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The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
Sports nutrition is big business. It is well understood that intensive nutritional support can help a body perform and recover at a higher rate. Top athletes consume high quality foods and specific nutrients as supplements in order to fuel, sustain and repair their bodies. It is also in the best interest of the average athlete to be nutritionally proactive. The challenge is to know what is a reasonable program for you as an individual. Unless you have a trainer and nutritionist, you are on your own to discover what works, what doesn’t and what is trust worthy. Whether you are a professional sports player, a fitness buff or weekend warrior, you want to make sure that the dietary supplements you choose are safe and offer the results you want. But how do you know what is good and what’s not so good?
I will discuss these issues with my guest, Tavis Piatolly. Tavis Piattoly is one of the leading sports nutrition consultants in the industry. We will discuss what you need to know about sports supplements, sorting fact from fiction, so that we make the best choices for our performance and health when choosing a particular supplement. One of the key nutrients we discuss is omega-3. Tavis and I agree that omega-3 is one of those nutrients that everyone should take, athlete or not.
One of the biggest challenges is finding products that you can trust. In the arena of sports nutrition there are unscrupulous manufacturers. Some of the problems include inferior ingredients, products spiked with illegal performance enhancing products and products sold with outrageous and/or illegal claims. Companies like this have no problems with cheating and possibly harming their customers in order to sell product. It is not hard to find good companies if you seek thoughtfully. There are many high quality companies that are in the marketplace
As an example we will discuss omega-3 from Nordic Naturals. Nordic Naturals is one of the companies that sets the highest standards for their products. I am happy to endorse their products because I know what kind of company they are and what kind of product they produce. They serve as a good example of what you should look for in the marketplace. In the context of this interview we will discuss one way you can have confidence in products. As of the posting of this podcast, Nordic Naturals offers 4 high-performance products that are Certified for Sport by NSF International. NOTE: NSF and other third party certifications are one very important way that companies can demonstrate their commitment to pure, high quality products.
When I endorse a product or brand. or when a guest endorses a product it comes down to the credibility. Is the product credible? Is the company well known and respected? Can you trust the source of the endorsement? This is a great example of how all of the important considerations are well represented by Nordic Naturals. One of the missions of HealthQuestPodcast.com is to reveal the companies, products, science and experts in the natural products industry that you can trust. When you aren’t sure which companies you can trust, you can always look to those companies that show up here. These are not the only good companies, rather they are some of the good companies that I am personally familiar with, and generally have a long history with.
When it comes to sports nutrition products, you can look to products that are used by teams and athletes that you respect. Below are some of the championship teams across professional sports that rely on Nordic Naturals NSF Certified for Sport products for their performance and recovery needs. Professional teams are very particular about the products they use, and so should you be.
- MLB – San Francisco Giants, Boston Red Sox, St. Louis Cardinals, New York Yankees
- NFL – New England Patriots, New York Giants, Green Bay Packers, Pittsburgh Steelers
- NBA – Golden State Warriors, Miami Heat, Chicago Bulls, Houston Rockets
- NHL – Detroit Red Wings, Colorado Avalanche, Anaheim Ducks
- MLS – Columbus Crew, Real Salt Lake, U.S.A. Men’s Team, U.S.A. Women’s Team
About Tavis Piatolly
Tavis Piattoly is the Sports Dietitian for the New Orleans Pelicans, Tulane University Athletics and the NFLPA Brain and Body Trust Program at Tulane’s Institute of Sports Medicine. He also served as the Sports Dietitian for the New Orleans Saints from 2006-2013. He works with all levels of athletes from high school to Olympic levels, designing individualized nutrition programs to help them reach optimal health, performance, and recovery. Tavis is also an expert in Sports and Dietary Supplementation and speaks frequently on topics regarding supplement safety for young athletes. He is a registered dietitian and licensed nutritionist. To learn more about his services visit MySportD.com. To access his online resources visit MySportDConnect.com.
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