On the market, you’ll find plenty of excellent sports supplements that can support you on your journey towards better fitness, superior performance or your dream body. However, some products are marketed so well that people believe they must work, but in actual fact they are ineffective, bring benefits only in specific cases, or aren’t used according to their original purpose. Don’t waste money on randomly selected supplements. Read on to learn which products are of little value to most physically active people.
1. L-carnitine – beneficial, but not for fat burning
L-carnitine is often used in supplements that claim to help with fat burning. However, their claimed efficacy is controversial. Indeed, the molecule is involved in the transport of fatty acids to the mitochondria, where they are burned to produce energy. Based on that property, it’s claimed that L-carnitine increases the efficiency of energy burning, and many people use L-carnitine supplements for weight loss.
But L-carnitine doesn’t work in the way that ‘common sense’ would suggest. While it does transport fatty acids to be burned, it doesn’t trick the body into burning fat more efficiently. Most of the studies that looked at the efficacy of L-carnitine in this aspect showed its effect to be very small, verging on negligible. Even if the effect occurred, the researchers attributed it to an increased physical activity of the volunteers taking part in the experiment. L-carnitine supplementation only works in people who are L-carnitine-deficient.
The supplement is also credited with properties that help relieve muscle fatigue and reduce muscle damage. However, research shows that this effect is mainly seen in elderly people with impaired muscular strength. The effects of L-carnitine in active people who exercise regularly are insignificant, even negligible.
L-carnitine supplements are not completely useless – they improve liver function and may have a beneficial effect on fertility in men and women with PCOS. However, the usefulness of L-carnitine supplementation in athletes is controversial and supported only by limited evidence of low quality. What’s the verdict? When it comes to supplements, L-carnitine is definitely not the first priority.
2. Probiotics – must be suited to individual needs to work
“A healthy gut is a healthy body” – this concept and all its implications are fast gaining popularity nowadays. And it is completely right, because the role of the gut, healthy gut function and balanced gut microbiome is much greater than previously thought. There’s been a real craze in the scientific community about discovering new links between the composition of bacterial flora and body functioning. This is happening in the world of sport, too. Improving athletic performance by enhancing gut health is one of the hottest topics nowadays.
There’s no doubt that the gut and intestinal bacteria contribute significantly to digestive comfort after meals, elevate the mood, and indirectly improve sports performance. The gut and the microbes that live there definitely deserve care and attention. One of the methods of supporting the gut flora is the trendy probiotic therapy which is sometimes hailed as an absolute must-have in every athlete’s supplementation regimen.
Probiotics do work, and scientists keep discovering new areas where they may prove helpful: from digestive issues through persistent acne and immune diseases to psychological problems! Without any doubt, they have the potential to be useful to active people too!
The gut flora is important in sports because of its effect on:
- energy metabolism,
- modulation of inflammation,
- the body’s immune response.
Unfortunately, there’s also the other side of the coin. For probiotics to work, they must be tailored to your individual needs. Recommending a ‘probiotic’ to improve athletic performance is like recommending a ‘cold pill’ – very fuzzy. Probiotic therapy is a far more complicated issue than it may appear on its face.
Properly selected probiotics can help improve gut health and indirectly enhance athletic performance. However, all scientists researching this area highlight that the key aspect is to match bacterial strains to your ongoing problems and desired goals. If you buy just any ‘probiotic’ in the hope of improving your sports performance – without selecting a specific bacterial strain and identifying the purpose of its use – it’ll be money down the drain.
3. BCAAs – no advantage over regular protein
BCAAs (branched-chain amino acids) – a general term for the essential amino acids leucine, isoleucine, and valine. BCAAs are protein building blocks which must be supplied in the diet.
They’re important, as they contribute to improving physical fitness via a variety of mechanisms:
- leucine stimulates protein synthesis,
- isoleucine improves glucose metabolism and promotes glucose uptake by muscle cells,
- valine supports tissue regeneration.
However, the known effects and the metabolic role of BCAAs are in themselves no proof that BCAA supplements work. In fact, BCAA supplementation has been shown to bring no benefit to active people who get enough protein in their diet. Even though BCAA supplements are so popular, all BCAAs are found in complete protein sources as well. Undoubtedly, leucine, valine and isoleucine play an important role for improving physical fitness and athletic performance, but other amino acids are just as important!
Instead of buying a separate BCAA supplement, look at the basics: the protein intake, quality, and distribution in your daily diet. The vast majority of physically active people won’t gain any benefits from BCAA supplementation. You can supply your body with BCAAs by using your regular protein powder supplement, having complete protein meals or opting for homemade protein smoothies.
To get more information about BCAAs, click HERE.
4. HMB – protects muscles against breakdown, but not in active people
HMB, or 3-hydroxy-3-methylbutyric acid, is a substance produced naturally in the body from the breakdown of leucine (which is, incidentally, one of BCAAs). Endogenous HMB is essential for the process of protein synthesis and muscle growth. Since the body produces HMB in small amounts, many physically active people opt for supplementation. HMB is claimed to have anticatabolic effects, improve strength, accelerate muscle regeneration, and generally lead to better sports performance. Is there any rationale for taking HMB supplements?
HMB supplementation is reasonable only in people over 65 years of age, who are not very physically fit. In this group, HMB supplements show anticatabolic properties. They improve muscle strength and mass. In addition, they prevent muscle loss associated with age, prolonged immobilization or debilitating disease.
However, athletes do not benefit from incorporating HMB into their supplementation regimen. Multiple studies evaluating these supplements have found that it has no significant effect on improving the sporting performance or body composition in active people. HMB does not increase lean mass, improve body composition or increase muscle strength in physically fit individuals. Consequently, for most people in this group using the supplement is nothing but a waste of money.
5. Carbohydrate-rich post-workout supplements – an overrated fad
Carbohydrates are, of course, the main source of energy for physically active people. Since they speed up body recovery, they must be included in well-balanced post-workout meals. However, dedicated carbohydrate-rich post-workout supplements are fairly overhyped. A solid, nutritious meal or shake after a big workout provides the body with a complete portion of carbohydrates (which facilitate protein absorption and metabolism). Hence using extra supplements, usually packed with sugars (maltodextrin, glucose or fructose) to deliver simple carbohydrates, is absolutely redundant.
While carbohydrate-rich supplements consumed after training are unnecessary, carb intake before working out is a different story. ‘Carbohydrate loading’ is a technique that improves physical fitness and has a range of advantages in certain cases. A greater role is played by pre-workout carbohydrates, though.
There are, of course, exceptions and situations in which post-workout supplements loaded with simple carbs are useful. This applies, for example, to the people who struggle to achieve an appropriate calorie intake during the day and athletes building up mass who, for one reason or another, don’t want to have classic carbohydrate-laden meals. In other cases, supplements containing simple carbohydrates, formulated for post-workout use, are rather useless.
If you want your supplementation to be as effective as possible, make sure it’s tailored to your goals, expectations, and health status. There should always be a good reason to use supplements and, preferably, you should consult this with a specialist. Taking dietary supplements in the belief that “maybe they don’t do any good, they don’t do any harm either” not only makes no sense but can be downright dangerous. Before you start taking any more tablets, carefully consider what benefits you expect, what effects the substance is proven to have, how long you can use it, and whether you have any contraindications to supplementation. Remember that supplements are not a substitute for a healthy balanced diet.
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References:
1. West, Nicholas P., et al. "Probiotics and Athletic Performance: A Systematic Review." Clinical Journal of Sport Medicine, vol. 17, no. 4, 2007, pp. 501-511.
2. Marttinen M, Ala-Jaakkola R, Laitila A, Lehtinen MJ. Gut Microbiota, Probiotics and Physical Performance in Athletes and Physically Active Individuals. Nutrients. 2020 Sep 25;12(10):2936. doi: 10.3390/nu12102936. PMID: 32992765; PMCID: PMC7599951.
3. Martinho DV, Nobari H, Faria A, Field A, Duarte D, Sarmento H. Oral Branched-Chain Amino Acids Supplementation in Athletes: A Systematic Review. Nutrients. 2022 Sep 27;14(19):4002. doi: 10.3390/nu14194002. PMID: 36235655; PMCID: PMC9571679.
4. Wu H, Xia Y, Jiang J, Du H, Guo X, Liu X, Li C, Huang G, Niu K. Effect of beta-hydroxy-beta-methylbutyrate supplementation on muscle loss in older adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Arch Gerontol Geriatr. 2015 Sep-Oct;61(2):168-75. doi: 10.1016/j.archger.2015.06.020. Epub 2015 Jul 3. PMID: 26169182.
5. Holland BM, Roberts BM, Krieger JW, Schoenfeld BJ. Does HMB Enhance Body Composition in Athletes? A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis. J Strength Cond Res. 2022 Feb 1;36(2):585-592. doi: 10.1519/JSC.0000000000003461. PMID: 31868817.