ABSTRACT
This chapter looks more closely at the sports foods and supplements used by athletes to enhance performance, promote recovery and facilitate optimal training adaptation. Research in sports nutrition over several decades has identified how different nutrients can enhance exercise performance, improve recovery and modulate training adaptation. Sports supplements are different from sports foods because they typically contain unusual amounts of nutrients or other components of foods that would not normally be obtained through food alone. Dietary nitrate is becoming increasingly popular as a sports supplement due to its capacity to enhance endurance exercise performance. Small additional benefits are possible through the intake of sports foods and sports supplements. The mechanism of action of sports supplements is complex and the benefits of most supplements are usually specific to a certain type of exercise or sport activity.
