth your while. In the meantime, for the average gym goer, the recommendations I mentioned above work perfectly. Look down at your lunch and dinner plates. Half of that plate should be vegetables, ideally. Green, leafy, orange, or red vegetables. A quarter of your plate lean protein. And another quarter of your plate should contain whole grains. And with lunches and dinners,

[00:12:23] have one serving of fruit at each and consume water, coffee, or tea to hydrate. Following those simple rules will likely serve you best. All right, that'll do it for today. I hope you're having a great weekend if you're listening in real time. And of course, I'll see you back here tomorrow as usual where your optimal life awaits. You may definitely wish for three minutes in real time. till the office is released. It's great Lord. you can enjoy tuning in noch but ah, Thank you.