Are Workout Supplements Unhealthy?
If you’re passionate about strength training and serious about building muscle, you’re not alone! Many gym enthusiasts are dedicated to pushing their limits and transforming their bodies. But the sport is also unique in that for many, it stresses appearance rather than health or athletic performance.
To support their goals, they often resort to bodybuilding supplements to get better results, turning to an ever-expanding variety of pills, powders, and drinks that promise to make them faster, stronger and bigger. But the promises are largely empty, as people are swayed by clever marketing techniques from an industry that brings in more than $30 billion annually.
Harmful Ingredients
If you're using supplements, you need to be careful, as many are unhealthy. The FDA has warned that some products with shady ingredients have the potential for harm and even death. This is well documented, yet the problem remains.
It’s hard to catch up with bad actors in the industry because they keep changing their names and labels, and it causes big problems. Their products may contain a cocktail of substances including testosterone and other androgens, aromatase inhibitors, HCG, phosphodiesterase inhibitors, etc.
Between 2009 and 2015, many got sick from taking them. Side effects ranged from acne, hair loss, mood swings, and even depression. And if you take too much, it can cause heart attacks, strokes, blood clots, and damage to your kidneys and liver. (Premierhealth.com)
Other supplements claiming to be "fat-burning" or "slimming” have been linked to a small number of deaths. Despite being illegal to sell, there is evidence that they’ve remained available online months after they were officially pulled from the shelves for heart attack risk or other safety concerns.
Consumers need to be careful, especially with pre-workout and weight-loss products. The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) maintains a list of banned substances and explains that some may contain banned ingredients not listed on the product labels. Some of these are BMPEA (a phenethylamine) and DMAA (dimethylamylamine), two examples banned by the NCAA.
This shows you can’t always trust what’s on the label, as these hidden stimulants are dangerous drugs, not natural ingredients, and have no place in over-the-counter supplements. A study published today in The New England Journal of Medicine found that adverse effects of supplements were responsible for an average of about 23,000 emergency department (ED) visits per year. That's a lot for something that’s supposed to be good for you.
The point is, when you buy supplements online or in stores, you don't know what's in them or how they’ll react in your body because they're not checked by the FDA.
Mortality Rates
Sometimes it’s possible to take things too far when it comes to strength training. Bodybuilders have a mortality rate 34% higher than that of the age-matched U.S. male population, according to a study presented at the American Urological Association’s 2016 annual meeting.
Although the cause is unclear, the increased mortality supports the possibility that the use of performance-enhancing drugs, unique competitive training, extreme weight changes and bodybuilding supplements may contribute to deaths.
The use of supplements is interesting in this light and has not been studied well. “To be sure, some dietary supplements can be beneficial. That's because these products contain active ingredients—molecules that interact with receptors in our body and cause physiological changes. However, because they contain active ingredients, they can also cause unwanted effects, such as elevated blood pressure, racing or irregular heartbeat, headache, dizziness, or digestive symptoms.”
Common adulterants found in supplements include:
Anabolic steroids
Stimulants like ephedrine, synephrine, and caffeine
Hormones and hormone precursors
Opioid-like substances like kratom
Designer stimulants not approved by FDA
Raw, unapproved materials from all over the world
How To Ensure Safety
While some supplements may offer benefits when used appropriately, excessive or improper use can pose significant health risks, as products are often not discovered to be unsafe until after they reach the market and cause harm.
The FDA is charged with overseeing dietary supplements, but there’s no safety testing or FDA approval required before a new supplement goes on the market. There’s also no requirement that dietary supplement packaging list potential adverse effects.
Instead of resorting to using health supplements and spending a fortune on them, you could instead use naturally available products rich in protein, such as nuts, egg whites, fish and chicken, along with fruits and vegetables, and build up your muscle and strength the natural way, and for a lesser cost.
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