Herbal Supplements Pose Risk of Adverse Findings for Indian Athletes Ahead of Asian Games

Herbal Supplemets (Representational Image)

Bengaluru: With Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) officials conducting random checks on India’s elite athletes preparing for the Asian Games, experts are concerned that the use of herbal supplements by top athletes could result in Adverse Analytical Findings (AAF) when samples are tested for performance-enhancing substances at WADA-accredited laboratories abroad. According to experts, the use of herbal supplements is quite common among athletes training in national camps. “Among the supplements commonly used by our athletes are kida jadi buti, bhasmas, ashwagandha and shilajit. Kida jadi (Cordyceps sinensis) is the most expensive of the lot, retailing at Rs 16-20 lakh per kilogram. It is consumed after being mixed with honey,” they told TOI. In India, kida jadi is listed on e-commerce platforms at around Rs 1.66 lakh for 100g. “There are many athletes who use their savings to buy kida jadi and consume it regularly. There is a risk of an AAF for athletes using herbal supplements, as many of these products are not tested for their ingredients. For a month’s course, they may have to shell out around Rs 1 lakh. “A lot of our sprinters, throwers and middle-distance runners are taking these supplements,” they said, adding that most athletes do not disclose their use of herbal supplements when declaring the list of supplements they consume. Kida jadi is a type of fungus sourced from the Himalayas. Indian athletes have been using it for many years and none have returned a positive result so far. However, there have recently been concerns that some products may contain substances on WADA’s banned list, though nothing has been confirmed yet. “These metabolites may not have triggered a positive result in NADA tests, but in advanced tests conducted by the AIU, the outcome could be different, putting our athletes at risk of an AAF,” experts said. Asked about the use of locally sourced herbal supplements, Mihira Khopkar, who served as the Indian contingent’s nutritionist at the Paris Olympics, confirmed the risks involved. “In elite sport, it is almost non-negotiable that high-performing athletes choose supplements that are not only evidence-based but also third-party tested,” she told TOI.

Unprecedented scrutiny

Athletics coaches, both former and current, who have followed India’s progress over the past few decades, recalled that Indian athletes have never undergone such intense testing before a major Games. “What the AIU has done on behalf of WADA is targeted testing of India’s top athletes who will be competing at the Asian Games. Across Bengaluru, Bhubaneswar and Patiala, officials have tested most athletes in the squad. This is the first time they have conducted such large-scale random testing of Indian athletes ahead of a major meet,” sources told TOI.

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“A few years ago, WADA attempted to test Indian athletes training in Potchefstroom, South Africa, but achieved limited success as many were unavailable. Athletes cannot be penalised for missing random tests, unlike those in the Registered Testing Pool (RTP), who are bound by the whereabouts clause,” they added. After testing athletes residing at the Kalinga Stadium complex in Bhubaneswar, officials also conducted checks on those training in Bengaluru at the Anju Bobby Sports Foundation and the SAI South Centre. India topped the AIU’s list of doping offenders in July this year with 162 names, ahead of Kenya (148) and Russia (60). The AIU also reclassified the Athletics Federation of India (AFI) from Category B to Category A. “Unfortunately, the quality of the domestic anti-doping programme is simply not proportionate to the doping risk,” AIU Chair David Howman had said.

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