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Nutrients
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Nutritional Supplements and Diet in Athletic Performance
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Nutritional Supplements and Diet in Athletic Performance

A special issue of Nutrients (ISSN 2072-6643). This special issue belongs to the section "Sports Nutrition".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (25 September 2025) | Viewed by 14972

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Caio Eduardo Gonçalves Reis

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Nutrition, School of Health Sciences, Universidade de Brasília (UnB), Campus Darcy Ribeiro, Asa Norte, Brasilia 70910-900, Brazil
Interests: nutrition biochemistry; glucose metabolism; food intake control; dietary assessment; sports nutrition and supplementation in sport
Dr. Wilson De Moraes

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Graduation Program on Physical Education, Catholic University of Brasilia, Brasilia 71966900, Brazil
Interests: sports nutrition; supplementation in sport; food intake control; dietary assessment

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Evidence from various preclinical and clinical studies has revealed that various dietary components (e.g., nutrients, phytochemicals, prebiotics/probiotics, etc.) play a significant role in exercise performance and have emerged as potential ergogenic agents in a broad range of exercise scenarios and models.

Even well-established supplements such as nutritional ergogenic aids with a higher level of evidence may have limitations regarding their specific populations, the mechanisms by which they act, as well as the interactions between them.

Dietary supplement regulation, efficacy, safety, contamination, supplementation during sports, ergolityc effects, knowledge about supplementation, supplementation and quality of sleep, and the cellular mecanisms induced by supplements are the focuses of this Special Issue, but there is no limit to these topics.

Importantly, dietary strategies involving train gut, sleep low, train low, train high, carbloading, and other fueling strategies, as well as energy restriction, are also within the scope of this Special Issue.

This Special Issue of Nutrients includes articles that provide novel insights into how supplements and dietary strategies may counteract metabolic disruptions and improve athletic performance.

Dr. Caio Eduardo Gonçalves Reis
Dr. Wilson De Moraes
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Nutrients is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2900 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • supplementation
  • aerobic
  • resistance exercise training
  • exercise metabolism
  • muscle protein turnover
  • oxidative stress
  • dietary supplements
  • weight loss
  • phosphocreatine

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

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13 pages, 765 KB  
Article
Acute L-Carnitine Supplementation Does Not Improve CrossFit® Performance: A Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Crossover Study
by Asli Devrim-Lanpir, Lucero Salazar Velasco, Fanny Guadalupe Ramirez Lara, Azucena Ojeda Sanchez, Rachel Kimble, Reza Zare, Fatma Esra Gunes, Beat Knechtle, Katja Weiss, Thomas Rosemann and Katie Heinrich
Nutrients 2025, 17(17), 2784; https://doi.org/10.3390/nu17172784 - 27 Aug 2025
Viewed by 2805
Abstract
Background: L-carnitine supplementation is thought to enhance exercise performance, particularly in moderate and high-intensity activities, but evidence supporting this is mixed. This study aimed to assess whether acute L-carnitine tartrate supplementation could improve CrossFit® performance, specifically during the “Cindy” workout, a high-intensity [...] Read more.
Background: L-carnitine supplementation is thought to enhance exercise performance, particularly in moderate and high-intensity activities, but evidence supporting this is mixed. This study aimed to assess whether acute L-carnitine tartrate supplementation could improve CrossFit® performance, specifically during the “Cindy” workout, a high-intensity exercise protocol. Methods: In a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled crossover design, 20 trained male recreational CrossFit® athletes completed the “Cindy” workout within a 20 min period after ingesting either 3 g of L-carnitine tartrate or a placebo 90 min before exercise. Performance was measured by total repetitions completed. Secondary outcomes included ratings of perceived exertion (RPE), gastrointestinal issues, and blood pressure (BP) measurements. Results: The results showed that L-carnitine supplementation did not significantly affect the number of repetitions performed (202.4 ± 69.9 vs. 204.5 ± 78.8, p = 0.810) compared to the placebo. There were also no significant differences in RPE (6.3 ± 1.5 vs. 6.9 ± 1.4, p = 0.180) or BP changes between groups. However, 10% of participants reported difficulty sleeping after L-carnitine supplementation. Conclusions: The findings suggest that 3 g of L-carnitine tartrate does not enhance CrossFit® performance in recreational athletes. Further research is needed to clarify its potential benefits, especially with larger samples and consideration of factors like sex and carbohydrate co-ingestion. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Nutritional Supplements and Diet in Athletic Performance)
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28 pages, 3188 KB  
Systematic Review
Effects of Beetroot Juice on Physical Performance in Professional Athletes and Healthy Individuals: An Umbrella Review
by Chen Tian, Qingrui Jiang, Mengke Han, Lu Guo, Ruixin Huang, Li Zhao and Shanshan Mao
Nutrients 2025, 17(12), 1958; https://doi.org/10.3390/nu17121958 - 9 Jun 2025
Viewed by 11403
Abstract
Background: Beetroot juice, the most commonly used route of dietary nitrate supplementation, is theorized to enhance physical performance. However, its effects on different aspects of physical performance, different populations, and optimal supplementation strategies remain controversial. The purpose of this study was to investigate [...] Read more.
Background: Beetroot juice, the most commonly used route of dietary nitrate supplementation, is theorized to enhance physical performance. However, its effects on different aspects of physical performance, different populations, and optimal supplementation strategies remain controversial. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of beetroot juice (nitrate-rich) on physical performance, to compare its effects between professional athletes and non-athletes (healthy individuals), and to determine the optimal supplementation strategy. Methods: A systematic search was conducted on the Web of Science, Embase, PubMed, Cochrane Database, SPORTDiscus, Scopus, and CINAHL databases. Reviewers conducted study screening and selection, data extraction, and assessment of methodological quality using the AMSTAR 2 tool. Fifteen meta-analyses were included in this Umbrella Review. A narrative and quantitative synthesis was performed. Standardized mean differences (SMD) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were reported. Results: (1) Beetroot juice significantly improved muscle strength (SMD = 0.08, p < 0.001), but the effect size was negligible. (2) Aerobic Endurance: Beetroot juice significantly improved VO2max (SMD = 0.16, p = 0.033) in healthy adults; however, the effect size was negligible. (3) Lactate Tolerance: beetroot juice significantly improved TTE (SMD = 0.25, p = 0.034) and YO-YOIR1 (SMD = 0.27, p = 0.049) performance in healthy adults, but the effect size was small. (4) Subgroup analyses revealed significant population differences: professional athletes showed significant muscular strength benefits (SMD = 0.27, p = 0.007), whereas non-athletes had more pronounced aerobic endurance improvements (SMD = 0.26, p < 0.001), but the effect size was small. (5) Nitrate supplementation timing and dose–response analysis revealed that nitrate supplementation, whether administered 2–3 h before exercise or over a prolonged period (≥3 days), produces a significant enhancement in physical performance (p < 0.01). Notably, acute improvement only has a small effect size (SMD = 0.20), while the impact of chronic supplementation is essentially negligible (SMD = 0.13). A dosage of 8.3–16.4 mmol NO3− (515–1017 mg) showed a significant improvement (SMD = 0.14, p = 0.029), although the effect size was negligible. Conclusions: Acute (2–3 h pre-exercise) and chronic (≥3 days) supplementation with beetroot juice to achieve nitrate levels of 8.3–16.4 mmol (515–1017 mg/d) are recommended to enhance physical performance. Beetroot juice shows population-specific effects: proper beetroot juice supplementation improves muscular strength in professional athletes and aerobic endurance in non-athletes. Moreover, appropriate supplementation of beetroot juice can improve the lactate tolerance in healthy adults. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Nutritional Supplements and Diet in Athletic Performance)
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