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[Definitie:] "An ergogenic aid is any substance or phenomenon that enhances performance."
(Wilmore and Costill) 
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FOOD SUPPLEMENTS MAY LEAD TO USING BANNED DRUGS
AGI Catania - "When the use of creatine and other food supplements cannot be motivated on nutritional or medical grounds, it may eventually lead to use of banned substances or to improper use of generic drugs". This statement was made today by Michelangelo Giampietro, Professor of Sports Medicine at the "Sacro Cuore" Catholic university in Rome. Speaking at the 16th Italian Clinic Nutrition and Dietetics Association congress at Giardini Naxos, near Messina, Mr Giampietro, who also coordinates a research group dealing with nutrition, fitness and sport activities on account of the Italian Human Nutrition Society, warned hard-training athletes against the use of food supplements. But the scope of his warning exceeded these confines. "There are no justifiable reasons", he said, "to advice athletes to use creatine or aminoacids, both from a medical and a from a nutritional point of view, with only a few, well-defined exceptions. What is even more outrageous is advising extremely young athletes to use such supplements. Unfortunately, this is the case all too often". The official position expressed by the Italian National Olympic Committee on the issue is aimed at promoting carefulness and awareness among the people concerned, as creatine "have a metabolic effect on muscles", and "alter their biochemical and bioenergetic properties". But the use of food supplements is extremely widespread in sports circles, he said, and has particularly increased in the last two decades, "favoured by scientific advancements in this field which have supposedly proven the effectiveness of nutrition supplements in improving performances. However, such effectiveness has yet to be fully demonstrated. And there's also the issue of administration criteria, which vary considerably with different products". Mr Giampietro added that "a good training schedule, based on the amount of time an athlete needs to recover naturally from bodily fatigue, coupled with a good diet is the only tool that can really and loyally improve an athlete's performances". Administering 1,6 grams of proteins per every kilogram of body weight can be enough to cover the needs of most athletes, even those whose deal with muscle-based disciplines. For amateur athletes, who regularly train between 1 and 2 hours 3 or 4 times a week, the advise is to increase the amount of energies accordingly, and to stick to the "appropriate diet" rule of thumb. Typical food should always be favoured, particularly Mediterranean cuisine. Generally speaking, the amount of proteins an athlete should take each day should not exceed 15pct of his or her daily energetic needs. Animal proteins should be favoured in any diet, as they are more nutritious from a biologic point of view, despite having very often been improperly used in the past. "Common diets", he continued, "can provide the body with as many proteins as needed, without any need for specific dietetic products. Furthermore, the use of aminoacid-based food supplements has never been proved to have any positive effects on protein synthesis and on the growth of muscles". According to the nutrition expert, administering between 20 and 25 grams of creatine a day (whose effects are equal to those of 12 kg of meat) can even prevent the body from producing endogenous proteins. "Whether creatine really has no side-effects is yet to be demonstrated, particularly when it's administered over a long period of time. In fact, the latter aspect would be enough to advise against its use, regardless of doses and time-spans", said Mr Giampietro. He added that "doctors, nutrition experts and all staff concerned should carefully assess whether or not to prescribe food supplements to their patients. And this is particularly true of products based on proteins, aminoacids and derived substances. Loyalty and the health of athletes are much more important than any victory, record or medal". |
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