By Dayanti Karunaratne
Varsity soccer player Tyler Wallace says he doesn’t like the taste of Power Bars, and finds he gets all the energy he needs from bagels and bananas. But every year he has to watch a drug awareness video about banned substances in sport.
“You just have to be careful,” says Wallace, 23 .
In the three years Wallace has played soccer for Carleton, he’s never been tested. But he says that it’s routine — interuniversity league officials usually pick two names at random from the roster.
Nutrition plays an important role in many athletes’ training programs. Most doctors and nutritionists say dietary needs can be met through wise food choices, but over-the-counter products like protein powder and herbal remedies are still popular choices among athletes.
However, these products can contain ingredients banned by competitive sporting leagues. With more and more leagues introducing anti-doping rules, nutritional supplements are now a part of the steroid debate.
Sports Medicine physician Dr. Senta Bauermeister says many athletes believe they need some sort of supplement to “get that edge,” or even to get adequate nutrition. Bauermeister, an advisor to the Canadian Alpine Ski Team and a former Tour de France competitor, recalls how fast sports nutrition has changed.
“It wasn’t as crazy back then,” she says. “We drank water.” Bauermeister adds some athletes are so desperate to win that they “grasp at straws” in search of a supplement that will help them perform.
Doug MacQuarrie of the Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport (CCES), the organization that administers drug testing in amateur sport, says these products might give athletes a psychological advantage, but they might also land them a positive drug test. MacQuarrie says “any athlete who thinks nutritional supplements lead to enhanced performance is likely barking up the wrong tree.” Penalties for failed drug tests range from warnings to suspensions from competitive sport and funding ineligibility. The CCES cautions athletes against taking any type of supplements, and separates nutritional supplements into two categories: those that are taken to meet dietary needs and those that are meant to enhance performance.
Bauermeister says nutritional supplements are troublesome for the sports community because the definition of doping is changing.
“If you can prove glutamine improves your performance, does that mean it should be banned?” she says. “Athletes are kind of stuck.”
She says even if athletes get some sort of verbal assurance from the supplement vendor that the product does not contain banned substances, if they test positive on a drug test, a claim of ignorance is no longer accepted.
The issue of vendor assurance is also problematic because sometimes supplements aren’t listed fully or in a way that athletes can discern if they are banned.
Athletes like Wallace, who has access to sports medicine professionals, can take products they are curious about to the university clinic and have the label checked against the list of substances banned by the interuniversity league.
Stephan Crete, manager of the General Nutrition Centre (GNC) on Bank Street, says products sold at the store are safe, exceeding standards set by Canadian food and drug regulations. Still, Crete says, “it’s a user beware industry.” The staff at GNC does not make recommendations to customers.
John Ruff, a physical education teacher at Lisgar Collegiate, says some students ask about substances like creatine to “get that ripped look,” but the curriculum advises a well-balanced diet and proper caloric intake for sports performance.
Ruff also says “students usually aren’t forthcoming” with information about nutritional supplements they take.
Currently, most high school athletes don’t have to worry about drug testing. But that might soon change. In Quebec, drug testing has been introduced to hockey players as young as 14.
MacQuarrie says a lot of these initiatives are implemented to open up a dialogue about drug use and sport, and to send a message to young players before they reach elite levels. He says a lot of the images kids see are about steroid use.
And while the CCES insists nutritional supplements should be avoided, MacQuarrie admits its part of an “ongoing evolution” to foster a level playing field in sport. MacQuarrie says the Centre is working on other initiatives that will help to create a sporting culture that Canada wants, “based on the pursuit of excellence without the use of unfair, unsafe, or illegal practices.”
For athletes like Wallace, this goal seems to come naturally. Wallace says the hardest part for his nutrition is remembering to pack a lunch as he balances classes and training.
“But that’s just part of the fun,” he says.