Last winter, the NCAA Committee on Competitive Safeguards and Medical Aspect of Sports reviewed Proposal No. 99-72, which had been introduced in the fall of 1999 by the Pacific-10 Conference.

The committee recommended rewording the legislation so that it would identify permissible categories of nutritional supplements, reflecting a philosophy that proper nutrition based on sound scientific principles is one of the tenets to optimal performance. A vitamins and minerals category was created because of their general acceptance by the public and their widespread inclusion in the foods we eat.

The committee recognizes that there are health risks in taking some vitamins and minerals in high dosages and recommends that a physician or registered dietician be directly involved in decisions to take vitamin and mineral supplements. The permissible categories, except vitamins and minerals, were selected because they did not contribute to unfair performance enhancement (that is, ergogenic: strength/muscle building) and did provide for hydration and calorie replacement only. The committee also noted the difficulty in defining an exhaustive list of nonpermissible nutritional supplements.

The Division I legislation, approved and in effect starting August 1, 2000, reads as follows:

"An institution may provide only non-muscle- building nutritional supplements to a student-athlete at any time for the purpose of providing additional calories and electrolytes, provided the supplements do not contain any NCAA banned substances. For reference, permissible non-muscle-building nutritional supplements are identified according to the following classes: carbohydrate/electrolyte drinks, energy bars, carbohydrate boosters, and vitamins and minerals."

The legislation makes it permissible to provide the allowed supplements year round.

During its June 11-13 meeting, the Committee on Competitive Safeguards and Medical Aspects of Sports (CSMAS) developed a list of nutritional supplements identified as permissible and non-permissible under Proposal No. 99-72 to assist the NCAA membership services staff in developing legislative interpretations. The committee considered input provided it by concerned outside organizations. The lists below are not exhaustive. CSMAS will be a resource for questions that cannot be answered from these lists.

Permissible

Vitamins and minerals

Energy bars

(no more than 30 percent protein)

Calorie replacement drinks

(for example, Ensure, Boost)

Electrolyte replacement drinks

(for example, Gatorade, Powerade)

Nonpermissible

Amino acids

Chrysin

Condroitin

Creatine and creatine-containing compounds

Ginseng

Glucosamine

Glycerol

HMB

l-carnitin

Melatonin

Pos-2

Protein powders

Tribulus

The membership services staff is prepared to assist member institutions in interpreting this legislation. If an institution cannot discern whether a nutritional supplement falls into one of the four classes of permissible supplements, one of the institution's designated callers (chief executive officer, athletics director, senior woman administrator, faculty athletics representative or compliance coordinator) should contact membership services for further clarification.

The caller needs to provide the membership services representative all the labeling and ingredient information about the supplement in question.

As the NCAA moves forward on this issue, the Committee on Competitive Safeguards and Medical Aspects of Sports will provide additional consultation as needed. The mission of this committee and of the NCAA is to make every effort to provide equitable and safe competition for NCAA student-athletes.

Bryan W. Smith, M.D., is chair of the NCAA Committee on Competitive Safeguards and Medical Aspects of Sports.