Next week, I'll be off to Vancouver for CHFA's Expo West, to talk about one of the subjects I'm passionate about- supplements and NHP's and sports, specifically their use by elite athletes. Several months ago, I was asked to give an overview of my presentation and provided the following:

"With the Olympics landing in Vancouver for 2010, not only will Canada be in the headlines, there is a good possibility (and precedent) for Natural Health Products to be there as well. Traditionally, when NHPs and the world of elite sport clash, it is exactly that -- a serious clash. Whether it's an amateur athlete facing a lifetime ban that he or she attributes to product contamination, a pro- league determining policy for performance enhancing products, or even certain schools in the US banning vitamin use, the subject of natural product use by athletes is controversial. This presentation will look at current events and headlines, and, setting the stage for Vancouver 2010, outline programs and beliefs that athletes and sports organizations are using to try to 'protect themselves'."

Examining recent headlines on the subject leads repeatedly to comments by J. C. Romero or frequently, critiques of products targeted at athletes that fail to deliver. The issue becomes even more complicated since WADA and most sports organizations, as a default position, do not support supplementation and are extremely wary of risks posed by indiscriminate supplement use. So whether the product is a multi-vitamin or creatine, even when there is a legitimate case for product use, some athletes shy away while others use any and all mechanisms to arm themselves for competition, including substances that may trigger a positive doping response. More often than not, if a response is triggered, the fingerpointing begins, usually at our industry. There are several reasons for this - we have made ourselves aconveient scapegoat, we have not buit the bridges with the sports community we ought to have, as an industry, we do not understand athletes' issues and the sports community, we have not come to collaborative terms on the concept of risk and the list goes on. 

Over the past six years that I have been working on this issue, much has changed and the prospects are good for more collaboration and positive outcomes in the future. However, the truce is fragile,and one huge substantiated blow-up will destroy a lot of the progress occuring.

I'll give a download in about ten days on the presentation in Vancouver....