Background:Theuseofnutritionalsupplements(NS)amongathletesiswidespread.However,littleisknownabouttherelationshipbetweennutritionaladequacyandNSusage.TheaimsofthisstudyweretoevaluatetheNSusageandtocomparethenutritionalintakefromfoodandprevalenceofmicronutrientinadequacy(PMI)betweenNSusersandnon-users.Methods:Portugueseathletesfrom13sportscompletedanNSusagequestionnaireandasemi-quantitativefood-frequencyquestionnaireassessinginformationovertheprevious12months.Theestimatedaveragerequirementcut-pointmethodwasusedtocalculatePMI.GenerallinearmodelswereusedtocomparenutritionalintakeandNSusage.Chi-squaredtestsandlogisticregressionwereperformedtostudy,respectively,relationshipsandassociationsbetweenPMIandNSusage.Results:Fromthe244athletes(66%males,13–37years),64%reportedNSusage.Afteradjustment,NSusersshowedahigherintakefromfood(p<0.05),foratleast1gender,forenergy,andfor7ofthe17studiednutrients.ThehighestPMIwereseenforvitaminsDandE,calcium,folate,andmagnesium.Afteradjustment,NSusers,irrespectiveofgender,reportedlowerPMIforcalcium(OR=0.28,95%CI:0.12–0.65),andfemaleusersformagnesium(OR=0.06,95%CI:0.00–0.98).Conclusion:AthletesusingNSreportedahighernutritionalintakefromfood,andalowerPMIforseveralnutrients.Perhaps,thosewhoweretakingNSwereprobablytheoneswhowouldleastbenefitfromit.
