Supplementation

 Introduction

    The athletes that are focused on in this article post are male high school wrestlers. We are going to first define what an ergogenic aid is. An ergogenic aid is "any training technique, mechanical device, nutritional ingredient, pharmacological method, or psychological technique that can improve performance capacity or enhance training adaptations" (Kreider, 2019). Nutritional supplements fall under the ergogenic aid umbrella if they are documented by peer-reviewed studies to enhance exercise performance or muscular hypertrophy. Two examples of ergogenic aids would be creatine and beta-alanine supplements. Beta-alanine aid in maintaining a pH buffer for an athlete. This allow the athlete to reduce intermuscular acidity and perform exercise bout for a longer duration before maximal fatigue. Additionally, creatine aids in turnover rate of the ATP-PC system. Acute energy for short and intense exercise bouts. The premise behind this is the more availability of creatine within the body, the greater the rate of binding to phosphate to generate ATP. 

    Dietary supplements are placed in a special category of "food" via the the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994 (DSHEA). Under this law, dietary supplements must be founded on the idea that they are used as a product to supplement the diet and thus contain a "dietary ingredient" (Kreider, 2019). Dietary ingredients fall under a broad range of products such as vitamins, minerals, herbs, amino acids, organ tissue, enzymes, glandular extracts, and botanicals (Kreider, 2019). These dietary supplements are tested for quality assurance based on where the company send them for testing. Some companies send their products to for review by the FDA directly. Alternatively, other companies may send their products to be screened by third party testing. This method of third party testing does not guarantee that the supplements have no banned substances, but it does reduce the likelihood. Some examples of third party testing companies are NSF, Informed Choice, and Banned Substances Control Group (Kreider, 2019). Ideally, some questions should be asked when deciding whether or not to begin taking a new supplement:

• Does the idea behind the supplement have scientific logic?
• Is the supplement checked for legality and safety of consumption?
• Have studies been conducted on the use of this supplement?
• Were the studies methodologically concrete? (controlled properly, appropriate population, etc.,) 
• Were the studies results scientifically significant?
• Was the study published by a well known peer-reviewed scientific journal?
• Is the study itself able to be reproduced effectively with the same outcomes?

    When looking into all the questions, you can begin to sift through false claims and find the actual scientific foundations that most supplements claim to have. 

Research Example

    In this section we are going to do some research on Creatine supplementation and its claims to ergogenic benefits. 

    Basic Internet Search:

        

        Claim one - "helps muscle cells produce more energy" (Mawer, 2018)

        Claim two - "Speeds muscle growth" (Mawer, 2018)

        Claim three - "very little research in children under the age of 18" (Ratini, 2018)

        

        Claim four - "if you do take creatine, drink enough water to prevent dehydration" (Ratini, 2018)

    Peer-reviewed Internet Search:

        Claim one comparison - When claim one was compared to the peer-reviewed literature, it has                 scientific merit. Creatine supplementation has been shown to increase energy production and                 performance in athletes performing anaerobic exercise (Mielgo-Ayuso et al., 2019). 

        Claim two comparison - When claim two was compared to the peer-reviewed literature, it has                flaws in the wording used. Creatine supplementation aids in increasing lean body mass by                     reducing the amount of protein breakdown and potentially impacting variables of muscular                     hypertrophy. The claim that outright states that creatine speeds muscle growth though not                        incorrect, could be misleading (Ricci et al., 2020).  

        Claim three comparison - When claim three was compared to the peer-reviewed literature, it                    supported the scientific claims of the year it was published. By 2018 there was not significant                 evidence on the safety or efficacy of creatine supplementation for adolescents (Jagim et al., 2018). 

        Claim four comparison - When claim four was compared to the peer-reviewed literature, it had no         supporting scientific claims. Peer-reviewed literature consistently refutes old claims that creatine            supplementation causes increased chances of dehydration. Additionally, quite the opposite has                been observed. Due to the amount of water ingested when creatine loading and no diuretic                     properties of creatine itself, most athletes tested are hydrated (Kreider et al., 2017). The claims of         creatine causing dehydration were stated in the infancy of the supplement coming into the market,         since then there has been no new literature to back these claims. 

    Additional Information:

        The populations that could utilize creatine supplementation could be any athletic or fitness oriented population. Male or female athletes can benefit from creatine supplementation. The benefits observed are primarily during anaerobic exercise. The younger age group may still be cautioned about the use of creatine supplementation. The use within the adolescent population still needs more literature on efficacy and safety. This approach is out of an abundance of caution. No negative effects have been observed in the studies that have used adolescent participants and creatine supplementation. Dose intakes should begin with a loading phase of 20-30g/day for 6-7days followed by a maintenance phase of 5g per day (Mielgo-Ayuso et al., 2019).  

Conclusion

    It is important to do your own research on the claims that are made by and for supplements on the market. Whether you are a coach or an athlete, taking the time to inquire can spare disqualification and bans in the future. Additionally, investigating supplements for their efficacy and health risk factors should remain a high priority above improving performance in the short run. 

References

Jagim, A. R., Stecker, R. A., Harty, P. S., Erickson, J. L., & Kerksick, C. M. (2018). Safety of creatine             supplementation in active adolescents and youth: A brief review. Frontiers in nutrition, 5, 115.

Kreider, R. B. (2019). Essentials of exercise and sport nutrition: Science to practice. Raleigh, NC: Lulu.

Kreider, R. B., Kalman, D. S., Antonio, J., Ziegenfuss, T. N., Wildman, R., Collins, R., ... & Lopez, H.         L. (2017). International Society of Sports Nutrition position stand: safety and efficacy of creatine            supplementation in exercise, sport, and medicine. Journal of the International Society of Sports             Nutrition, 14(1), 1-18.

Mawer, R. (2018, October 25). Creatine 101 - What Is It and What Does It Do? Retrieved November 05, 2020, from https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/what-is-creatine

Mielgo-Ayuso, J., Calleja-Gonzalez, J., Marqués-Jiménez, D., Caballero-García, A., Córdova, A., & Fernández-Lázaro, D. (2019). Effects of creatine supplementation on athletic performance in soccer players: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Nutrients, 11(4), 757.

Ratini, M. (2018, December 12). Creatine Supplements: Usage and Side Effects. Retrieved November 05, 2020, from https://www.webmd.com/men/creatine

Ricci, T., Forbes, S. C., & Candow, D. G. (2020). Creatine Supplementation: Practical Strategies and Considerations for Mixed Martial Arts. Journal of Exercise and Nutrition ISSN, 2640, 2572.