The Only 5 Supplements That Survived the Science

"A lot of the hype out there? It's B.S."

That's not a Reddit comment. That's a WorldTour team nutritionist talking about the supplement industry.

A new review just landed in Nutrients (Antonio et al. 2024) asking a simple question: which supplements actually have strong evidence?

The answer? The same 5 the IOC endorsed back in 2018. Nothing new made the cut.

Your Supplement Decision Table

This is your cheat sheet. Find your situation, follow the row.

Transparency note: The lead author (Antonio) is CEO of the ISSN, which receives supplement industry funding. The underlying RCTs are solid. I'm citing that evidence, not the review's framing.

What Each One Actually Does

Caffeine: The One Everyone Gets Right (Mostly)

Cheap. Effective. Well-studied.

Caffeine blocks the receptors that make you feel tired. It lowers perceived effort and extends time to fatigue.

The dose: 3-6 mg/kg body weight, 30-60 minutes before your race. For a 70 kg runner, that's roughly 210-420 mg, or 2-3 cups of coffee.

Hodgson et al. (2013) found coffee worked just as well as pure caffeine capsules. 4.3% improvement in a cycling time trial.

Coffee, gels, capsules, chews. The delivery method doesn't seem to matter much. Pick what works for your gut.

Guest et al. (2018) showed 4% faster time trial performance at 4 mg/kg. But slow caffeine metabolizers actually saw worse performance. Your genetics play a role.

Timing matters. Caffeine peaks about 60 minutes after you take it. A caffeine gel at mile 20 won't fully hit until after the finish line.

Test your dose in training. Go lower in extreme heat.

Creatine: Not Just for the Weight Room

Most runners hear "creatine" and think bodybuilders.

Time to update that thinking.

Creatine recharges your muscles' short-burst energy system. But the bigger win for runners is what it does for your strength training and recovery.

Desai et al. (2024) ran a research review on creatine plus resistance training. Result: 1.14 kg more lean body mass and 0.88% less body fat compared to training alone.

Yamaguchi et al. (2024) found that just 3 g daily for 28 days reduced day-after soreness from exercise.

The water weight concern? Real but overblown.

I take 5 g daily. Have for years. It's one of the few supplements I never skip.

Some lighter athletes I've worked with reported the same: strength gains that more than offset any water weight.

3-5 g per day. No loading needed. If you strength train (you should), creatine makes that training more effective.

It also supports recovery between hard sessions and can sharpen focus during long efforts.

The 1-2 lb water gain won't slow your 10K. (Your pacing strategy might. But that's next week's problem.)

Nitrates: The One That Helps You More Than Pros

The supplement with the strongest evidence for recreational runners is the one elite teams skip.

Nitrates from beetroot juice widen your blood vessels and reduce the oxygen cost of exercise. Your body does the same work with less effort.

Larsen et al. (2007) showed efficiency jumped from 19.7% to 21.1% with nitrate supplementation. Bailey et al. (2009) found 6 days of beetroot juice increased time to exhaustion by roughly 16%.

For elite athletes with a VO2 max north of 70, the evidence is mixed. Their systems are already so efficient that nitrates don't move the needle much.

For recreational runners, the story is different. Less-trained athletes see a bigger reduction in oxygen cost.

300-500 mg nitrate, 2-3 hours before your run. Concentrated beetroot shots are the standard delivery.

Fair warning: they taste terrible. (Worth it.)

Protein: Food First, Always

Endurance athletes need about 1.6-2.0 g/kg/day of protein. That's similar to strength athletes.

But most runners don't have a supplement problem. They have a breakfast problem.

I see this constantly with runners I work with: big gaps at breakfast and lunch. They eat enough total calories but stack all their protein at dinner.

The fix: Distribute 0.4-0.55 g/kg per meal across the day (Mazzulla et al. 2020). Three protein-rich meals before you reach for a tub of powder.

Post-run recovery shakes are legitimate during heavy training blocks when appetite disappears. Otherwise? Food wins.

Beta-Alanine: Probably Skip It

Beta-alanine buffers acid in muscles during short, intense efforts lasting 1-4 minutes.

Sounds promising until you realize: marathons aren't 1-4 minute efforts.

For runs beyond about 25 minutes, the evidence is inconsistent.

My take: save your bandwidth for something more worth the bother.

Possible niche for track workouts or a 5K finishing kick. But for most distance runners? Skip it.

Jonah's 6th Supplement: The One That Didn't Fit the List

Sodium bicarbonate is legitimate. IOC-level evidence, same tier as the 5 above. I left it off the main table because the paper didn't cover it.

Quick version: bicarb buffers acid during hard efforts. If your race involves hilly courses, surges above your second threshold, or a fast finish, it can help you tolerate those moments longer. If your plan is steady cruising, it probably won't move the needle.

The catch is GI distress. Bicarb can wreck your stomach if you don't test the protocol first. I wrote a full deep dive on dosing, timing, and who should skip it entirely: Why Baking Soda Could Help You Surge at Mile 20.

The Noise: What Didn't Make the Cut

Ketones: About $10,000 for 3 weeks of Tour de France use, and some studies show no benefit or worsened performance. That money buys a lot of actual training.

Greens powders: One nutritionist called them "a crock of overmarketed shit." Honestly? Hard to argue.

Cherry juice and polyphenols: Half-percenter at best. Sleep well and eat real food first.

The principle: Sleep, diet, and training before supplement rabbit holes.

Practical Takeaways

• Caffeine is the most proven endurance supplement. 3-6 mg/kg, 30-60 min before. Coffee counts.
• Creatine belongs in every runner's stack. 3-5 g/day supports your strength training, recovery, and focus. Water weight concern is overblown.
• Nitrates help recreational runners more than elites. 300-500 mg beetroot, 2-3 hours before your run.
• Protein is a food problem, not a supplement problem. Fix breakfast and lunch first. Powder fills gaps.
• Beta-alanine is for sprinters, not marathoners. Skip it unless you're doing serious track work.
• If a supplement is new and hyped, it probably hasn't earned your money yet.

Bottom line: The pros who train 30 hours a week use 5 supplements. You probably need fewer.