Aspetar Magazine

94 ASPETAR MAGAZINE NUTRITION & PERFORMANCE In the high-stakes world of sports, athletes are constantly seeking an edge. This often leads them to sports supplements, a landscape filledwith both promise and peril. To address the critical need for reliable information and athlete protection, Aspetar has launched the Supplements in Sports and Exercise platform with the powerful slogan: "Safer Supplement, Stronger You!" We sat down with Jwaher Al Neama , Head of Nutrition at Aspetar, to discuss this vital initiative and the importance of informed supplement choices. Safer Supplement, Stronger You: A Conversation on Supplement Use in Sports What led you to focus on supplements and their role in sports nutrition? We recognised that supplements are widely used by athletes, yet many remain unaware of the associated risks, such as contamination, a lack of regulation, and limited scientific backing for many products. This clear need to protect athletes' health, performance, and careers is what drove our focus. Our goal is to guide them toward evidence-based and safe supplement use. What is the Aspetar Supplement Portal, and why was it developed? The portal is an educational resource we developed to help athletes, coaches, and support staff better understand the science and risks behind supplement use. The idea was to promote more informed decision- making, reduce the risk of anti-doping violations, and reflect Aspetar’s commitment to delivering world-class sports medicine and athlete care. What types of information can athletes and coaches find on the portal? The portal covers several key topics important for athletes and their teams, including supplements and doping risk, how to choose a safer product, and making safer decisions overall. You can find helpful tools like the Nutrition Navigator, which gives users a personalised look at their dietary needs for performance. The platform also offers regularly updated mini-guides on which supplements have scientific backing, how to use them correctly, and what precautions to take. We even have a glossary to explain key terms and abbreviations. It's a very practical, user-friendly resource designed to help athletes make safe and informed supplement choices.