Equal supplementation is often recommended for men and women, but data confirms that there are differences. From caffeine to beta-alanine, things to know
March 07
There are so many supplements marketed to enhance performance or recovery in athletes. These are called “ergogenic supplements” and have very different objectives and functions. Some examples are the reduction of the inflammatory response or oxidative stress, increased adaptations to training, reduction of the sense of fatigue or improvement of aerobic and/or high-intensity performance.
Supplements for women
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Caffeine, creatine, nitrates, beta-alanine and bicarbonate are some of the supplements most supported by scientific evidence, while for other substances the effectiveness is less proven and the doubts are more numerous. The frequency of use of these products would appear to be similar between men and women but, despite this, most of the scientific studies have been conducted on a male population. The reasons are many, but mainly this is due to one greater difficulty in standardizing the data collected on a female population due to the important hormonal fluctuations that occur during the menstrual cycle. As a result, there are very few studies conducted on female athletes.
Possible differences between men and women
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The male and female organism are physiologically and hormonally different and this could modify the processes of absorption, distribution, metabolization and elimination of the different ergogenics. For example, some data suggests that women may respond to caffeine supplementation with a small increase in heart rate and greater changes in blood pressure than men. As for the beta-alanineon the other hand, lower intakes of this substance would seem to be sufficient for women with the same effect.
The best supplements for sporty women
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As previously mentioned, data on female populations are very limited. However, a group of researchers recently tried to collect them and draw preliminary conclusions. The most commonly used supplement would appear to be caffeine and, according to available data, it would be the best ergogenic to improve strength performance. In particular, the broadest effect of this substance was found in jumping, isometric strength and repetitions to failure tests. As for the performance of sprint and speedthe best results have been associated with the use of caffeine and sodium phosphate. The data regarding creatine, the efficacy of which has been widely demonstrated in the male population, is too few or of too poor quality to draw conclusions. Aerobic and cardiorespiratory performance would seem to benefit from the use of taurine, caffeine and beta-alaninewhile beetroot juice, polyphenols and creatine have not proven effective.
The importance of customizing supplements
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The road towards a specific integration for the female population is still very long and the data at our disposal are too few to draw definitive conclusions. The differences highlighted, however, should prompt professionals and sportsmen to question the common practice of recommend products, doses and methods of administration in a totally non-personalized way. Assuming that it does not cause damage to health, each protocol should be tested on the individual athlete and carried out only in case of clear benefits on health and/or performance.
March 07, 2023 – 12:05
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