Research
Adherence
Elite athletes use dietary supplements significantly more frequently than non-elite athletes, with no consistent change in overall prevalence over time.
If you are not competing at a professional or national level, you are statistically less likely to use supplements than elite athletes, but this does not mean you should. The data shows high usage across all levels, suggesting supplements are common but not strictly required for non-elite success.
ModerateSupportsMEDIUM confidence
the data generally indicated that elite athletes used DSs much more than their non-elite counterparts... No consistent change in use over time was observed because even the earliest investigations showed relatively high use prevalence.
Why this rating
Meta-analysis of 159 studies, but methodological quality was generally low (avg 43%) and heterogeneity was high.
Source
Prevalence of Dietary Supplement Use by Athletes: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
Joseph J. Knapik et al. · Sports Medicine · 2015
DOI 10.1007/s40279-015-0387-7
Meta-analysis · 159 studiesCited 425×
Read the paper DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10
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