Are We Doing A Disservice To Our Young Athletes?
In the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) Position Statement on Supplements. The first sentence states that “they strongly oppose the use of dietary supplements”. They give two reasons:
- Safety of the supplements because they are not FDA regulated.
- Lack of published scientific research.
We agree with the safety issue for 95+% of supplements:
Young athletes are being inundated with hype and false claims from supplement companies, many of which are not regulated by the FDA.
Informed-Choice is a quality assurance program for sports nutrition products that analyzed 58 muscle building supplements from various retail outlets and the results were eye opening:
- 25% contained steroids
- 11% contained stimulants not listed on the label
The Cologne Lab Study looked at 634 supplement products from 13 countries:
- 94 (14.8%) contained prohibited substances
YOUNG ATHLETES NEED GUIDANCE.
The NFHS Position Statement's second sentence adds that "there continues to be widespread use of dietary supplements by adolescent and high school athletes."
Many of them are going to the store and buying supplements that may be contaminated; and many are buying supplements that have little or no benefit or basis in science and can potentially be detrimental to their performance and harmful to their health.
Instead of telling young people not to take supplements then put our heads in the sand, we should educate the students and their parents that there are supplements that will improve their health as well as their performance.
However for supplements guaranteed to be safe and pure, but they must be:
- Manufactured in a FDA inspected GMP (Good Manufacturing Practices) Facility.
- NFS Certified Facility.
- Batch Tested for Purity.
- Guarantee Full Label Disclosure.
- Made in the USA.
We do not agree with the lack of published scientific research. Their Position Statement was established in 1998. Since then there have been thousands of published research articles. A great example is creatine; Creatine is the most studied supplement in history. It is safe and it works.
I have searched long and hard for a manufacturing company that meets the five points of safety and purity listed above. And they are affordable. These are the best prices I have seen for products from a NSF Certified manufacturer.
There are thousands of supplements on the market today. Of those thousands, we have searched through the research and identified 4 key supplements that we recommend for young athletes. Click on each supplement to see their amazing benefits and the research that backs it.
CLICK HERE TO SHOP
