Latest News

« back to 2010 | Back to NCAA News Archive Index

Resources available to navigate supplement field

By Sally Huggins
For NCAA.org

While the dietary supplement industry may look like a minefield to an athletic trainer, several resources are available to help.

Because supplements are not as black and white as drugs when it comes to what is safe for a student-athlete, a positive drug test may be the result of an athlete taking a supplement that he or she heard was “natural,” legal, or free of any banned substance.

The reality is that the supplement industry is largely unregulated, and the ingredients listed on the container may not be everything that is in the seemingly innocent performance booster. In addition, the sales clerk behind the counter or others recommending the substance may not be familiar with or able to interpret NCAA policy. Appeals after a positive drug test too often claim reliance on a person outside the NCAA structure for recommending the supplement.

For instance, a product may be described as natural but that word does not make it safe. The term natural does not necessarily mean something is good for the body, said Michele Macedonio, a registered dietitian and nutrition consultant and a director of sports dietetics with SCAN (Sports, Cardiovascular and Wellness Nutrition). For example, she said, arsenic is natural but shouldn’t be ingested.

Diane King, sports dietician and certified athletic trainer, said people can’t know what is in a supplement unless they take it to an independent lab. Herbal remedies are especially problematic. Studies have shown that as much as a quarter of the samples had contaminants, often with a banned substance.

King said the more athletic trainers can educate their athletes about nutrition, the less the athletes will fall prey to supplement advertising. A sports nutrition survey of certified athletic trainers at the National Athletic Trainers’ Association meeting last year found that about half of the ATCs felt their understanding of sports nutrition was “good,” and 81 percent rated the significance of nutrition to performance enhancement as “very important.”

The NCAA does not endorse or approve any supplement product, nor does the Association support reliance on a supplement certification service, since there is no way to ensure that every batch of a product that has undergone a certification review is as pure as the batch tested.

More information about supplements is available from the following sources:

• The Word Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) notes that claims of most supplement manufacturers about their products are not backed by valid scientific research and don’t warn about potential adverse effects. WADA’s website (www.usantidoping.org) provides up-to-date information about supplements.
• The National Institutes of Health Office of Dietary Supplements points out that manufacturers of supplements do not have to provide the U.S. Food and Drug Administration with evidence that dietary supplements are effective or safe, although they cannot market unsafe or ineffective products. The FDA can take action to remove or restrict the sale of a supplement only after it has been on the market and been shown to be unsafe. The Office of Dietary Supplements is charged to strengthen knowledge and understanding of dietary supplements by evaluating scientific information, supporting research and disseminating research results to the public.
• Anyone can access MedWatch: The FDA Safety Information and Adverse Event Reporting Program at http://www.fda.gov/Safety/MedWatch/default.htm, to find the latest safety alerts on any product. The FDA regularly publishes a list of things that are recalled or are of concern after testing.
• ConsumerLab.com provides test results and information to help consumers and health professional evaluate health, wellness and nutrition products including supplements and sports and energy products. Research is available at www.consumerlab.com.
• The National Center for Drug Free Sport provides access to a constantly updated database about supplements and drugs on a subscription basis at www.drugfreesport.com. The NCAA provides access to all of its members.