Decision-making in sports nutrition: An evidence-based and personalized approach (a review)
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: Introduction. Nutritional support for elite athletes significantly affects performance and health, including recovery and adaptation to training loads, body composition, and immune system status. At the same time, in practice, the prescription of specialized sports nutrition products (SSNPs) is often empirical and fails to account for the athlete’s actual diet, energy availability, laboratory parameters, and specific features of the training process. This increases the risk of unjustified prescription of SSNPs and dietary supplements. Objective. Systematization of current approaches to clinical decision-making in the field of nutritional support for athletes and development of a practice-oriented model for selecting components of a nutritional program. Discussion. The following key stages in clinical decision-making were identified: defining the goal, assessment of energy availability and baseline nutrition, laboratory verification of suspected deficiencies, risk stratification, selection of a minimally sufficient intervention in the form of SSNPs and dietary supplements. In most cases, the correction of the baseline diet was shown to be a priority, whereas additional nutritional support should be applied in a targeted manner and only when clinical or laboratory indications are present. Conclusions. Based on current literature data, an algorithm for clinical decision-making in the field of nutritional support for professional athletes has been developed. Rational nutritional support for athletes should rely on the principles of evidence-based practice, personalization, clinical safety, and dynamic monitoring. Clinical decision-making should be based not on the expansion of the regimen of SSNPs and dietary supplements used, but on a sequential algorithm: diet → targeted diagnostics → clinically justified intervention → assessment of dynamics. The correction of baseline nutrition and energy availability is the priority; SSNPs and dietary supplements should be applied in a targeted manner and only when their benefits and safety for the specific type of exercise have been established.
Source: Extreme Medicine
Language: English
Topic: Nutrition and Health Studies
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
OpenAlex ID: W7204936742