Caracterização do consumo de suplementos nutricionais por praticantes de atividade física no Brasil: uso indiscriminado ou adequadamente orientado?

Abstract

Regular practice of physical activity promotes numerous beneficial effects on metabolism. When associated with a balanced diet, characterized by a balanced intake of all nutrients, the body's performance is even greater and these benefits more relevant. However, although these benefits exist, the interests of physical activity practitioners are not limited to the pursuit of better quality of life and/or recovery/maintenance of health. Purposes influenced by the current pressure exerted by modern society and the media, based on a standard idealized body, support a growing market of Nutritional Supplementation and what should be supplementation becomes 'nourishment'. In this context, the present review investigated the pattern of consumption of Nutritional Supplements (NS) by physical activity practitioners in Brazil, mainly evaluating whether there is proper orientation/prescription by a qualified professional. The result showed that the pattern of SN consumption spread throughout the country is mainly characterized by young adult consumers, practitioners of non-professional/competitive physical activity, who are ambitious by the current considered aesthetically optimal body and who resort to unsafe sources and/or not legitimately enabled to justify consumption. Thus, it was concluded that SN consumption by the majority of physical activity practitioners in Brazil is indiscriminate and undue, without prior systematic nutritional assessment, and that sports nutrition is a poor area in awareness programs aimed at both consumers and nutrition/physical education professionals.