The sports nutrition market is worth billions. It is also, by the assessment of the scientists and practitioners who work inside it, full of products that are markedly better at marketing than they are at performing. BCAAs that are outperformed by any decent protein source. Green powders with ingredients dosed below any effective threshold. Collagen products promising anti-ageing miracles on evidence that does not exist. Electrolyte drinks targeted at people sitting at desks.
For athletes - and for the brands developing products to serve them - the noise is not just commercially inconvenient. It erodes the trust that evidence-based products need to earn. Every overclaimed supplement makes the category slightly harder to navigate and slightly less credible.
At BIOVIT Live, we asked two people who work at the sharp end of sports performance nutrition to cut through it. Dr Emily Jevons is a performance nutritionist for a World Tour men's professional cycling team and founder of Total Endurance Nutrition - she manages nutrition for athletes competing at the highest level in professional sport. Lara Giusti is co-founder and Head Chef at Veloforte, the real-food active nutrition brand, with a background in physiotherapy and a master's degree in exercise rehabilitation. Between them, they represent both the clinical science and the practical reality of what sports nutrition looks like when it is done properly.
Get the Foundations Right Before Anything Else
The single most consistent message from both experts is that the supplement conversation begins in the wrong place. Most athletes - and most sports nutrition consumers - would see more performance benefit from getting their macronutrient distribution right than from any supplement they could buy.
“Energy balance and balanced macronutrients come first - always. Before we talk about sport-specific adjustments, before we talk about supplements, we need to make sure an athlete is actually eating enough and distributing their nutrients effectively throughout the day. Most people are not. The protein gap at breakfast alone is enormous - most people eat carbohydrate-heavy breakfasts and push their protein intake to later in the day when it is much less useful for muscle protein synthesis.” - Dr Emily Jevons, Performance Nutritionist, Total Endurance Nutrition - speaking at BIOVIT Live
For endurance athletes, carbohydrate is the primary performance fuel. The research-supported range is 30 to 120 grams per hour during exercise, built up gradually to train gut tolerance. This is significantly more than most recreational athletes are consuming - and the practical challenge of reaching 90 grams per hour across a long event is real. Stacking multiple products at regular intervals is more gut-friendly than relying on single high-carbohydrate doses.
Protein requirements for endurance athletes sit at 1.6 to 1.8 grams per kilogram of body weight daily, rising to 2.2 grams per kilogram for strength athletes. Spreading intake evenly across meals - rather than concentrating it at dinner - significantly improves muscle protein synthesis. These are the foundations. Supplements sit on top of them, not underneath them.
What Good Sports Products Are Actually Built On
“When we were building Veloforte, we thought hard about what actually makes a sports nutrition product work for athletes in the real world. We came up with four criteria we call the four Ps. Potent - it has to have the right macro and micro ratios to actually do the job. Portable - it has to be practical to carry and use during exercise. Palatable - if athletes do not enjoy it, they will not fuel frequently enough and their performance will suffer. And positive on gut health - because you can have the most perfectly formulated product in the world, but if it causes gastrointestinal distress halfway through a sportive, it has failed. Natural ingredients matter for that last point. Cumulative gut issues from ultra-processed sports nutrition are real.” - Lara Giusti, Co-founder, Veloforte - speaking at BIOVIT Live
The Veloforte approach uses natural dual-source carbohydrates - glucose and fructose - from brown rice syrup, maple syrup, and date syrup. Dual-source carbohydrate matters because glucose and fructose are absorbed via different intestinal transporters, meaning the gut can handle a higher total carbohydrate load without distress. A May 2025 study from Liverpool John Moores University found no difference in metabolism or gastrointestinal symptoms between carbohydrate doses taken every 15 versus every 30 minutes at 90 grams per hour - meaning that flexibility of timing, combined with the right carbohydrate source, is genuinely workable in practice.
The Honest Supplement Verdicts
Here is what the evidence actually says about the supplements that dominate the sports nutrition market, drawn directly from the clinical and practical experience of a World Tour performance nutritionist and a real-food sports brand founder.
Supplement
The Claim
What the Evidence Actually Shows
Verdict
BCAAs
Boost recovery and muscle growth
Modest pre-exercise anti-fatigue benefit. For recovery, any complete protein is more effective - you already get all three BCAAs from whey, egg, or a well-combined plant protein.
Skip if you eat adequate protein
EAAs (Essential Amino Acids)
Superior to BCAAs for recovery
More complete than BCAAs. A reasonable insurance policy during travel or periods of restricted diet. Not a substitute for whole protein sources.
Useful in specific circumstances
Green Powders
Comprehensive micronutrient coverage
Most ingredients are below effective dose. No direct product-level evidence for the majority of products. Expensive. Whole food micronutrients are preferable.
Generally not worth the cost
Collagen
Anti-ageing, skin, joint, muscle recovery
Anti-ageing and skin claims are weak. Growing evidence for joint, bone, and inflammation benefits - particularly when paired with Vitamin C. Interesting for athletes with joint load.
Joint support: yes. Beauty claims: no
Creatine
Strength and power output
Well-evidenced for strength and high-intensity performance. Emerging evidence for cognitive benefits. One of the most consistently supported supplements in the research.
Yes - one of the few that earns it
Electrolytes
Essential for performance and hydration
Well evidenced for endurance, high sweat rates, and illness recovery. High-sodium trend has overreached to sedentary consumers who do not need it. Personalise via sweat testing.
Yes - at the right sodium level
Protein Powders
Essential for muscle recovery
Genuinely useful for athletes who struggle to meet protein targets through food. Complete protein sources preferred. Natural, food-derived variants now available with clean labels.
Yes - when diet falls short
“BCAAs contain leucine, isoleucine, and valine - three of the nine essential amino acids. Any complete protein supplement already contains these. There is some evidence of a modest anti-fatigue benefit from BCAAs taken before exercise, but for post-exercise recovery a complete protein gives you far more. EAAs are more useful than BCAAs as an insurance policy - for travel, long-haul flights, periods where you know your diet will be restricted. But if you are consistently eating complete protein sources, you are likely already getting all the essential amino acids you need.” - Dr Emily Jevons, Performance Nutritionist, Total Endurance Nutrition - speaking at BIOVIT Live
“Green powders are an insurance policy - similar to EAAs. If you are eating a healthy, balanced diet, you are probably already getting most of the micronutrients you need. My main frustration is the lack of direct product evidence. Brands cite research on individual ingredients, but there is rarely research testing whether that specific product as a whole actually produces the claimed effects. And most of the ingredients are not at levels high enough to make a meaningful difference. For most people, the money is better spent elsewhere.” - Dr Emily Jevons, Performance Nutritionist, Total Endurance Nutrition - speaking at BIOVIT Live
“Collagen has been overhyped for beauty and skin - the evidence for those claims is weak. But the evidence for joint and bone health, and for reducing exercise-related inflammation, is genuinely growing and interesting. For athletes with high joint load - runners, cyclists, anyone doing high volume - there is a real case. The key is pairing with Vitamin C, because Vitamin C is essential for collagen synthesis. You need both. One without the other misses the point.” - Lara Giusti, Co-founder, Veloforte - speaking at BIOVIT Live
Informed Sport and Regulatory Reality: What Certification Actually Covers
Informed Sport certification is the gold standard for athletes competing under anti-doping rules. It batch-tests products against the WADA prohibited substance list, providing meaningful protection against inadvertent doping violations. For competitive athletes, it is non-negotiable.
But both experts were clear about what it does not cover - and the gap between consumer expectation and what Informed Sport actually certifies is significant.
“Informed Sport gives you the stamp that a product contains no banned or performance-enhancing substances. That is all it tests for. It does not test for cleanliness of ingredients, heavy metals, food safety, or whether a product actually contains the nutritional components it claims to contain. Look for companies that are BRC-registered and that third-party test for heavy metals and toxins. And do not write off smaller brands that cannot afford Informed Sport testing - they are often the ones using more natural ingredients and pushing the category forward. They should have evidence on their website about the quality and provenance of their ingredients.” - Lara Giusti, Co-founder, Veloforte - speaking at BIOVIT Live
On health claims, UK and EU regulations are strict. Authorised claims require specific, exact wording - a brand cannot simply state that a product "boosts energy" without that claim being backed by an authorised nutrient claim at the required level. The gap between what brands say on marketing materials and what they can legally claim on pack is often substantial.
“If you see a bold promise on a sports nutrition product that sounds almost too good to be true, it almost certainly has not been validated through the EFSA health claims process. Seek out product-specific studies, not just ingredient citations. Ask whether the dose in the product actually matches the dose in the research. And consult a registered nutritionist if you are making important decisions about your training nutrition - generic social media advice is rarely the right starting point.” - Dr Emily Jevons, Performance Nutritionist, Total Endurance Nutrition - speaking at BIOVIT Live
Why Natural Sourcing Is Increasingly Central to Sports Nutrition
The "food first, not food only" principle - which both Emily and Lara endorsed - has a direct implication for how sports nutrition products are formulated. If the goal is whole food nutrition with supplementation filling genuine gaps, then the source of those nutrients matters. A recovery powder or an energy gel where the vitamins and minerals are synthetically derived sits in an uncomfortable position relative to a brand built on real food credentials.
Veloforte's CollagenPro - developed with BIOVIT - uses Vitamin D3 from lichen, Zinc from guava leaf, and Vitamin C from acerola cherry. These ingredients appear on the label as foods. The Vitamin C and Zinc support the EFSA health claims that the product carries for collagen formation, immune function, and normal testosterone levels in active men. The natural sourcing is not incidental to the product - it is the point of the product.
“BIOVIT were fantastic to work with on our CollagenPro project. Since launching in early June, CollagenPro has rapidly become one of our most subscribed products.” - Veloforte
For sports nutrition brands building on a real food or clean label platform, synthetic vitamins are a contradiction in the ingredient list. The shift to natural fortification is not primarily a marketing decision for this category - it is a coherent expression of what the brand stands for. Consumers who are scrutinising labels for artificial sweeteners, for highly processed protein sources, and for chemical-sounding additives are also reading the vitamin section. Natural sourcing across the full formulation is the consistent choice.
The BIOVIT natural nutrients relevant to sports nutrition formulation
- Vitamin C from acerola cherry - supports collagen synthesis and immune function. EFSA claims available.
- Vitamin D3 from lichen - supports muscle function, bone health, and immune response. EFSA claims available.
- Zinc from guava leaf - supports testosterone levels, protein synthesis, and immune function. EFSA claims available.
- Iron from curry leaf - taste-neutral. Supports energy metabolism and reduction of fatigue. EFSA claims available.
- Magnesium from sea water - supports muscle function and reduction of tiredness. EFSA claims available.
- B vitamins from lemon peel and shiitake - B12 and B6 for energy metabolism and nervous system function. EFSA claims available.
The Standard to Hold Sports Nutrition To
The sports nutrition category has a credibility problem of its own making. The brands that will define what the category looks like in five years are the ones building on real food foundations, using natural and traceable ingredients, making only claims they can fully substantiate, and treating their customers as intelligent people capable of reading a label.
The evidence base for what genuinely supports performance is actually quite clear: adequate carbohydrate, well-distributed protein, targeted supplementation where diet falls short, and the gut health that comes from ingredients your body recognises as food. That is not a revolutionary framework. It is simply an honest one.
