The boom of sports supplements: Why harm from them can be more than good
The popularity of sports nutrition is growing not only among professional athletes, including bodybuilders, but also among amateurs. This is confirmed by the numbers: in 2010, sales of vitamins and nutritional supplements reached $ 28 billion in the United States, and seven years later, this amount rose to 36 billion. For scale: theoretically, about forty companies of Avon size could be purchased for this amount.
The choice of sports nutrition is huge: complexes, mixes, boosters are in rows on the shelves of fitness clubs and specialty stores, and the range on the Internet is even wider. Bottles of nutritional supplements, from tiny to giant, are full of colored inscriptions and bright promises - from fast growth and muscle recovery to improving blood circulation in them and burning subcutaneous fat. Forms of release vary from powder, which must be diluted with milk, water or juice, to capsules and gels.
Should I trust the coach, who reports that if you take a certain supplement, you can get the desired effect faster? Is it possible to get along with proper nutrition during active sports? We understand what manufacturers of fitness supplements advertise and how it relates to research data.
Perhaps the most popular type of sports nutrition is protein, or protein. This is not a hormone or a medicine, but simply a building material for muscles. In 2010, The Daily Mail published an article with a headline stating that protein powder can increase life expectancy by ten years. After a close examination of the data, it turned out that they were talking about a study in middle-aged mice, which were supplemented with amino acids with a branched side chain (BCCA). The mice of the experimental group lived an average of ninety-five days longer than the animals fed the usual diet. These results extrapolated to humans, making a conclusion about the benefits of amino acids and, accordingly, protein - and that lengthening the life of mice by three months is equivalent to an increase in human life by ten years. The authors clarified and reported that they only managed to trace the course of biological processes, and also pointed out obvious biological and physical differences between mice and humans - in general, a good example of the fact that you can not transfer data from experiments directly to the headers.
Under normal, non-extreme conditions, for most people, there is enough protein that they get from regular food. In the UK, the recommended daily intake for adults (from nineteen to fifty years old) is 55.5 grams per day for men and 45 for women (except for pregnant and lactating women). In the US, the norms are very similar - 0.36 grams of protein per pound of weight, that is, 0.79 per kilogram of weight, or at least 10% of the daily norm of kilocalories. Most of us eat more: actual daily protein intake is 88 grams for men and 64 for women. For example, a sandwich with 65 grams of chicken meat contains about 20 grams of protein; If you add a glass of milk to it, another 5 grams of protein will be added. The result will be 25 grams of protein in one snack, that is, more than half the daily requirement for women. Professional athletes have other norms. According to experts of the British Nutrition Foundation, athletes in strength sports need 1.2 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight, and athletes who develop speed will need 1.7 grams of protein per kilogram. Even these indicators can be achieved with a balanced diet, although powdered protein can be a convenient snacking option.
Let's go back to the fitness club. Trainers claim that a high-protein diet is good for weight loss, but in fact the situation has not yet been clarified: some studies support this point of view, others deny. It is also not proven that a high protein diet helps prevent muscle loss in middle age. Even less convincing is the evidence that excess protein helps maintain the health of the cardiovascular system. The positive effect of a high protein diet on muscle strength and elasticity is also not confirmed. True, there are a number of indications of the benefit of a high-protein diet for healthy adults, not the elderly and not pregnant.
Increasing the amount of normal protein in the diet to 20-25% does not harm health. If translated into grams, then for men it would be reasonable to eat no more than 111 grams of protein per day, and for women - no more than 90 grams. In addition to benefits, risks are also possible, such as the occurrence of diarrhea. It has also been found that excessive amounts of protein in the diet can reduce bone density and increase the risk of osteoporosis. In people with proven kidney disease, a large amount of protein will definitely lead to the progression of renal failure.
Whatever it was, to maintain a normal level of protein in the diet or (if desired and necessary) to increase it, if you do not get so much protein with food, you can turn to sports supplements. And here there is one problem: the study of 134 powdered proteins revealed heavy metals in them, including arsenic, cadmium and mercury - cadmium was a particular concern for researchers, since it can accumulate in the kidneys, damaging them. True, the authors were immediately blamed for the opacity of the methodology and sources of funding, and it should be said that heavy metals are present in the environment and contamination of products by them is inevitable - but it’s still possible that eating large amounts of protein (more than three portions a day) can to be dangerous.
A variety of protein supplements consider BCCA - essential amino acids valine, leucine, isoleucine with branched side chains. It is believed that these amino acids (or "aminki" in fitness jargon) with serious physical exertion help to reduce the percentage of fat, enhance the effect of other additives and strengthen the immune system. Unfortunately, there is no evidence of this in the studies. On the contrary, there was evidence that BCCA may increase the risk of developing ALS - amyotrophic lateral atherosclerosis. This is a rare disease, which in 2014 was dedicated to a flash mob with a bucket of iced water.
To summarize, the protein and its constituents (amino acids) are safe in an amount not exceeding two daily allowances. If there are kidney diseases or a clear connection of diarrhea with protein intake, then you should not lean on protein. It is also important not to buy unknown or suspiciously cheap proteins, even if they are offered by a fitness trainer.
This carbohydrate-protein mixture, in addition to protein, they contain simple or complex carbohydrates, vitamins, creatine. Gainer - a source of additional calories, which should be taken immediately after a workout to build muscle and replenish energy. A possible problem may be an allergy to milk protein, but it is usually known since childhood. Thus, a gainer, like a protein, can rather be considered a type of food that, if properly used, will not cause harm and will serve as a source of energy and nutrients. As usual, the question of quality remains open; It is better to choose products from proven manufacturers.
Creatine is an organic acid that supplies energy to muscle and nerve cells. There are small studies, the results of which point to the use of creatine in building muscle mass. True, this applies only to young athletes, sprinter, that is, those who are engaged in sports with short-term, but intense muscular work. For this reason, creatine is banned by some sports organizations - it can be regarded as doping. On the other hand, this substance is well studied and at a dose of 2-3 grams per day is not toxic.
Anthony Komarov, the chief editor of the health letters section at Harvard Medical School, cautiously warns that in adulthood, creatine is unlikely to help build or maintain muscle mass and that there is no reliable data on creatine absolute safety. To fully protect yourself from possible negative effects, do not exceed the recommended dosage of creatine and use it at an older age.
This is a direct relative of the B vitamins, which is synthesized by the body itself. L-carnitine is involved in the energy metabolism of skeletal muscles and the transport of fatty acids into cells. It would be logical to assume that L-carnitine improves the function of the muscles, but the results of the research were disappointing: over the twenty years of study, no improvement in the performance of the muscles has been found. In general, evidence of the benefits of L-carnitine yet.
The substance has proven to be safe, but on condition that the manufacturer does not cheat. The FDA warns that unscrupulous manufacturers may add sibutramine to carnitine, a potentially dangerous substance that can significantly increase blood pressure and heart rate. This, in turn, increases the risk of cardiovascular complications in arrhythmias or coronary artery disease.
Relaxing the vessel wall, nitric oxide increases blood flow to the muscles and helps them recover faster after exercise; as sports supplements do not offer nitric oxide itself, but substances (nitrates, arginine, citrulline), which are converted into it in the body. Usually the additive contains a mixture of various substances; however, the effectiveness of nitrates and L-citrulline in terms of endurance was confirmed, but they were studied by professional cyclists, runners, swimmers and kayakers, and not by amateurs. L-arginine, on the contrary, did not demonstrate any effects in combination with caffeine or creatine, or independently.
The study of data on the violation of the synthesis of steroid hormones in men using nitric oxide donators was obtained as a spoon of tar. In addition, L-arginine can cause diarrhea and dyspepsia when taken in doses of more than 10 grams. Against this background, the coloring of urine in a reddish color due to the components of the beet is a harmless fact. The result of research may be the conclusion that the benefits of nitric oxide donors in women somewhat outweigh the potential harm, and men should wait for data from more detailed safety studies.
Under this name, several groups of drugs that affect metabolism are combined: first of all, they are thermogenics, which increase body temperature and increase the amount of kilocalories spent, and lipotropics, accelerating the breakdown of fats. There are drugs that are even less close to the processes of burning fat - to contribute to weight loss, they affect other mechanisms, such as disrupting fat absorption or suppress appetite.
Next is the gray area of dietary supplements, which formally belong to fat burners, but in fact contain sibutramine or diuretic components. The same sibutramine is officially sold under a variety of commercial names and is used to treat obesity after medical consultation, it increases the feeling of fullness and has heat-generating properties. The main contraindications are known: heart disease, arterial hypertension, reduced or increased thyroid function, pathology of the kidneys or liver. Therefore, to assess the potential risks need a prior consultation with a doctor.
The problem is that unscrupulous manufacturers unauthorized add sibutramine or other potentially dangerous substances to seemingly harmless drugs, and due to this, there is a wow effect in terms of weight loss. For example, in 2017, in a study of fifty-two caffeinated supplements, it turned out that in every tenth sample there were undeclared substances - for example, sibutramine and phenolphthalein, and also psychotropic substances like amphepramone and fenproporex. Detecting an excess amount of caffeine in half the supplements does not look so dangerous against this background - but if you use drugs in accordance with the instructions, the safe daily caffeine limit of 400 mg will be exceeded.
This data echoes the study, which was conducted in thirteen countries and included the purchase of more than 600 different non-hormonal additives from 215 suppliers. It turned out that in 15% of samples there are undeclared anabolic steroids, and in another 10% the results were controversial. Most cases of undeclared additives were in five countries: the United States, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Germany and Italy.
In the dispute between balanced nutrition without fitness supplements and sports nutrition, no one has yet won, research continues, so loud headlines and conclusions still await us. Apparently, lovers can do without special products, provided a varied diet. But sports supplements will not bring harm, if you do not exceed the recommended dosage and buy from a trusted manufacturer.
Unfortunately, it is not always possible to get what is stated on the packaging. In the USA, food additives are analyzed by independent laboratories like Labdoor, while in Russia there are, for example, Roscontrol research. Of course, there are many indicators that you will have to determine yourself (for example, whether you like the taste of a particular protein and whether its price suits you), but, focusing on such ratings, you can at least protect yourself from buying fake products.
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