BJSM reviews: A-Z of nutritional supplements: dietary supplements, sports nutrition foods and ergogenic aids for health and performance Part 5.

Br J Sports Med. 2010 Jan;44(1):77-8.
 BUFFERS: SODIUM BICARBONATE AND SODIUM CITRATE; b-ALANINE AND CARNOSINE
The biochemistry of exercise-induced metabolic acidosis has been of considerable interest for many years. We now accept that the fatigue associated with high rates of anaerobic glycolysis is caused not by the accumulation of lactate but by the imbalance between the rate of proton release and the rate of proton buffering and removal. It is 70 years since formal investigations into acid–base balance and exercise began. Some carefully controlled studies in the 1980s suggested that ingestion of sodium bicarbonate (NaHCO3) could be effective in enhancing the performance of events such as an 800 m track run, via an improved capacity to buffer metabolic acidosis which then reduced or delayed the onset of the accompanying fatigue This topic remains of considerable interest with regular additions to the literature. The authors of the following brief reviews have a long history of involvement in investigating the ergogenic effects of buffers on athletes.

A–Z of nutritional supplements: Part 4

Br J Sports Med. 2009 Dec;43(14):1088-90.
In Part 4, the review takes us from aspartame, a sweetening ingredient found in many foods and drinks, to BCAA, the three branched chain essential amino acids; then onto bee pollen, marketed as a ‘‘superfood,’’  followed by the ultra trace element boron, known more for its association with bone health, and finally to L-carnitine, a supplement which is widely used in the sporting arena and seems to be gaining in popularity.