A Beginner's Guide to Sports Nutrition Supplements:

 The high-intensity nature of sports can demand a lot from your body. Though these nutrition demands can be bowed by following a well-balanced diet, sometimes only diet may not be enough, especially when it comes to intensive or competitive sports.

 Apart from being on top of your game, the body has to be in peak condition to gain an edge over your opponents when it comes to competitive sports. Sports Supplements can provide concentrated nutrition that can improve athletic performance.

 But are they all safe? Let us find out now:

What is a Sports Nutrition Supplement?

A dietary supplement that is consumed to increase the athletic performance in sports is called as a sports nutrition supplement. Vitamins, Proteins, Amino acids, Herbs, or any combination of them can be a nutritional supplement and they are available in the form of pills, drinks, and powders in the market.

Here are some things to be considered about sports nutritional supplements:

1. As the word ‘Supplement’ indicates, it is an add-on for the balanced diet but not a complete diet. A supplement can never replace a well-balanced diet.
2. They are not medical supplements i.e. they do not cure or prevent any medical conditions or diseases.
3. Not all performance enhancers are nutritional supplements, some of them are steroids which do not undergo any safety standard testing.

Are all the Sports Nutritional Supplements safe?

Not necessarily. Given that the supplement world is broad and far-reaching, not all the supplements are safe. But there are certain supplements are widely studied by the researchers and are deemed to be safe and beneficial that they are concluded safely for consumption. At the same time, there are certain supplements where the research is ambiguous, and then there are those supplements which are not recommended at all without proper medical guidance.

Many studies have been done by the sports authorities all over the world and all the major sports supplements have been classified into four categories – A, B, C, and D. Group C & Group D is filled with supplements that offered no quantifiable benefit and suffer higher chances of contamination.  Beetroot juice, B-alanine, Anti-oxidants, and Carnitine are classified under Group B: the supplements which require further research in order to recommend them to athletes.

If you are looking for improving your overall training levels and athletic performance, Group-A supplements are your best bet.

 Here is the list of safe Sports nutritional supplements that are found to benefit the athletes:

1. Whey Protein
2. Creatine
3. Caffeine
4. L-Glutamine
5. BCCA

Sports nutritional supplements are not only used by athletes but they are now stapled for bodybuilding enthusiasts and regular gym goers who would like to ramp-up their gains. Adding a form of carbohydrates to your BCAA mixture will allow you to work longer at higher intensities while producing impressive muscle pumps! Universal Nutrition Carbo Plus and Glutamine Powder are two perfect options to add.

Though the above supplements are considered safe, they may pose a problem in people with inherent medical conditions. So if you are looking to include these sports nutrition supplements into your diet, we advise you to consult a physician.