Journal of Sports Sciences, 2002, 20, 353± 358
The type, amount, frequency and timing of dietary
supplement use by elite players in the First Spanish
Basketball League
H. SCHR™DER,1* E. NAVARRO,2 J. MORA,3 J. SECO,4 J.M. TORREGROSA5 and
A. TRAMULLAS1
1
Department of Sports Medicine, Sports Medicine Barcelona, Barcelona, 2Institut de Recerca Oncologica, Hospitalet de
Llobregat, B arcelona, 3Departamento de Fisioterapia, Universidad de Valencia, Valencia, 4Servicio Medico Fisioterapia,
Saski Baskonia, Vitoria and 5Servicio Medico, Baloncesto Fuenlabrada, Fuenlabrada, Spain
Accepted 3 December 2001
The aims of this study were to determine the type, frequency and amount of dietary supplement consumption
among a group of professional basketball players. The type, amount and speci® c timing of supplement use were
recorded by 55 professional basketball players from seven diþ erent teams of the First Spanish Basketball League.
Most participants (58%) consumed dietary supplements. Multivitamins and vitamins were the most frequently
used supplements among the athletes (50.9%), followed by sport drinks (21.8%), miscellaneous supplements
(21.8%), amino acids (14.5%), proteins (12.7%) and carbohydrates (12.7%). The average daily dietary supplement was one capsule of multivitamins, one capsule of antioxidant vitamins, 0.2± 1.0 g vitamin C, 10.3 g protein,
1.9 g amino acids, 16.2 g carbohydrates and 377 ml of a commercial sport drink. Although the proportion of
participants who consumed dietary supplements before, during and immediately after exercise was 25.4%,
16.3% and 7.3% respectively, only a few consumed a potentially ergogenic supplement at these times. It would
appear unlikely that the type or amount of dietary supplements consumed had a bene® cial eþ ect on the physical
performance of these professional basketball players, with the possible exception of antioxidant vitamins and the
commercial sport drinks.
Keywords: antioxidants, basketball, nutrition, sport, supplements.
Introduction
The physical demands of professional sports are so
high that even the smallest advantage gained by an
athlete can provide a bene® t during competition. For
this reason, top sportsmen and women use dietary
supplements to improve performance. Several scienti® c
studies have examined the eþ ects of supplement use by
athletes (Haymes, 1991; Williams, 1999). In contrast,
little attention has been given to the prevalence and
patterns of supplement consumption. In competitive
events, where the diþ erence between winning and losing
is small, many athletes seek ergogenic aids that have no
side-eþ ects and which are not banned. Dietary supple* Address all correspondence to Helmut Schr”der, Department of
Nutrition, Sports Medicine Barcelona, c/ Lázaro Cárdenas 9,
E-08017 Barcelona, Spain. e-mail: [email protected]
ments, including carbohydrates, proteins, vitamins and
antioxidants, are promising alternatives. However, some
supplements contain labelled ingredients or impurities
that are either banned or will result in a positive drug
test (Burke, 2000).
Professional basketball produces high physical and
psychological stress (McInnes et al., 1995), making
players vulnerable to the uncontrolled use of dietary
supplements, including some that have dubious eþ ects
on physical performance. As these players are also role
models, the excessive use of dietary supplements could
be considered a serious health concern.
Very little is known about the use of supplements in
basketball (Short and Short, 1983; Nowak et al., 1988).
To the best of our knowledge, no scienti® c study has
focused on the consumption behaviour of supplements
by professional basketball players. The aims of this
study were to assess the type, frequency, amount and
Journal of Sports Sciences ISSN 0264-0414 print/ISSN 1466-447X online Ó
http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals
2002 Taylor & Francis Ltd
354
timing of dietary supplement use by professional basketball players in the First Spanish Basketball League
(ACB).
Schr”der et al.
Gatorade Thirst Quencher) or glasses (200 ml). To
evaluate timing of supplement use, the participants
were requested to record their supplement use (as
above) as being `immediately before’ , `during’ or `after’
a match or training session.
Methods
Participants
Fifty-® ve basketball players in the First Spanish Basketball League participated in the study. The players
were recruited during the competition season and
were informed of the procedures before providing their
voluntary consent to participate. The protocol was
approved by the institutional review board. The players
completed 8± 10 training sessions a week, with an
average weekly training load of 15.5 ± 2 h, and competed one to two times a week during the 1996± 97 competition season. They also participated in international
competitions.
Dietary supplement questionnaire
With the permission of the respective physicians of
seven basketball teams, a supplement questionnaire was
administered to the players (n = 77). Fifty-® ve players
answered the questionnaire, a compliance rate of
71%. The questionnaire was structured in the following
way: players were asked if they consumed dietary
supplements regularly and, if they did, they were
requested to record in detail the type, frequency,
amount and timing of supplement use on training and
competition days.
Supplements used by the players were coded by
type, frequency, amount and timing of use. Coding
for type was broken down into six categories: multivitamins or vitamins, proteins, amino acids, carbohydrates (de® ned as supplements in powder form
containing carbohydrates as the sole macronutrient),
sport drinks (de® ned as an isotonic beverage containing
6± 8% carbohydrates) and a miscellaneous category.
Frequency of use was coded by daily or weekly consumption of supplements. To avoid misclassi® cation
of supplements by the players, we provided examples of
types of supplements; the participants were requested
to record the commercial name of the supplement and
the company that sells it. The amounts of multivitamins
and antioxidants consumed were recorded by number
of capsules (and later converted to grams), whereas protein and carbohydrate supplement use was recorded
in grams, in tablespoons or the corresponding units of
the commercial product used by the athletes (and later
converted to grams). Commercial vitamin C supplement use varied considerably; we therefore calculated
daily minimum and maximum ingestion. Sport drink
consumption was recorded by bottles (i.e one bottle of
Results
Fifty-® ve players completed the questionnaire. The
mean (± s) physical characteristics of the participants
(with values for 137 other players in the ACB in parentheses) were: age 25.1 ± 4.0 (26.2 ± 3.6) years, height
1.97 ± 0.09 (1.98 ± 0.09) m, body mass 93.2 ± 10.5 kg
and BMI 24.0 ± 1.5. There were no diþ erences in mean
values of continuous variables (age and height) between
the 55 participants and the other 137 ACB basketball
players, with the statistical power to detect diþ erences
of 2 years or 0.04 m between the two groups > 90%.
Hence, both groups were homogeneous in age and
height and the study group could be considered to be
representative of ACB basketball players for these
characteristics.
Fifty-eight per cent of athletes (n = 32) recorded
using dietary supplements. Twenty-six (81.2%) consumed supplements daily, whereas 18.8% consumed
them only once a week (Fig. 1). Multivitamins and
vitamins were taken most frequently (50.9%), followed
by sport drinks (21.8%), miscellaneous supplements
(21.8%), amino acids (14.5%), proteins (12.7%) and
carbohydrates (12.7%) (Fig. 2). The average daily
intakes of multivitamins, antioxidants, vitamin C, sport
drinks, amino acids (arginine, ornithine and BCAAs),
Fig. 1. Consumption and frequency of use of dietary supplements by the basketball players (n = 55).
355
Dietary supplement use by elite basketball players
proteins and carbohydrates are shown in Table 1. The
miscellaneous supplements consumed by the participants included carnitine, co-enzyme Q, inosine, choline,
lecithin, iron, ginseng and commercial plant extract
mixtures (Fig. 3). They tended to consume protein
and multivitamin supplements on a daily rather than a
weekly basis (Fig. 2) and preferred to take more than one
supplement (77.4%). Supplement use before exercise
was more frequent (25.4%) than during (16.3%) or
after (7.3%) exercise (Table 2). Generally, more participants recorded consuming supplements before,
during and after competition than training. Multivitamins were the most commonly used supplement
before competition (20%; Table 2). Sport drinks were
consumed by 14.5% of the participants during competition, whereas only 1.8% did so during training.
Discussion
Fig. 2. Frequency of use of multivatimins or vitamins (MV),
protein (PR), amino acids (AA), sport drinks (SD), carbohydrate (CHO) and miscellaneous supplements by the basketball players (n = 55). j , total users; h , daily users; , weekly
users.
This is the ® rst detailed study of the pattern of
supplementation of elite basketball players (29% of all
professional basketball players in the First Spanish
Basketball League, ACB). It has previously been shown
that the amount and frequency of dietary supplementation is higher among elite than non-elite athletes
(Sobal and Marquart, 1994). In the present study,
supplement use (58.2%) was similar to the pooled mean
(59%) found by Sobal and colleagues among elite
athletes. However, the prevalence of supplementation
was almost twice that in our study group than in college
basketball players (Short and Short, 1983; Nowak et al.,
1988).
The intensive training loads and travel experienced by
elite athletes may have social and lifestyle implications.
The frequency and timing of training sessions, or
even travel, may increase the risk of poor food choices,
leading to temporary nutritional imbalances. We
found that multivitamins are the most frequent type of
dietary supplement used by the players in the present
study, which is in line with previous results (Short and
Fig. 3. Type and frequency of use of miscellaneous supplements by the basketball players (n = 55).
356
Schr”der et al.
Table 1. Dietary supplement use by 55 basketball players
Dietary supplement
Percentage of total
Multivitamins or vitamins
multivitamins b
vitamin C
Amount per day a
48.8
Vitamin C: 60± 98 mg
Vitamin B1: 1.4± 2.0 mg
Vitamin B2: 1.6± 2.0 mg
Vitamin B6: 1.0± 1.8 mg
Vitamin B12: 1.0± 4.4 mg
Vitamin E: 10.0± 13.5 mg
Vitamin A: 2480± 4000 IU
Vitamin D: 200± 400 IU
Folate: 200± 400 mg
Niacin: 15± 18 mg
Pantothenic acid: 8± 10 mg
14.5
200± 1000 mg
antioxidants c
3.6
Protein (g)
Amino acids (g)
Sport drink (ml)
Carbohydrate (g)
12.7
14.5
21.8
12.7
Vitamin C: 250 mg
Vitamin E: 75 mg
b-carotene: 4.75 mg
Niacin: 10 mg
Vitamin B2: 2.5 mg
Vitamin B6: 5 mg
Glutathion: 12.5 mg
Selenium: 75 mg
Flavonoides: 50 mg
10.3 ± 8.8
1.9 ± 1.4
377 ± 363
16.2 ± 3.3
a
Intake of supplements by athletes reporting the use of the corresponding supplement.
Amount of multivitamin supplements containing vitamins.
c
Composition of antioxidant supplement.
Note: Amino acids: arginine, ornithine and branched-chain amino acids.
b
Table 2. Athletes (n = 55) reporting the use of supplements
before, during and after training and competition
Event
Before (%)
During (%)
Training
Sport drinks
Multivitamins
Carbohydrates
Ginseng
Inosine
Carnitine
0
0
0
0
0
0
1.8
0
0
0
0
0
Competition
Sport drinks
Multivitamins
Carbohydrates
Ginseng
Inosine
Carnitine
0
20.0
0
5.5
3.6
1.8
14.5
0
0
0
0
0
After (%)
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
3.6
1.8
0
0
1.8
Note: Some players consumed more than one supplement at particular
times.
Short, 1983; Burke et al., 1991). The intake of multivitamins might help in preventing temporary vitamin
imbalances caused by a sport lifestyle (Telford et al.,
1992).
In the present study, 18.1% of the participants
reported regularly consuming vitamin± antioxidant
mixtures or vitamin C. It has previously been suggested
that supplementation with nutritional antioxidants
reduces exercise-induced production of free radicals
( Jakeman and Maxwell, 1993; Kanter et al., 1993;
Alessio et al., 1997). Similarly, Schr”der et al. (2000)
demonstrated the ability of a three-compound dietary
antioxidant supplement (ascorbic acid, a-tocopherol
and b-carotene) to reduce oxidative stress in professional basketball players. These authors found that
lipoperoxide plasma decreased signi® cantly during 32
days of supplementation with the above-mentioned
antioxidant mixture. Consequently, athletes who take
antioxidant supplements will receive greater protection
against exercise-induced free radical damage.
Several authors have reported that professional
357
Dietary supplement use by elite basketball players
basketball players have high dietary protein intakes
(Nowak et al., 1988, Schr”der et al., 2000). An
additional intake of 0.11 g ´kg-1 ´day-1 protein as
supplements (as reported by 12% of the participants in
this study) should not aþ ect protein balance.
Several studies have indicated that carbohydrate
supplements do not only improve exercise performance
in endurance athletes (Coyle et al., 1983; Yaspelkis et al.,
1993), but also bene® ts short-term, high-intensity,
intermittent exercise (Anantaraman et al., 1995;
Akermark et al., 1996; Nicholas et al., 1997; Davis et al.,
1999), which could have important implications for
performance enhancement in team sports (Akermark
et al., 1996; Shi and Gisol® , 1998). As professional
players in the First Spanish Basketball League train
twice a day 5± 6 days a week and compete at least once
a week, carbohydrate supplements or carbohydratecontaining sport drinks that are easy to consume might
be helpful in maintaining glycogen stores (Coombes
and Hamilton, 2000). Although basketball players
have free access to sport drinks during training and
competition, only 21.8% of the participants in this
study consumed these drinks regularly (an average of
377 ml ´day-1). To the best of our knowledge, data on
sport drink and carbohydrate supplement use by elite
athletes are not available, so it cannot be determined
whether the consumption of these two dietary supplements is similar among professional basketball players
and other elite athletes.
The timing of carbohydrate and protein solution
consumption is important for ensuring the maximum
bene® ts for performance and recovery. Drinking solutions containing carbohydrates before or during shortterm, high-intensity or prolonged intermittent exercise
improves physical performance (Murray et al., 1989;
Whright et al., 1991; Ventura et al., 1994; El-Sayed et al.,
1997; Jeukendrup et al., 1997). Furthermore, protein
and glucose consumption immediately after exercise
appears to be more anabolic and to decrease myo® brillar protein breakdown, respectively, than when
ingested some time later (Biolo et al., 1997; Roy et al.,
1997). Despite these bene® ts, none of the participants recorded using these supplements immediately
after training and only one participant regularly
consumed supplements containing carbohydrate after
competition.
The consumption of commercial sport drinks containing carbohydrate during training and competition
was reported by 2% and 16% of the players in our study,
respectively. This might re¯ ect the greater importance
attached to competition by the players: 20%, 5.5%,
3.6% and 1.8% reported regularly using multivitamins,
ginseng, carnitine and inosine, respectively, before a
competitive match. In addition to their own decision to
use a particular supplement, external in¯ uences ± such
as advice from other players, from the coach or from
other non-experts in sport nutrition ± might explain
the pattern of supplement use before, during and after
competition and training by the players.
Scienti® c evidence suggests that the consumption
of multivitamins, ginseng, carnitine, co-enzyme Q and
lecithin does not have an ergogenic eþ ect (Singh et al.,
1992; Snider et al., 1992; McNaughton et al., 1999;
Vogler et al., 1999; Brass, 2000; Buchman et al.,
2000). Furthermore, it is unclear whether the amount
or timing of ingestion of sport drinks, carbohydrate
and protein supplements by athletes improves physical
performance.
Safety is at the heart of whether a dietary supplement
should be recommended and consumed. Vitamins
taken in excess of the recommended daily allowances
(RDA) or the individual’ s needs could be a potential
health hazard. The reported use of one capsule of
vitamin complexes by the athletes did not present a
risk for hypervitaminosis, as these supplements did not
include excessive doses of vitamins. Furthermore, it
is unlikely that the consumption of 1 g vitamin C by
some players would have adverse side-eþ ects in healthy
people (Hathcock, 1997).
We conclude that about 58% of professional Spanish
basketball players consume dietary supplements. The
prevalence of use of these supplements by these professional athletes is twice that previously reported
for college basketball players, but comparable with the
average intakes of other elite sportsmen. Given the
amount and timing of supplement consumption by
professional Spanish basketball players in the present
study, it would appear unlikely that the supplements
consumed had a bene® cial eþ ect on performance or an
adverse eþ ect on health.
Acknowledgements
We gratefully acknowledge the cooperation of the ACB
directorate and the basketball players and team physicians
who participated in the study. The study was supported by
a grant from the Rehnborg Center TM for Nutrition and Wellness, Nutrilite Division of Amway Corporation (USA).
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