Supplement use in sport: is there a potentially dangerous incongruence between rationale and practice?

BACKGROUND: Supplement use by athletes is complex and research supports the alarming notion of misinformed decisions regarding supplements. HYPOTHESIS: A frequent divergence between the type of supplements chosen by athletes and the rationale dictating the supplement use is hypothesized. Thus, a potentially dangerous incongruence may exist between rationale and practice. TESTING THE HYPOTHESIS: In the continued absence of reliable data on supplement use, an alternative approach of studying the reasons underlying supplement use in athletes is proposed to determine whether there is an incongruence between rationale and practice. Existing data from large scale national surveys can be used to investigate this incongruence. IMPLICATIONS OF THE HYPOTHESIS: In this report, analyses of distinctive patterns between the use and rationale for use of supplements among athletes are recommended to explore this potentially dangerous phenomenon.