Why Is NSF Certified for Sport® Important?

By Joe Zagami

If you take sports nutrition supplements, you’ve likely heard of the NSF Certified for Sport® certification. You may even actively look for supplements that carry this certification. But you may not know what it really means, or why it’s so important to SaltWrap – and athletes at every level.

Sports nutrition supplements can be one of the single best tools available for athletes who want to optimize their performance and recovery. Yet many people believe they can be one of the biggest potential pitfalls athletes can run into.

But as the old saying goes, two things can be true at once.

Let’s break it down…

Before We Begin...

Before we dive into what the NSF Certified for Sport® certification is all about, let’s address the elephant in the room. SaltWrap is the global leader in Therapeutic Sports Nutrition™. So how could we not be biased about sports nutrition supplements?

If you’re skeptical, that’s a good thing. Let’s start with a critical edit to a statement in the introduction:

The right sports nutrition supplements can be one of the single best tools available for athletes who want to optimize their performance and recovery. Yet the wrong ones can be one of the biggest potential pitfalls athletes can run into.

The NSF Certified for Sport® designation allows consumers – athletes, coaches, experts, and everyone in between – to make informed choices about the supplements they use. It helps build trust with brands and puts users at ease.

That’s a win-win.

There’s also another critical component to being NSF Certified for Sport® that you need to know about. But before we tell you about that, we need to break down what this certification really means.

What Does NSF Certified for Sport® Mean?

With so many choices on the market, it pays to be cautious. But if you use a dietary supplement that bears the NSF Certified for Sport® mark, you can be confident.

NSF International is a global public health organization that tests and certifies products to help protect athletes and consumers from potentially harmful ingredients and banned substances in dietary supplements.

Products earning Certified for Sport® certification are tested for or more than 272 substances banned by major athletic organizations and anti-doping associations, including lead and arsenic.

The product’s formulation, label claims, and Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) compliance are also verified as part of this rigorous supplement certification program. To sum it all up, the program verifies that:

• Products do not contain any of 272-plus substances banned by major athletic organizations

• The contents of the supplement actually match what is printed on the label

• There are no unsafe levels of contaminants in the tested products

• And that the product is manufactured at a facility that is GMP Certified and audited annually or bi-annually based on grade for quality and safety by NSF.

It’s easy to see why this would be desirable for athletes. But are they the only ones who can benefit from using an NSF Certified for Sport® product?

Is NSF Certified for Sport® for Athletes Only?

To be clear, you do not have to be an athlete to use NSF Certified for Sport® products.

For hobbyists, using NSF Certified for Sport® products is a good idea. For athletes, it’s a no-brainer. And at the professional level, in most cases, it’s mandatory.

NSF Certified for Sport® is the only independent third-party program recognized by the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA), Major League Baseball, the National Hockey League, and the Canadian Football League.

In fact, NSF Certified for Sport® is recommended by the NFL, NBA, PGA, LPGA, CCES, CPSDA, iNADO, Ironman, NASCAR, Taylor Hooton Foundation, the UFC, and many other elite organizations seeking to mitigate the risks of contaminated dietary supplements.

In short, when a competitive athlete – professional or otherwise – takes a supplement that doesn’t bear the NSF Certified for Sport® seal, they’re taking a big risk. Not only do they risk getting something other than what they’re told they’re getting. They also risk inadvertently consuming a banned, and potentially harmful, ingredient.

This is precisely what makes the NSF Certified for Sport® designation so valuable for athletes and hobbyists alike. Even if you aren’t a professional athlete, chances are you do your best to approach your nutrition and fitness like one. And that alone makes finding the NSF Certified for Sport® seal worth your time.

Are Non-NSF Certified for Sport® Sports Nutrition Supplement Dangerous?

Here’s the short answer: it’s hard to say.

Many companies make high-quality products that are not NSF Certified for Sport®. That includes SaltWrap.

For instance, SaltWrap manufactures its products in GMP Certified facilities. These facilities are independently inspected and are held to the highest production standards in the industry. We also use patented, clinically studied ingredients wherever possible.

But because we believe that every single athlete on the planet could benefit from it, we made sure that Collagen Synthesis™ is NSF Certified for Sport®.

At the end of the day, it boils down to trust. If a company goes out of its way to prove the efficacy of its formulas, has unyielding standards for quality, and if it backs every product with an iron-clad 100% money-back guarantee, you’re off to a great start.

That said, the best thing you can possibly do if you have questions is ask them. The answers you get can go a long way toward building that trust.

Putting It All Together

The NSF Certified for Sport® seal is something every athlete – at every level – should want to see on their sports nutrition products. (Hobbyists and fitness enthusiasts who want peace of mind and minimal risk ought to be on the lookout, too.)

This is exactly why top UFC Featherweight contender Josh Emmett recently teamed with SaltWrap. (You can read more about that here.)

He trusts Collagen Synthesis™, which is NSF Certified for Sport®, to help him come back stronger and stay in the game.

You don’t have to be an elite mixed martial artist like Josh Emmett to benefit from Collagen Synthesis™.

But if you want to start optimizing and supporting your joints the same way he does, just click the button below to learn more.