Sports Supplements

Sports supplements are products taken to correct a deficiency, supply energy or nutrients conveniently, or improve performance, and only a few have good evidence of benefit.

Use is widespread at every level of sport. The sport and exercise medicine (SEM) team's job is to separate the few evidence-based products from the many without, correct genuine deficiencies, and protect athletes from harm to health and from an inadvertent anti-doping rule violation.

2 principles run through the topic:

• •Food first: diet, sleep and sensible training matter far more than any supplement
• •Supplements are lightly regulated, so caution is the default