I heard a lot of discussions on dietary supplements topic lately and I decided to make some research and find some answers. A lot of people have a wrong understanding of the term “food supplement” or “dietary supplement” when it is being used in the same sentence with “gym, muscles, etc.”. A lot of uninformed people simply believe that taking proteins as a supplement is bad, because it is “unnatural” and in their mind, they actually believe that these “supplements” make you stronger or they just inflate your muscles. When I say food supplements, I don’t mean creatine and steroids. I am writing this article in the context of supplements being used by athletes.
A varied well-balanced diet that meets the energy demands of training should provide adequate amounts of all the essential nutrients. However, sometimes this is not possible, and in some situations obtaining sufficient amounts from the diet is often not so easy. Consequently, many athletes take supplements in the hope that it will compensate for poor food choices and make up for vital nutrients that they feel are potentially lacking in their diet.
The term ‘dietary supplement’ implies that it is something which supplements the diet, of course. The Oxford English Dictionary defines a supplement as ‘something added to supply a deficiency. However, this definition is inconsistent with the majority of supplements usage, with many supplements, or their individual ingredients, being nutrients or food chemicals for which the body does not have an estimated or theoretical requirement. Thus, there are clearly other factors that underpin their use by athletes.
According to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA): ‘a dietary supplement is a product that is intended to supplement the diet and bears or contains one or more of the following dietary ingredients: a vitamin, a mineral, a herb or other botanical, an amino acid, a dietary substance for use by humans to supplement the diet by increasing its total daily intake, or a concentrate, metabolite, constituent, extract, or combination of these ingredients’.
This differs slightly from the definition provided by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), which uses the term ‘food supplement’: ‘A Food Supplement is a concentrated source of nutrients or other substances with a nutritional or physiological effect whose purpose is to supplement the normal diet. They are marketed in dose form i.e. as pills, tablets, capsules, liquids in measured doses etc’. Furthermore, EFSA states that: ‘Supplements may be used to correct nutritional deficiencies or maintain an adequate intake of certain nutrients. However, in some cases excessive intake of vitamins and minerals may be harmful or cause unwanted side effects; therefore, maximum levels are necessary to ensure their safe use in food supplements’.
I certainly think that this clears any doubt about the definition of a food or dietary supplement. Personally when I refer to a dietary or food supplement I strictly refer to “protein shakes” , “amino acids” and “protein bars”. Last week I was having a chat with a friend of a friend, whom I noticed has a worked body. I asked him if he takes any proteins or creatine, or whatever his technique is. He told me that he doesn’t take proteins, because it is bad for your body and when you take proteins, your muscles are absorbing water. I asked him if he is referring to creatine. He seemed pretty confident on his knowledge. I did not have the mood to actually prove him wrong. Some people deserve their faith.
