Study: Athletes Using Supplements for Wrong Reasons
According to the results of a new British study published in Nutrition Journal, many athletes use nutritional supplements for reasons that are not supported by solid science or prevailing medical opinion. Researchers analyzed the answers that 847 athletes provided to a questionnaire about supplement use.
The most commonly used supplements were multivitamin (72.7%), vitamin C (70.4%), echinacea (30.8%), iron (29.8%), magnesium (11.0%) and ginseng (8.3%). The study authors found that "Associations with motive were found in 8 of the 10 test pairs which were expected from literature precedents, however only weak associations exist." Some commonly reported motives were far off base. For example, athletes reported using ginseng because they had no time to prepare meals and using magnesium to overcome injuries.
The authors concluded, "These results suggest a lack of understanding regarding supplements and health maintenance, except for vitamin C and echinacea. Furthermore, supplement use is apparently independent of physicians/dieticians' advice, except for iron. This may suggest a widespread circumvention of expert advice in the growing area of supplement use and therefore should be addressed to underscore potential health risks." |