Use of Dietary Supplements among Professional Athletes in Saudi Arabia

Abstract

The objective of this study was to understand the usage patterns of dietary supplements among professional athletes in Saudi Arabia. The survey consisted of sixteen questions divided into four categories: use of supplements, reason for consumption of supplements, personal beliefs about supplements, and behavior. The questionnaires were given to the three teams residing in Riyadh: Al Hilal, Al Nasr, and Al-Shabab. Out of the 105 athletes surveyed, we found that only 98 are currently taking dietary supplements and the mean age and standard deviation were 25.74 ± 2.90. The survey results showed a high percentage of athletes (93.3%; n = 98) using different dietary supplements throughout the season, 43.8% (n = 43) reported using supplements for performance, and 32.6% (n = 32) believed in health benefits as a reason for using dietary supplements. Our results showed that a total of 87 (88.7%), 81 (82.6%), and 51 (52.0%) athletes are consuming sports drinks, vitamin C, and multivitamins, respectively. Meanwhile, those supplements ranking among the least used included omega 6 (18.6%), creatine (16.3%), and Ginkgo biloba (10.2%). A majority of athletes indicated that their use of supplements was for the purpose of improving their health and performance.

Use of dietary supplements among Brazilian athletes

“…Consistent with the results of other studies [8,12,16], we found that coaches are the primary source supplement recommendation for most athletes, and dietitians were their second main source of information, corroborating the findings among Saudi Arabian athletes [26] and Brazilian cyclists [20]. However, in most studies cited here, dietitians are not among the main three information sources [5][6][7]18].…”

6 Nutritional Supplements

“…Recent studies showed that athletes increasingly demonstrated sports performance as a major factor for supplementation usage and not only for health-related issues 5,6,11,12,14 .…”

“…These products may contain vitamins, minerals, herbs or botanicals, amino acids and substances like enzymes, organ tissues, glandular and metabolites, extracts or concentrates under the form of tablets, capsules, liquids, powders, bars, soft gels or caps gels 2,3,7,[12][13][14] . Therefore, there is a range of supplements available with different and specific objectives 1 .…”

“…Additionally, as a result of excessive use of different supplements in high doses and for long periods of time or its inappropriate use, there exists the probability of toxicity, negative interactions between substances and health problems to neurological, hematological and cardiovascular levels 1,3,4,[7][8][9]11,12,14 .…”

Diet quality, usage and perceived benefits of nutritional supplements in young healthy adults

“…Frequency, quantity and reasons of supplement consumption were assessed using a validated questionnaire (3) . Nutrient intake was assessed by a validated 3 day food diary and analysed using dietary assessment software Microdiet.…”