Adequacy of energy and macronutrient intake of food supplements for athletes

https://doi.org/10.1590/1678-98652017000500005 INTAKE OF FOOD SUPPLEMENTS 593 ORIGINAL ORIGINAL Adequacy of energy and macronutrient intake of food supplements for athletes Suplementos alimentares na adequação do consumo energético e de macronutrientes em atletas Vanessa Behrends RODRIGUES1 Christianne de Faria Coelho RAVAGNANI2 Hellen Clair Garcêz NABUCO3 Fabrício César de Paula RAVAGNANI4 Vânia Letícia Souza FERNANDES1 Mariano Martínez ESPINOSA5 ABSTRACT Objective To assess how much food supplements contribute to the nutritional adequacy of energy and macronutrients in relation those recommended for athletes. Methods This was a cross sectional study was composed of 182 athletes from 19 sports (150 men and 32 women) with a mean age, weight, height and body mass index of 23.8±7.5 years, 73.7±15.6kg, 1.7±0.1m, 24.2±4.0kg/m², respectively. The 24 hours dietary recall was applied to assess intake and the Multiple Source Method to evaluate usual intake. We used the t-test, Mann-Whitney test, Analysis of Variance and Kruskal-Wallis for comparative 1 Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso, Faculdade de Nutrição, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Biociências. Av. Fernando Corrêa da Costa, 2367, Boa Esperança, 78060-900, Cuiabá, MT, Brasil. Correspondência para/Correspondence to: VB RODRIGUES. E-mail: <>. 2 Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso, Departamento de Educação Física, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Educação Física. Cuiabá, MT, Brasil. 3 Instituto Federal de Educação, Ciência e Tecnologia de Mato Grosso, Departamento de Administração e Planejamento. Cuiabá, MT, Brasil. 4 Instituto Federal de Educação, Ciência e Tecnologia de Mato Grosso, Departamento de Ensino, Pesquisa e Extensão. Cuiabá, MT, Brasil. 5 Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso, Instituto de Ciências Exatas e da Terra, Departamento de Estatística. Cuiabá, MT, Brasil. Article based on the master’s thesis of VB RODRIGUES, entitled “Avaliação da adequação energética e de macronutrientes em atletas”. Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso; 2015. Support: Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal Nível Superior and Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (Process nº 446323/2014-4). Rev. Nutri., Campinas, 30(5):593-603, set./out., 2017 Revista de Nutrição 594 VB RODRIGUES et al. https://doi.org/10.1590/1678-98652017000500005 analysis among the diets, gender and types of groups, and the comparison of two-proportion test to assess the diets Food and Food and Supplementation. Results Of the athletes studied, less than half used dietary supplements (39.0%). Energy intake was below the recommended (52.7%) in Food diet, and 45.6% in Food and Supplementation diet. The mean total of carbohydrate inadequacy (g.kg-1.day-1) was high for athletes of both genders and between Food and Food and Supplementation diets. The protein intake was above the recommended levels in Food diet (23.1%) and in Food and Supplementation diet (33.5%). The lipid intake was also above the recommended dietary levels in Food (47.3%) and in Food and Supplementation diets (50.0%). Conclusion The use of supplements did not significantly reduce inadequacies of diet and the athletes’ intake of calories and carbohydrates was below the recommended for these groups. However, the protein intake was above the recommended levels for athletes. Keywords: Diet. Food consumption. Nutritional assessment. RESUMO Objetivo Avaliar a contribuição dos suplementos alimentares para a adequação nutricional de energia e macronutrientes em relação às recomendações propostas para atletas. Métodos Estudo transversal, composto por 182 atletas de 19 modalidades esportivas (150 homens e 32 mulheres), com média de idade, peso, altura e índice de massa corporal de 23,8±7,5 anos, 73,7±15,6kg, 1,7±0,1m, 24,2±4,0kg/m², respectivamente. Foi aplicado recordatório de 24 horas para avaliação do consumo e o Multiple Source Method para avaliação do consumo usual. Foram usados: teste-t, Mann-Whitney, Analises de Variância e Kruskal-Wallis para análise de comparação entre as dietas, por gênero e grupos de modalidades, e teste de comparação entre duas proporções para avaliar as dietas Alimentos e Alimentos e Suplementos. Resultados Menos da metade fazia uso de suplementos alimentares (39,0%). O consumo energético esteve abaixo do recomendado em 52,7% na dieta Alimentos, e 45,6% na dieta Alimentos e Suplementos. A inadequação de carboidrato (g.kg-1.dia-1) foi alta na média total de atletas, para gêneros e entre modalidades nas dietas Alimentos e Alimentos e Suplementos. O consumo proteico esteve acima do recomendado em 23,1% na dieta Alimentos e 33,5% na dieta Alimentos e Suplementos. Já para lipídeos a ingestão esteve acima do recomendado 47,3% na dieta Alimentos e 50,0% na dieta Alimentos e Suplementos. Conclusão O uso de suplementos não auxiliou na diminuição das inadequações de forma expressiva, permanecendo os atletas abaixo das recomendações preconizadas para calorias e glicídios, porém aumentou a quantidade de atletas acima da recomendação de proteína. Palavras-chave: Dieta. Consumo de alimentos. Avaliação nutricional. INTRODUCTION The importance of nutrition for athletic performance and health maintenance of athletes is well documented in the literature [1]. Based on this, a number of sports associations and societies have issued specific recommendations regarding the daily intake of energy, macronutrients and Revista de Nutrição use of dietary supplements among sportsmen and sportswomen [1,2]. However, previous studies have shown that intake of athletes from different sports and continents does not reach the recommended values according to these documents [3,4], confirming the need for nutritional interventions by experts [5,6]. Rev. Nutri., Campinas, 30(5):593-603, set./out., 2017 https://doi.org/10.1590/1678-98652017000500005 The intake of dietary supplements has increasingly become more widespread among athletes [7], generating billions of dollars annually [8]. However, the use of supplements is not always based on nutritional deficiencies, efficacy, safety or legality, leading to unnecessary costs for athletes, clubs and/or sponsors, in addition to the risk of positive doping [9]. Although they are used for a wide range of purposes in sports (as stimulants, sleep enhancement, water replenishment, fatigue reduction and stored body fat), one of the primary functions of nutritional supplements is to help athletes achieve their higher daily needs of energy and nutrients due to training [9]. Although there is relative consensus regarding the important role of these products in preventing negative energy balance and its consequent damages (i.e., loss of muscle mass, menstrual dysfunction, bone density reduction, increased risk of fatigue and injuries) [1], few studies have analyzed the contribution of adequate supplementation of energy intake and macronutrients for athletes. Most studies on sports supplementation focus on the ergogenic effects and/or substanc (...truncated)