What are the best supplements for athletes?

Elite athletes demand elite nutritional support. Professional athletes and members of U.S. national sports teams on the world stage – each one at the pinnacle of human health, fitness, and skill ­– turn to dietary supplements to enhance fueling strategies during training, performance, and endurance during competition, as well as recovery afterward. 

When sports supplements are needed to fill a nutritional gap, it is essential to consider several key points, especially for elite athletes who undergo regular drug testing. Athletes who are part of the Registered Testing Pool under the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA), as well as others who play at a level where drug testing is involved, incur additional risks with nutritional supplementation. One significant risk is the potential for a positive drug test due to supplement contamination.

Not all nutritional supplements are created equal. Due to significant variations in quality control among supplement manufacturers and the rapid emergence of new supplement brands, consumers might not always receive what they think they are paying for.

That’s why Thorne is committed to the importance of third-party testing and certification of nutritional supplements and manufacturing processes. The best supplements for athletes are third-party tested and certified. The best supplements come from a brand that manufactures its own supplements under the strictest quality practices. 

Thorne exemplifies the trust that athletes, coaches, and athletic organizations need in a supplement brand and its products. This trust enables them to focus on training, endurance, competition, and recovery without worrying about the safety of the supplements they take.

To gain and retain that trust, Thorne participates in an advanced certification program for supplements geared toward elite athletes – NSF Certified for Sport®. Through this well-respected and well-established program, Thorne has achieved the most extensive line of NSF Certified for Sport supplements.

Thorne is proud to be a resource for elite athletes. For 40 years, Thorne has been dedicated to helping people, and we strongly believe that athletes deserve a trusted source for peace of mind. Ingredient transparency, efficacy, safety, quality, and third-party certification are the hallmarks of Thorne’s mission to empower individuals to live healthier lives.

The results are clear: Thorne is trusted by thousands of elite and professional athletes worldwide, including more than 100 professional and U.S. National Teams.

Third-party testing for athletic performance

Nutritional and dietary supplements brands can, and should, engage independent third parties to audit their manufacturing processes and test their finished products. This ensures compliance with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Current Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP).

Why? Because third-party certification verifies that the company’s supplements contain the ingredients listed on the product label in the amounts listed and don’t contain any harmful ingredients.

Thorne’s choice in third-party certification is NSF. Founded in 1944 for the purpose of standardizing sanitation and food safety requirements, NSF is an independent and accredited non-governmental organization whose mission is to protect and improve global human health.

What is NSF Certified for Sport?

One of NSF’s certification programs is for manufacturers of dietary supplements. The NSF Certified for Sport program tests every finished batch of a nutritional supplement for more than 300 substances that have been banned from athletic competition. A supplement that bears the NSF Certified for Sport mark ensures the supplement contains exactly what the label claims it does, in the amounts listed, and doesn’t contain any substances banned by major athletic and anti-doping associations, like the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and USADA.

In addition to testing every finished batch of a supplement that bears the NSF Certified for Sport mark, the facility that manufactures these sports supplements must be audited and certified by NSF annually for good manufacturing practices. Thorne’s manufacturing campus in Summerville, South Carolina, is NSF certified for GMP. You can see Thorne’s NSF certificates here.

Thorne launched its NSF Certified for Sport supplement line just before the 2016 Olympic Games in Brazil. Since then, Thorne’s line of NSF Certified for Sport supplements has grown to include more than two dozen supplements and supplement bundles that support all aspects of an athlete’s training, endurance, and recovery regimens, as well as their general health and well-being.

Thorne’s NSF Certified for Sport supplements are trusted by professional athletes, U.S. National Teams, and athletes who are part of USADA’s Registered Testing Pool, among others.  

How to find the best supplements for athletes

A key component of the NSF Certified for Sport® program is a mark on the label of each certified product. This mark indicates to athletes, coaches, and consumers that a supplement meets NSF's comprehensive Certified for Sport program guidelines.

Although some third-party testing programs only spot-test products, or conduct only annual tests, NSF Certified for Sport testing means that every finished batch of a supplement that bears their certification is tested. Certified products are not allowed to be released by the manufacturer until testing of the batch has been completed at an NSF laboratory and the product’s lot number is listed on the NSF Product and Service Listings website.

Look to the professionals

The NSF Certified for Sport certification is the only independent third-party certification program recognized by Major League Baseball, the National Hockey League, and the Canadian Football League. NSF Certified for Sport is also recommended by the NFL, NBA, PGA, LPGA, iNADO, Ironman, NASCAR, and many other sports organizations seeking to mitigate the risks to their athletes of contaminated nutritional supplements.

What does NSF Certified for Sport® mean for the casual competitor and the average consumer?

Each batch of an NSF Certified for Sport finished product from Thorne is tested for banned substances and is annually tested for label claims, enabling athletic competitors and other consumers to know that what is on the product label is exactly what is in the bottle – and nothing else.

  • NSF’s label-claim testing program is the only American National Standards Institute (ANSI)-Accredited Dietary Supplements Product Certification program in existence.
  • Every product in the NSF testing program is subjected to a formulation, label, and marketing review before certification.
  • Each review includes raw materials supplier verification.

You can trust where products come from

To participate in the NSF Certified for Sport program, each facility where a supplement is manufactured must participate in NSF’s GMP auditing program.

  • NSF conducts these facility-wide GMP audits annually to ensure the FDA’s GMP are being followed.
  • NSF tests supplements in the real world – formulation reviews are performed annually in addition to being reviewed during the audit cycle. Furthermore, any changes to formulas or suppliers require a review and approval by an NSF toxicologist prior to releasing the supplement to the market. Samples submitted for testing require the supplement to be in final packaging to ensure no other modification will occur prior to being released to the market.

NSF has a "No List"

  • NSF limits caffeine to 200 mg per serving and 800 mg daily.
  • NSF will not certify supplements that make “anabolic,” “testosterone booster,” or “thermogenic fat burner” claims.
  • NSF has a dedicated team for NSF trademark enforcement to ensure companies do not misuse the NSF trademark or authorized NSF text on the supplement labels or falsely claim that a supplement has been tested when it has not.
  • NSF will not certify sexual enhancement or weight loss supplements (which Thorne has never made).

Read Thorne’s own “No List” here.

Are Thorne products NSF Certified for Sport®?

In addition to being an NSF GMP-certified facility, Thorne offers the most extensive line of NSF Certified for Sport supplements in the industry. A Thorne nutritional supplement product that bears the NSF Certified for Sport mark ensures that the supplement contains exactly what the product label claims it does, in the amounts listed with no harmful or banned ingredients.

All of Thorne’s NSF Certified for Sport supplements are also NSF Contents Certified, which provides an additional layer of third-party, independent certification. Read more about NSF Contents Certified here. Be sure to verify your supplement’s certifications by looking for NSF’s certification marks on the product label.

Thorne strives to provide the best supplements for athletes that competitors at every level can trust, with science-backed formulations and information about how sports supplements fit into an athlete’s lifestyle. The best supplement regimen for an athlete needs to be personalized to the athlete – optimal performance that is one-size-fits-one.

Thorne provides peace of mind for athletes – both the elite athlete and the casual athlete. When athletes see a Thorne supplement with the NSF Certified for Sport mark, they know exactly what they are getting. Thorne promotes healthy, clean competition and continues to be an ally elite athletes can trust year after year.