Over the past 20 years, research has clearly documented the beneficial effects of nutrition on exercise performance. There is no doubt that what an athlete eats and drinks can affect health, body weight and composition, substrate availability during exercise, recovery time after exercise, and, ultimately, exercise performance. As the research and interest in sport nutrition has increased, so has the sale of ergogenic aids, supplements, herbal preparations, and diet aids, all aimed at improving sports performance. The manufacturers of these products frequently make unsubstantiated claims to entice the athlete to use their products. The athlete who wants to optimize exercise performance needs to follow good nutrition and hydration practices, use supplements and ergogenic aids carefully, minimize severe weight loss practices, and eat a variety of foods in adequate amounts (Am Diet Assoc. 2000;100:1543-1556).