Perhaps you once heard about an athlete that got disqualified or received a ban for failing a regulatory drug test. In most cases, the so-called drug is often a fitness supplement. Athletes, bodybuilders, and people who engage in gym activities tend to expend a lot of energy due to their high activity rate. Feeding to satisfy the subsequent cravings and nutritional needs of the body come with tendencies of getting overweight; to prevent this, companies in the weight loss industry formulated food supplements that supply the body with some specific nutrients or substance for the adequate supply of the required energy.
Fitness supplements are the products of several years of research; they are mostly the laboratory-formulated equivalent of naturally occurring substances (like creatine). The FDA has recommended that human users should ingest only supplements formulated with approved materials; they equally suggest seeking the advice of a certified dietitian before choosing where to find reliable fitness supplement to increase strength.
There are several fitness supplements available in the public domain; supplements like Whey Protein, Glutamine, Caffeine, Creatine, and fish oil are just a few examples. Creatine is, however, the most prolific of them all. Among all known fitness supplements, creatine is the only one approved for use in sports by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), International Society of Sports Nutrition (ISSN), and International Olympic Committee (IOC).
Uses and benefits of supplements
1. Creatine metabolism disorder.
Creatine is found mainly in human muscles, and trace amounts are equally domicile in the brain. There are several diagnoses of people with diseases that inhibit their body from producing creatine through natural pathways. Prescription tablets of approved supplements can help remedy such situations.
2. Enhances muscle strength and athletic performance.
Studies have proven certified supplements that athletes use at the recommended dosage, as being useful in building muscle strength and improving the performance of sportspersons. Supplements like creatine have also won acclaim among gym-goers to boost body endurance and agility.
Risks of supplement usage
Marketers exaggerate the effectiveness of many fitness supplements, and dishonesty is often prevalent regarding the declaration of accompanying side effects. We shall briefly consider the risks of using some of the known supplements.
- There is a widespread assumption among protein supplement users that such supplements are appropriate for complete replacement of their protein diets. Meanwhile, taking such a decision could, in the long run, lead to nutrient deficiency. The deficiency manifests because protein supplements are merely protein soups that do not contain vitamins, minerals, and other accompanying nutrients that we derive from eating actual meals.
- Supplements bought off the streets, or the dark web is likely to cause health complications like seizures, kidney failure, and the extreme of death—such difficulties stemming from the toxic and unhealthy stimulants that go into the compounding of the supplements. An excellent example of such a supplement, which has been blacklisted by the FDA, is 2, 4 – Dinitrophenol (DNP). This supplement is peddled under different pseudonyms like Dnoc and Nitrophen. DNP works by enhancing strength via the increase in the body’s metabolic rate. Though commonly used among bodybuilders for fast weight loss, there have been reports of numerous complications from its usage.
