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USADA and the supplement cloud...

May 7, 2009

the line between legal and illegal should be in plain sight and it should be blatant. but today, in our sport, it's cloudy.

i agree whole heartedly with shannon's take on PED's and USADA.

no one is offering advice or counseling on the matter. i take protein, a multivitamin, and pre-workout amino acids. i have been taking the same thing for 3 or 4 years now and have been tested around 30 times (give or take 5) in and out of competition. i love the product and trust in the results i've seen and experienced. but, i still have to ASSUME everyday that it's a clean product.

if USADA came out with a nationally sponsored product line.... i'd drop everything and start using it.

just give some guidance and help the sport clean itself up. you can educate people all you want, but the bottom line is that someone, somewhere is going to cheat the system. i'm as competitive as it comes and i stay and will always stay on the clean side of the line. but there are tons of people who will toe that line or get as close to it as possible. offer something that YOU, as testers, would approve of and pass all drug tests WADA, USADA, NCAA, BIG12, SEC, on down the line, etc. you would get people banging down the doors for it. make it "The Official Supplement of USA Track and Field". make a profit from it. fund your research with it. stay ahead of the dopers. i don't know, just rambling here.

if they gave us a CLEAN option, then i think you open the door for much more threatening punishments (ex. lifetime bans for 1st offense). get cheaters out of the sport.

this topic really bugs me, and i haven't thought about it much this year until today.

what do you guys think of a nationally sponsored supplement?

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#26	Bruno August 20 at 8:32pm this has nothing to do with your text, but i wanted to say: "dude, you were awesome today!" congratulations, man \o/ reply
#25	Anonymous Coward August 20 at 2:35pm i wish that you are lucky today!!! one kiss from spain =) reply
#24	Veronica Sarria August 20 at 2:35pm I wish that you are lucky today!!! one kiss from spain =) reply
#23	Josef August 12 at 8:52pm Hey Trey, If that really is you...it's awesome that you're on here at interacting with trackies and track fans. Your workout videos were also instructive. Thanks for not being a stuck-up aloof athlete. I agree with Kit about trying to keep to "natural" food, but to the extent that athletes are going to supplement, your proposal definitely makes sense. If the USADA and/or the USATF really wanted to level the playing field, they could take matters into their own hands, and concoct and distribute a "mandatory" proprietary supplement which all elite or Olympic/IAAF level hopefuls could receive and take, if they wanted supplements and make it THE acceptable supplement or line of supplements. Of course, this being America, the land of corporations, and since that would bodyslam the billions of dollars a year supplement industry, that will never happen. Anyway, go (ex) Longhorns! and good luck at Worlds Champs in Berlin. reply
#22	Nick Rollo August 12 at 8:15pm I agree completely. In my case, I have to take a protein gainer instead of straight protein because i will lose weight fast and it effects my performance in a bad way. I also take L-glutamine so im not sore all the time and it helps prevent injury (muscle recover faster). I trust in these products that they are clean and i am pretty sure thy are. But if the USADA came out with a line of supplements that they would approve (protein, gainers, pre-work outs, vitamins, ect.) i ould totally get all of my supplements from that line. Great idea! reply
#21	Sandy Moran June 12 at 12:55pm wow, this is a tremendous idea! reply
#20	Grant May 18 at 2:23pm Great points Trey. I think even us weekend warriors would benefit because we could 'use what the pros use' and not have to guess when it comes to our health and safety. I think giving a USADA Seal of Approval to products that have passed tests and agree to random test samples would be a good start. reply
#19	MikeM May 9 at 12:26pm I just watched Shannon's interview and it seemed very reasonable...and also very expensive. I wonder if the USATF and USADA have the budget for that kind of thing. While I have a problem with having only one official supplement, I have a proposal that is similar to Trey's. USATF and USADA can create a standard for supplements. Once a supplement passes a standard, they are able to receive a USADA approved sticker to place on the bottle. But in order to get this sticker, the supplement company has to fund the testing themselves. The actual testing must be carried out by a neutral party. It would be hard to decide what this standard should be. It would have to be pretty far on the safe side of the line that divides vitamins from banned substance. reply
#18	MikeM May 9 at 11:51am I'm not sure what protection this would actually add. What happens when someone is taking "The Official Supplement of USA Track and Field" and then tests positive? Is there an assumption that they are clean? That obviously seems problamatic because they could be taking another "supplement" on the side. It seems like it would only offer protection to the extant that if it was the supplement causing the positive test, and multiple athletes were taking the same supplement, there would be enough positive tests to give them the benefit of the doubt that they weren't taking anything else. I don't know enough about testing to really be commenting, but it seems the concern is not that the supplements will cause a test to come back positive for a substance they haven't been taking, but rather that the supplement itself will contain banned substances. So the motiviation for an official supplement is not to protect against a positive test, but simply to shift the burden of researching supplements to someone else. P.S. Is the USADA a private organization or government one? If its private, than it is POSSIBLE (not certain) that this could run into antitrust problems as a section 1 violation of the Sherman Act. reply
#17	Kit Wells May 8 at 7:27pm The rhetorical answer is, of course, there already are two US government agencies who jointly ensure the supply and safety of nutrition adequate for citizen athletes. They are the Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) (under the Department of Health and Human Services). The product line they offer is real food, lots of it, and available almost everywhere. This real food will not trigger positives tests for doping (and if it does, well, then it's much bigger issue than just for track & field!). The agencies are funded in 2009 by a combined $92B tax dollars. How does this sound? I can't say that, in my experience as a non-commercial college and club athlete, I've been convinced of any argument for the use of supplements. The uneasy feeling I can't get away from is, as you put it, one can only assume that it's a clean product. So rather than toeing the line of legal vs. illegal supplements, I'm running as far and as fast away from that line as possible. As Michael Pollan has advised in several of his well written books, "Don't eat anything your grandmother wouldn't recognize as food." This advice might come across as a little preachy, but it's something we as athletes can aspire to without taking a leap of faith. Come to Boston and we'll break real bread with other folks interested in this topic. Good luck with your training and competition. - Kit Wells, GBTC reply
#16	Aussie May 8 at 7:20am I don't know that she ever was in the AIS program - the AIS has and looks after its own athletes in a govt funded acadamy of sport. It is based on the Russian/East German model of state sponsored centre for excellence in sport! reply
#15	Robert May 8 at 1:22am I think that is a great idea Trey. It seems the athletes have some real valid needs and some good ideals. USATF and USADA need to listen up. It seems USATF doesn't have any real solutions to generate money or fans. They got project 30 problems but a ain't one. reply
#14	Tony Miller May 8 at 1:13am Aussie, I'd be interested to know how long the supplement program has been in affect through the AIS. The reason I ask is because of the case of Keat vs Hammer Nutrition ( Keat being Rebekah Keat, ironman triathlete who had a "positive" drug test in 2004). She was sponsored by Hammer at the time and was at a lose to explain her positive test. She was, however, smart enough to keep what she had left of her supplements and sent them off to an independent WADA approved lab. The Endrolytes were riddled with a myriad of banned substances ( it is interesting to note that Hammer no longer sponsors elite athletes). Yes it would be a good idea to have USOC approved product that the ahtletes can trust, but take it a step further. Make these companies the subject of unannounced testers just like the athletes. This keeps them from being complacent and forces them to live up to the same standards that the athletes have to abide by. Food( or supplement) for thought. reply
#13	Andrew Garai May 8 at 12:46am ugh all this whats legal and whats not is getting to me. what happened to going for a run (or workout w/e) and drinking a gatoraide after? thats about the extent of my suppliments. reply
#12	Gi May 7 at 11:26pm very good idea, the fact it creates a monopoly makes it worth it.. USADA can sponsor more than 1 product, but make the bar exceedingly high... you know the certification steps you need to go to be certified organic.. Like that, except harder. And work in a big chunky fee in there somewhere. Great option. reply
#11	Beast May 7 at 9:40pm i get my own supplement testosterone reply
#10	Trey Hardee May 7 at 8:44pm Yufeng Guo said: “So if they tossed money at products that they like and say, "eat these and u won't get dq'd," we would have a solution? What if they made a list approved substances and gave them to manufacturers, then said, "dont go outside these bounds and we will approve u." that could potentially work too, thoughts?” not "tossing money" at current products. but working together with a company from the lab, to manufacturer, to distributor. from the beginning to the end following and regulating in great detail. knowing exactly what went in, how it was mixed, where it was packaged. knowing this would provide a means for them to guarantee a safe, clean, and healthy product. and if when i was in college and i saw tom pappas and bryan clay were taking "X" brand that was completely safe and backed by USADA, i would jump on board too. reply
#9	Thevillagepeople May 7 at 8:39pm trey is a machoman reply
#8	Dave Mosier May 7 at 8:35pm This is a VERY GOOD IDEA. It makes sense and it would be a big step forward for all athletes, and for creating a better relationship between the administration and the athletes. LIST WHAT'S LEGAL, not just that's not legal to take. Sometimes, athletes don't even know when they're taking an illegal supplement because it may or may not be labeled. The supplement industry is not regulated by the FDA, so if there is a specific list of supplements that are okay'ed by USATF, not only will it generate a potential for a profit as Trey mentioned, but it will allow athletes to be at rest and work harder knowing they are doing it clean. reply
#7	Ex Unce May 7 at 7:52pm I get my own supps. at Vitamin Shop Creatine Citrulline Extend BCAAs Argenine reply
#6	Drug Cheats Out May 7 at 7:50pm Last year in a Flotrack interview Ian Dobson opened his "supplement" stash for the cameras. http://www.flotrack.org/videos/speaker/28-ian-dobson/70546-day-8-dorm-life-with-ian-dobson Very shady stuff!! Clearly pro athletes and coaches are pushing the limits, trying to stay one step ahead of WADA and the competition reply
#5	Aussie May 7 at 7:24pm You should have a look what the Australian Institute of Sport does in this regard! http://www.ausport.gov.au/ais/nutrition/supplements "The AIS Sports Supplement Program provides information about sports supplements in general and how supplements are used at the AIS. The AIS Sports Supplement Program has been designed for the specific needs of AIS athletes. It is recommended that other athletes and groups seek independent advice before using any supplement." reply
#4	Ryan Parker May 7 at 6:53pm I remember when USADA came and talked to a group of us, the guy pretty much told us that regardless of what we were taking, it could give us a positive test result, because any supplement we take could be tainted with illegal substances. What we were told was that anything we put into our bodies (including food) could suspend us out of competition. For all you know Trey, your next batch of protein could have trace amounts of HGH in it, and you could get suspended without even knowing you have taken anything. USADA doesn't want to push a product like what you are talking about, because for some reason it comes back dirty, all of US sports are screwed. reply
#3	Yufeng Guo May 7 at 6:19pm So if they tossed money at products that they like and say, "eat these and u won't get dq'd," we would have a solution? What if they made a list approved substances and gave them to manufacturers, then said, "dont go outside these bounds and we will approve u." that could potentially work too, thoughts? reply
#2	Trey Hardee May 7 at 6:10pm yea, that's true. but i don't think there would be a monopoly. there are countless sponsorships that don't create monopolies. do you think that this "USADA product" would raise the standards for other supplements? reply
#1	Yufeng Guo May 7 at 5:55pm It would be smart of them to put up a list of approved products. Supplements aren't really giving you substances you can't get (typically), they are just making it easier (so you don't need to import exotic foods and whatnot). I think it would be difficult for the USADA to make a single nationally sponsored supplement since it would imply superiority over others in the sense that others are either missing things or are giving too much of one or the other mineral/vitamin. It would be nice though, to have such a product. That said, nationally sponsored = monopoly if all others are pushed out of the picture by the market, since athletes will, as the blog post says, most likely flock to it. Every sport has different ideal nutritional needs, so make a list, check twice (or thrice) and put it up. reply