Dietary Supplements and Performance John Emmett, Ph.D.

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Dietary Supplements and PerformanceJohn Emmett,
Ph.D. Brian Pritschet, Ph.D.Eastern Illinois
University, Charleston

• Endurance
• Muscle Size Strength
• Body Composition Alterations

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History of Supplement Use

• Ancient Greek Olympians
• Mushrooms Herbs
• Deer Liver Lion Hearts
• Medieval Athletes Warriors
• Human hearts (Bravery), Brains (Intelligence)
• Pituitary Extract (Muscle Strength)
• 1865 Dutch Swimmers
• Caffeine

• 1890s - Belgians French
• Cactus Based Stimulant (Endurance)
• Heroin Cocaine
• Sugar Cubes dipped in ether
• Cocoa Leaves dipped in wine (reduce fatigue)
• Monkey Testicles
• 1900
• Strychinine Wine (reduce fatigue)
• 1920 Olympic 100 m Champion
• Raw eggs Sherry

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Ergogenic Aids Used To Enhance Endurance

• Substances that enhance oxygen delivery
• Substances that delay fatigue
• Substances that spare muscle glycogen
• Enhance use of fat
• Replacement of carbohydrates
• Sport Energy Drinks

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Oxygen Delivery

• Erythropoietin (EPO)
• A hormone that stimulates the production of red
  blood cells
• Increased RBCs (increased hematocrit) increase
  the oxygen-carrying capacity of the blood
• Too large an increase may increase blood
  viscosity
• Increased resistance to blood flow
• Increased work for the heart
• Death
• Research findings inconsistent
• May increase endurance
• Ruled an illegal aid by the IOC
• Unethical, Unfair, and probably Unhealthy (ACSM)
• Deer Antler Velvet
• Supposed EPO-like action
• No evidence of increased RBC mass with powder or
  extract

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Oxygen Delivery

• Oxygen
• Of no benefit when used before activity
• Super-oxygenated Water
• Claim oxygenated water delivers extra oxygen to
  the body to enhance metabolism and improve
  endurance.
• Research does not support this contention
• Oxygen can pass through the plastic bottle
• Oxygen is probably not absorbed through the gut
• The blood is fully saturated with oxygen already,
  what little oxygen that may pass through probably
  makes no difference

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Fatigue Delay

• Stimulants
• Caffeine
• Amphetamines
• Ephedra
• Stimulate the Central Nervous System
• Decreases perceived effort
• Increases alertness
• Increased cardiac contractility?
• Example Hydroxadrine Drink
• Ma Huang Extract (ephedrine)  Bitter orange
  (synephrine)  Theobromine (cocoa).    Micronized
  caffeine.  Guarana Seed Extract (caffeine).  Kola
  Nut (caffeine)

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Fatigue Delay

• Stimulants cont.
• Caffeine Restricted Substance
• Others Banned by most organizations, Some
  Illegal!
• Research varies on the effectiveness of these
  substances
• Caffeine in doses of 3-9 mg/kg body weight
  probably enhances endurance without exceeding the
  limit of 12 µ/ml of urine (IOC) although the
  support is not unanimous
• Ephedrine and other similar stimulants provide no
  real benefit
• A mixture of Ephedrine and Caffeine may have an
  effect
• Ephedrine and other non-caffeine-type stimulants
  may be extremely dangerous or even fatal!
• Cardiovascular concerns
• Interference with dissipation of body heat heat
  stroke
• Caffeine may produce mild side effects with
  moderate doses

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Glycogen Sparring Enhancement of Fat Metabolism

• Caffeine
• In addition to its effects as a stimulant,
  caffeine appears to also enhance free-fatty acid
  mobilization and use of intramuscular
  triglycerides
• Effects may only be evident during the 1st 15-20
  minutes of exercise
• Reduces use of carbohydrate and spares glycogen
• Glycogen depletion is a significant cause of
  fatigue in endurance events
• May also act directly on the muscle to enhance
  function
• Appears to be primarily beneficial in trained
  individuals
• Ingesting caffeine by drinking coffee may not be
  as effective as direct ingestion even at the same
  dose
• Effects are quite variable

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Glycogen Sparring Enhancement of Fat Metabolism

• Guarana
• Roasted berry of an Amazon evergreen shrub
• Herbal Caffeine
• Ginseng
• Chinese Ginseng
• Siberian Ginseng (ciwuija)
• Well controlled studies do not support the use
  of ginseng as an aid to increasing fat
  utilization
• Pyruvate
• 1 study showed enhanced performance but dose
  required caused significant GI disturbance
• No benefit at tolerable levels
• Carnitine
• No research support for use to stimulate fat
  utilization

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Glycogen Sparring Enhancement of Fat Metabolism

• Vespa Amino Acid Mixture (VAAM)
• Hornet Juice (wasp spit) mixture of 17 amino
  acids
• Advertised to promote fat utilization (among many
  other claims!)
• No published research using human subjects
• No reason to expect benefit

http//www.vaam-power.com/vaam_info.html
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Glycogen SparringIncreased Glycogen Storage

• Glutamine
• Purported to stimulate muscle glycogen synthesis
• Research does not support an additional benefit
  of glutamine over ingestion of carbohydrate
  alone.
• Arginine
• No clear evidence to suggest an ergogenic effect
• 1 study (Yaspelkis Ivy, 1999) suggested that
  arginine in addition to CHO during recovery
  reduced the rate of CHO oxidation postexercise,
  possibly increasing the availability of glucose
  for muscle glycogen storage

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Glycogen SparringIncreased Glycogen Storage

• Carbohydrate Supplementation
• Carbohydrate Loading
• Primarily for events over 60-90 minutes in
  duration
• Increasing CHO intake with decreasing activity
  over 7 days prior to endurance competition
• Increases muscle glycogen stores
• Enhances endurance
• Well established benefit in cyclist but
  not runners

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Glycogen SparringIncreased Glycogen Storage

• Carbohydrate ingestion during activity
• For activities lasting longer than one hour
• CHO ingestion may help to maintain blood glucose
  levels and to sustain glycogen stores in the
  muscle
• Recommendation 25-60 g of carbohydrate/hour of
  exercise from solutions with up to 8 sugar.
• Energy Gels
• May be beneficial as long as there is adequate
  fluid intake
• Useful in-between events?
• Commonly contains Maltrodextrin

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Sport Energy Drinks

• Sports Drinks
• Pre-Exercise During Exercise
• Fluid Replacement
• Water Electrolytes
• Carbohydrate
• Protein
• Vitamins
• Recovery
• Recovery Drinks
• Carbohydrate Replacement
• Fluid Replacement
• Protein
• Anti-Oxidants

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www.gssiweb.com/
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Sport Drinks

• Fluid, Carbohydrate Electrolyte Replacement
• Probably offers an advantage over plain water in
  longer duration events
• Fluid replacement enhanced due to presence
  electrolyte CHO
• Increased gastric emptying
• Enhanced absorption
• Electrolyte supplements may help prevent
  hyponatremia
• More likely to ingest adequate amount of fluid
  due to addition of flavor
• Carbohydrate has glycogen sparring function
• Less than 7-8 CHO content
• Greater concentrations energy benefits offset
  by decreased gastric emptying resulting in
  reduced fluid absorption

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Sport Drinks

• Addition of Protein Vitamins
• Protein
• Branched-Chain Amino Acids
• Leucine, Isoleucine Valine
• Possible glycogen sparring effect
• A Reduction in circulating BCAA may contribute to
  Central Fatigue via the promoting an increase
  in a brain neurotransmitter associated with
  fatigue-related actions
• The presence of CHO may attenuate this response
• Mixed research findings
• No convincing evidence that the addition of
  protein is beneficial, although a combination of
  Protein CHO may enhance endurance
• Vitamins
• The addition of vitamins (anti-oxidant
  B-complex) apparently provides no added benefit
  to a sports drink

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Energy Drinks

• Differ from Sports Drinks
• Greater CHO content
• Frequently contain stimulants, amino acids
  other substances advertised to enhance
  performance, reduce fatigue, /or aid recovery

Few of these ingredients provide any significant
benefit to performance