ABSTRACT
The focus of sports nutrition is on the optimisation of both health and performance and includes a wide range of nutritional strategies encompassing food and dietary supplements. Indeed, there are now a wide range of supplements that target the athlete. These supplements include substances both licit and illicit used for the purpose of promoting health, recovery and performance pertaining to exercise and sports-related tasks. This chapter focuses on the constitution of supplements, the prevalence of their use and the issues they present to the athlete from an anti-doping and health perspective. Recommendations are provided regarding good practice and how to minimise the risk of inadvertent doping. Herbal supplements represent a particular risk to the athlete where the active ingredients are unclear or unknown. A review of some common herbal preparations is presented together with the specific issues they raise.
