sports supplements

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'On antioxidants, I don't buy the vitamin-C story; the weight of scientific research says vitamin C does not prevent colds and at best merely cuts the symptoms of respiratory illness. Beta-carotene has now gone through the full 'arc of science' and has failed: a third controlled clinical trial just out in Lancet agrees with two others that beta-carotene pills are worthless, if not harmful (they may boost the risk of heart attack, at least in patients with coronary heart disease). No one should be taking beta-carotene pills. Vitamin E has not yet completed the full arc, but the studies finding 'benefit' are observational and flawed, because the vitamin-E takers have healthier lifestyles than non-takers (thus, the healthy lifestyles rather than vitamin E might be producing the increase in life expectancy). As you know, the full arc is completed only when the controlled clinical trials finally appear. Two are out on vitamin E, and they reach opposite conclusions on whether taking E supplements is a good idea, at least for preventing a second heart attack. Maybe the vitamin-E arc will be full when the Women's Health Study appears in a year or two (they are testing, in healthy women, 600 IU of vitamin E vs. placebo every other day).

'It's clear that antioxidants (and indeed, vitamins in general) do not enhance athletic performance. As for vitamin E promoting faster recovery and thus fostering harder training, most studies so far show only various rises or falls in 'markers of oxidative stress', whatever the heck that is. Few or no studies show that athletes on vitamin E recover faster functionally. So what about the question - 'To E or not to E?' Go ahead, if you can't resist, but keep it to 400 IU per day or less, and just because you pop a 'magic pill' don't feel free to indulge your bad health and dietary habits. In general, I think that athletes and non-athletes would be far, far better off if they would focus on food, not pills. Your readers should cut way back on animal fat and eat huge amounts of fruits, veggies, grains, seeds, and other vegetarian fare.

'All I take is one aspirin a day; the science is in and favourable - at least for men over the age of 50 - on that. Once or twice a year, I may take two or three vitamin-C pills in the early stages of a cold, in hopes of cutting symptoms. I do carbo-load for endurance events. I use caffeine, too, and the research shows it 'works' for runners, but it's a drug, not a nutrient. Many women may also want calcium supplements for bone health. The now-popular zinc supplements can be tricky: if you take too much for too long, you end up with a performance-sapping anaemia from copper deficiency. 'For those people who just can't wait for all the science to come in and want to supplement, I would recommend the following:
1. One multi-vitamin and mineral capsule a day, such as Centrum Silver (it's among the tops in vitamin E with 45 IU, so with it and a carefully-chosen diet, you can get at least 60 or so IU of vitamin E per day). Such a capsule will also help people get enough folic acid, which is soon to be the next heart-health craze (folic acid helps keep blood homocysteine levels low, which is good since high homocysteine is linked with heart disease; however, you can surely get all the folic acid you need from fruits and veggies). Centrum will also ensure that people get enough vitamin B12; this is especially important for older people, who may begin to malabsorb B12 from food. The Centrum caps also help with vitamin D, which is nice for those who live in sun-less places, especially during the winter,
2. A calcium supplement for women,
3. A vitamin-C pill, 500 mg a day, which I don't think will help but won't hurt, either, and
4. A vitamin-E pill, with no more than 100 IU 400 IU a day, which I doubt will help much (and in the long run, like beta-carotene, may even prove harmful, although I doubt it).'
Mel Cunningham Siff, Ph.D., recently rocked the athletic world with the publication of the third edition of his outstanding book SuperTraining, a volume which overturns tired, traditional views of training with provocative, exciting new methods. Siff is a senior lecturer at the University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa, and has presented papers internationally at conferences in sports science, physiology, physiotherapy, sports medicine, psychology, engineering, ergonomics, physical education, linguistics, and communication. A former weightlifter who earned university, provincial, and national awards in his sport, he was Chairman of the South African Universities Weightlifting Association for over 20 years and has received two meritorious service awards for contribution to sport. Siff has collaborated closely during the last decade with Dr. Yuri Verkhoshansky, the Russian sports scientist who guided many Soviet Olympic teams and won the 1988 Olympic-Year Gold Medal from his home country in recognition of his advancement of Soviet sport. This was Mel's interesting reply:
'I learned from my early Russian sources of the importance of resistance training in improving athletic performance in a variety of sports, as well as the utility of using ergogenic aids such as adaptogens. Over the years, I also experimented with Vitamin E (400 IU per day), Vitamin C, brewer's or torula yeast, Casilan (the inevitable protein supplement), mineral supplements, l-lysine, PABA, so-called vitamin B15 (pangamic acid), digestive enzymes such as bromelain, papain and pectin, very dilute hydrochloric acid, kelp tablets, desiccated liver, dolomite, selenium, beta-carotene, lecithin, and many other substances which seem to keep the health shops in business. Further along the supplement road, I tested amino-acid supplements, whey protein, and chelated minerals. Gradually, I switched my attention from track & field to Olympic weightlifting, a very quantitative discipline in which it is relatively easy to assess the impact of any new supplements that one is taking. Together with my lifting colleagues, we experimented for years with the 'latest and the greatest'. I could not honestly say that we noticed any major differences in performance - with or without the supplements.

'Some of my fellow athletes began experimenting with anabolic steroids, and there was no doubt that this supplement made a huge difference to their performance, despite the fact that most of the medical profession asserted that this improvement was due to a placebo effect. It's interesting to note that they are now singing a different tune all these years later. Nevertheless, they still ignore our comments that anabolic-androgenic (AA) steroids are used quite successfully by distance athletes to improve their performances. Some of our local ex-ultramarathoners have admitted to me that they used AA steroids during their heyday, but the sports and medical authorities maintain that they are only useful in increasing strength and muscle bulk. Subsequently, I conducted a literature review and noted that AA steroids definitely enhance physiological processes that can improve endurance performance.

'I do believe that certain supplements improve immunity, such as sublingually placed zinc lozenges and very large doses of vitamin C. However, the evidence that every vegetable and fruit contains a variety of what are now called 'phytochemicals' has forced me to conclude that the use of isolated macro- and micro-nutrients probably lowers their efficacy, so I began to take all of my supplements together with the natural plants which contain them. It seems obvious that life evolved in a synergistic way with complex mixtures of biochemicals, not commercialized isolates, yet it is the latter which are claimed by various researchers to be the most important substances for achieving better health or greater athletic performance.

'Thus, I believe that if you are supplementing with vitamin C, it is probably more sensible to take it after or with a meal containing citrus fruit (to supply the various bioflavonoids) or green peppers. If you are taking beta-carotene, then one should do so in a meal with carrots or squash. Similarly, vitamin-B complex should accompany a meal of liver, whole grains and so on. This approach, which I might term 'natural-synthetic complexing,' is one which remains with me today. I choose to do so in this complexed manner in an attempt not to disrupt what the body has adapted to over the history of human development.'
Gary Green, M.D., is the co-author of the important paper 'Nutrition Supplements: Science vs. Hype' which appeared recently in The Physician and Sportsmedicine (vol. 25, no. 6, June 1997). Dr. Green is a clinical associate professor in the Department of Family Medicine at the University of California in Los Angeles. He said:
'Yes, I take a multi-vitamin and 1000 mg of Vitamin C per day. I do take some vitamin E because it's contained in the multi-vitamin, but not in huge doses. I take C for the antioxidant effects which, while certainly not proven, do hold some promise. I went to a lecture by Linus Pauling about 20 years ago in which he discussed the advantages of vitamin C. I began taking it then, because I have a firm policy which states, "I listen very seriously to anyone who has two more Nobel Prizes than I do"'. (Editor's note: Linus Pauling was the only winner of two unshared Nobel Prizes. He earned the Nobel Prize in chemistry in 1954 for his research into the nature of chemical bonding and the structures of complicated compounds such as antibodies. He was also awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1962 for his passionate advocacy of nuclear disarmament and ardent efforts to ban atmospheric testing of nuclear weapons. Pauling, who published several books and over 1,000 scientific papers, believed that large daily doses of vitamin C could extend life expectancy and reduce the risks of colds, cancer, and cardiovascular disease; the California scientist took about 18,000 mg of vitamin C per day, 300 times the RDA. Pauling died in 1994 at the age of 93.)
Owen Anderson

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