NSF International has launched a new app to provide athletes with a carefully catered list of approved supplements that won’t run afoul of the stringent testing regulations in elite sports.
The global non-profit public health advocacy group received input from Major League Baseball and its players association in developing the Certified for Sport app that helps users find nutritional aids deemed safe for use by NSF.
“The need and desire for dietary supplements continues to increase with athletes and consumers in general,” Brian Jordan, the technical manager for the NSF’ Certified for Sport program, said. “The app is something that allows athletes to have access to supplements that have been tested and verified.”
Jordan, a former strength and conditioning coach in the Colorado Rockies organization for 15 seasons, said awareness of accidental ingestion of harmful or banned substances rose during his time in a big league clubhouse, which coincided with the implementation of baseball’s testing era.
“Obviously when careers and reputations are on the line, there’s more and more strict drug testing, the more the athletes really started to look at what is their risk of what they’re consuming,” he said.
In recent years, interest in nutrition and dietary intake has given rise to the realization of a safe PED — “performance-enhancing diet,” as sports nutritionist Leslie Bonci calls it.
Bonci is currently the team dietitian for the Kansas City Chiefs, but in her three decades of experience, has also worked for or consulted the NFL’s Pittsburgh Steelers and Cleveland Browns, MLB’s Pittsburgh Pirates, Toronto Blue Jays, Washington Nationals and Milwaukee Brewers the NHL’s Pittsburgh Penguins, as well as the U.S. Olympic Committee’s athletes and the WNBA.
“For my perspective, this is about being safe, smart, selective, sure,” Bonci said of the app. “All four of those things are critically important. I’ve seen some of the repercussions of what happens when athletes do the things they’re not supposed to do.”
She said athletes aren’t just “foodies” but “fuelies” in acknowledgment of the growing education that athletes eat to compete and realize how important nutrition can be in reducing injury, increasing strength and stamina and even prolonging a career.
Get The Latest Sports Tech News In Your Inbox!
Bonci has noticed a widespread scapegoating of foods (gluten, for one) while some athletes may not be as diligent about reviewing the ingredients of the pills they take. There’s an abundance of interest around adding whey protein isolate, omega-3, vitamin D through supplementation — “There’s only so much room for food,” she said — and this app provides side-by-side product comparisons, search capabilities and even a barcode scanner for thorough research into what’s acceptable.
“There’s this mistrust, interestingly, of food yet that mistrust doesn’t always necessarily extend to a supplement,” Bonci said.
Of the more than $41 billion market for dietary supplements and nutritional aids, the National Institute of Health reported that roughly 14 percent, or $5.7 billion, was comprised specifically of sports nutrition retail. Not just elite athletes but also amateur competitors were found to take more supplements than the general population.
“It was wonderful when, finally, we had a designation of not only ‘NSF’ but ‘NSF certified for sport’ to be the beacon, to be the guideline for our athletes because we don’t police them 24 hours a day,” Bonci said, adding: “We are all responsible for making sure that what they put in their mouths is not going to be harmful in any way, shape or form.”