Going to extremes
Muscle-building is a hot topic. There are hundreds of Web sites devoted to all the different ways you can bulk up. Steroids are the most commonly known method (think A-Rod, Roger Clemens and Barry Bonds), even though steroid use is illegal without a prescription. But there are plenty of other supplements you can get over-the-counter. Ads try to lure customers in with promises like “Gain Freaky Muscle Mass” or “Get Ripped for Summer.”
Other supplements claim they can enhance athletic performance and keep you moving when you’re tired. Companies sell a bevy of products containing vitamins, minerals, amino acids, herbs or botanicals. These supplements — things like creatine, glutamine, anabolic flavones, amino acids — are supposedly “safe” and “natural.”
Just what are all these supplements? Does anybody really need to take this stuff? And –more importantly – are they really safe?
Benefits and risks
Here are some examples of common supplements – including their supposed benefits and risks:
- Androstenedione, or “andro,” and dehydroepiandrosterone, or “DHEA,” are so-called “natural steroids” that can boost the body’s testosterone (which increases muscle mass). Scientists haven’t found any evidence that these supplements actually boost strength or performance. The down side? They can cause hormone imbalances. Worse, they might cause cancer, infertility, stroke, or heart disease.
- Creatine, an amino acid found naturally in the body, can help with high-intensity sports like sprinting or power lifting. But it hasn’t been found to help endurance or aerobic performance. And side effects can include severe diarrhea, abdominal pain, and muscle cramps. Long-term effects? They’re still being studied.
- Products with so-called “ephedra-like” ingredients claim to boost energy, decrease appetite, or calm stress. Ephedra itself was banned after some people died after using it. But these ephedra-like supplements — which often include caffeine sources such as yerba mate and guarana — can cause some of the same problems as ephedra: high blood pressure, heart attack, stroke, seizures. And studies have found that their performance-boosting claims are often exaggerated.
No short cuts
One Web site that markets supplements to teens says right up front that teens don’t really need supplements to bulk up and get stronger, as long as they eat right and work out hard. And that supplements can be dangerous if you’re not careful. But then they claim that supplements can help speed the process.
“Supplement companies spend millions of dollars in marketing to convince young men to bulk up,” says Roberto Olivardia, clinical psychologist and clinical instructor at Harvard, and an expert in male body image issues. “If I created a pill in my lab from various substances, and I didn’t know its long-term effects or risks, and you were a guinea pig for an experiment on this pill — would you take it? That is kind of what happens when you decide to take some of these supplements. They are not regulated by the FDA, which means they were never tested in the way that medicines are.
“And don’t be fooled by the word ‘natural,’ ” Olivardia adds. “Beach sand is natural, but that doesn’t mean we would ingest it.”
Unknown ingredients
Since supplements aren’t regulated by the FDA (Food and Drug Administration), there’s no way of knowing what’s really inside them. In fact, studies of various supplements have shown that, quite often, ingredient amounts differ from what’s listed on the label. And sometimes, the claimed ingredient isn’t in there at all!
Athletes looking for that extra edge sometimes take high doses of supplements. But doses like that can really damage your body — to the point where you may damage your chance to compete.
It sounds corny, but eating right and training well are really the best ways to achieve your athletic goals.
This article has been reviewed by BodiMojo health expert Kathy Devaney, MD.
