It is Sunday as I sit down to write this article on the now enormously competitive sports nutrition industry. As I stare at my television and watch the Denver Broncos win another game (Editors Note: Go Giants!), I am struck by the EAS (Experimental and Applied Science, Denver, CO) gear all these guys are wearing in the locker room during post game interviews. This industry has come a long way from the humble beginnings of a friend telling another at the gym, "Hey, this works for me; it will work for you." Today millions of dollars are spent every year on research and product development to push the human body to its genetic limit through better nutrition and smarter science.

Years ago men and women drank and ate things we would never consider eating today in light of current dietary knowledge. Yet this is where it all started, when total consumption was important, not the biological value of the protein in your packet. Whole milk, a couple of whole eggs, real creamery butter, steaks and anything else you thought might make you grow like a baby bull-this was sports nutrition not so long ago. How did these men and women ever get lean after all of that fat? And forget about cholesterol levels. This type of diet makes "The Zone" look like a fat-free extravaganza. As athletes and coaches discovered what different foods could do for performance, so also began an interest in fueling the body not just to survive, but to excel.

Fast-forward to the late 70's and 80's. The exercise craze began, jazzercise became popular and people began to think more about what they swallowed on a daily basis. Protein powders, liver pills and various other capsules and tablets began showing up on health food store shelves. It was the start of something bigger than anyone could have anticipated. As the 80's progressed and Arnold Schwarzenegger, a former Mr. Olympia and current fitness aficionado, grew as an American film icon, so did health, fitness and nutrition. Companies like Twinlab and Weider Nutrition grew by leaps and bounds, capitalizing on positioning and timing. Today's landscape of sports nutrition companies reads like a who's who of entrepreneurs and corporations, with many posted on publicly traded exchanges like NASDAQ and NYSE.

Today sports nutrition has come of age. No longer can a company simply put something in a bottle and expect to have it sell. The Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act has changed not only the regulatory environment within which dietary supplements are sold, but it has pushed companies to invest in research and development in order to create products that actually work. The best example of such science is creatine. EAS brought "Phosphagen," a creatine-containing product, to the market with research and marketing that had never been seen before. With this one product EAS made a permanent mark on the sports nutrition industry and in doing so, put themselves on the competitive map.

As we approach the millennium, this begs the question, "Where do we go from here?" Most recently the sports nutrition world has begun marketing the home run potion of one Mr. Mark McGwire. These powerful precursors to testosterone and nortestosterone are the latest darlings of the industry. The pressure to find the next big product looms very large, with the potential for millions to be made on any one successful launch. Scientists are working in laboratories around the globe searching for that biochemical link that can make us stronger, faster and better than ever before. As a young man I recall a television show entitled The Six Million Dollar Man. We may not be quite there yet, but life through better chemistry is pushing the limits.

Although no one can possibly predict where this industry will head in the future, it is possible to surmise the general direction in which it will go. The sports nutrition public is becoming more educated, via books, magazines and other media. From this stems the need for greater emphasis on research and "products that work." We will find easier and faster ways of getting the results we are looking for in a shorter period of time.

As we build better products through research, there will be an emphasis on timing, including timing of when to take which supplement and for what purpose. The industry may start to see kits that simplify things by providing everything you need for a month. Although a kit is not a new idea-Cybergenics was doing it years ago-the components found within the kit will be well researched and they will work.

The other side of timing is an internal issue. Pharmaceutical time release technology is already starting to pervade the market. Science is not only discovering new products, they are also figuring out the best way to administer the old stand-bys. Fast or slow, large or small, all are related to the dose you will receive. Another area of growth will be multiphase tablets releasing one ingredient and then later another. I like to call it a tablet within a tablet.

Capsules and tablets will likely be the largest growth area in the sports market, if not for convenience, then simply to eliminate taste issues. Herbs will be quantified and standardized in order to pinpoint their active components. Alternative delivery systems are going to develop as much out of necessity as for improved functionality. Transdermal patches and gels are starting to pop up for products that warrant not traversing the digestive tract. Nasal delivery is another alternative that will undoubtedly come into play when considering the ideal route of delivery. Suppositories? Well, I for one hope not; however, this is another area within which some products might most effectively be delivered. Overall our industry is headed towards a pharmaceutical model that calls for tight standards, good manufacturing practices and above all, research.

The sports nutrition industry has reached a critical mass. Within the next three to five years companies will either have to grow and flourish or get gobbled up by larger pharmaceutical types. The analogy is a pond full of tadpoles. The tadpoles that are lucky enough to develop first and grow to be stronger and faster (and get a mouth and teeth sooner) feast upon those that lag behind. It is the law of nature and most things are subject to its sometimes cold reality.

The funny thing about all of this growth and prosperity is that obesity continues to grow as a health problem. The rate of mortality due to obesity was approximately 300,000 per year in 1995. When one considers that nearly 20 years ago the "exercise craze" began, it is difficult to fathom that today more people are succumbing to obesity-related disorders than ever before. In fact, obesity-related deaths are the second most preventable cause of mortality next to smoking. The sports nutrition industry is also larger than ever before and continues to grow by leaps and bound. The irony is thick; however, it does assure one thing. Our once small industry still has a lot of people to reach out there and that provides all of us with the incentive to develop products that work and push this industry to even greater heights.

Photo Credit: Watson Foods