Supplements
Elite athletes are increasingly using supplements such as creatine to gain small performance advantages, but sports nutrition experts say the basics of a healthy lifestyle must come first.
Creatine, a natural compound produced by the body and also found in meat and fish, provides muscles with a rapid source of energy. It is particularly useful for short, high-intensity activities such as sprinting.
Nutrition expert Prof. Graeme Close says obtaining sufficient creatine through food alone can be difficult.
“You would need the best part of a kilogram of raw chicken a day to get the amount of creatine you need,” he says, although raw poultry is unsafe because of the risk of harmful bacteria.
