Dietary supplementation and doping-related factors in high-level sailing

Abstract

BackgroundAlthough dietary supplements (DSs) in sports are considered a natural need resulting from athletes’ increased physical demands, and although they are often consumed by athletes, data on DS usage in Olympic sailing are scarce. The aim of this study was to study the use of and attitudes towards DSs and doping problems in high-level competitive sailing.MethodsThe sample consisted of 44 high-level sailing athletes (5 of whom were female; total mean age 24.13 ± 6.67 years) and 34 coaches (1 of whom was female; total mean age 37.01 ± 11.70). An extensive, self-administered questionnaire of substance use was used, and the subjects were asked about sociodemographic data, sport-related factors, DS-related factors (i.e., usage of and knowledge about DSs, sources of information), and doping-related factors. The Kruskal-Wallis ANOVA was used to determine the differences in group characteristics, and Spearman’s rank order correlation and a logistic regression analysis were used to define the relationships between the studied variables.ResultsDS usage is relatively high. More than 77% of athletes consume DSs, and 38% do so on a regular basis (daily). The athletes place a high degree of trust in their coaches and/or physicians regarding DSs and doping. The most important reason for not consuming DSs is the opinion that DSs are useless and a lack of knowledge about DSs. The likelihood of doping is low, and one-third of the subjects believe that doping occurs in sailing (no significant differences between athletes and coaches). The logistic regression found crew number (i.e., single vs. double crew) to be the single significant predictor of DS usage, with a higher probability of DS consumption among single crews.ConclusionBecause of the high consumption of DSs future investigations should focus on real nutritional needs in sailing sport. Also, since athletes reported that their coaches are the primary source of information about nutrition and DSs, further studies are necessary to determine the knowledge about nutrition, DSs and doping problems among athletes and their support teams (i.e., coaches, physicians, and strength and conditioning specialists).

Use of dietary supplements among Brazilian athletes

“…In the present study, the most frequent reason mentioned by the athletes who are not supplement users was that there was no need for supplementation. These findings corroborate those of other studies, Rodek et al [18] and Nieper [25]. Lack of knowledge was another reason for not consuming supplements, which is in agreement with previous studies that found that the greater the knowledge of supplementation the more willing the athlete is to use supplements [2].…”

“…However, in most studies cited here, dietitians are not among the main three information sources [5][6][7]18].…”

“…Moreover, most of them take more than one supplement daily [4,6], and their family, coach, friends, and the Internet are their main sources for supplement choice [6,17,18].…”

Disordered eating, amenorrhea, and substance use and misuse among professional ballet dancers: Preliminary analysis

“…Optimal nutrition may reduce fatigue and injuries, promote recovery from injuries, optimize the body's energy stores and consequently positively influence one's health status [18][19][20]. Due to the training duties and performances, dancers are frequently unable to eat adequately and therefore the relatively high prevalence of the NS in our participants (almost 2/3 of the dancers consume the NS) is not surprising and is consistent with previous reports [3,5].…”

“…Many controversies remain about the possible efficacy and necessity of this behavior [18]. Yet it is also confirmed that the NS provide potentially important nutrients for those individuals who are involved in physically demanding activities [19]. Nutritional supplementation cannot replace a dancer's genetic potential, training regime or overall psychosocial preparation, but the most favorable NS strategies have been studied and have often proven to be beneficial.…”